BMW 535I vs Volkswagen ID.4

Both cars' complete complaint records, side by side.

Read the totals carefully. NHTSA publishes no sales figures, so the car that sold more collects more complaints regardless of quality. The rows worth weighing are the proportions — the share of complaints that involved harm, and which part dominates.

Measure	BMW 535I	Volkswagen ID.4
Complaints on file	722	1,779
Model years covered	1986–2016	2021–2025
Worst model year	2011	2023
Best model year	2016	2025
Crashes reported	37	256
Fires reported	30	21
Injuries reported	23	93
Deaths reported	0	0
Most complained-about part	Engine & Cooling	Electrical System
Share of complaints involving harm	12.5%	20.8%

BMW 535I by year

1 1 9 3 5 5 2 116 100 81 156 86 59 46 37 15

86 88 89 90 91 92 94 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

Complaints filed with NHTSA, by model year. Bar colour is the FaultScore grade: A B C D F ungraded

What breaks

Engine & Cooling 167 23.1%

Fuel & Propulsion 146 20.2%

Electrical System 79 10.9%

Airbags 51 7.1%

Transmission & Drivetrain 45 6.2%

Lights 43 6.0%

Other & Unspecified 28 3.9%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 21 2.9%

Volkswagen ID.4 by year

557 243 840 88 51

21 22 23 24 25

Complaints filed with NHTSA, by model year. Bar colour is the FaultScore grade: A B C D F ungraded

What breaks

Electrical System 496 27.9%

Driver Assist & Collision Avoidance 325 18.3%

Other & Unspecified 225 12.6%

Body & Structure 119 6.7%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 118 6.6%

Brakes 98 5.5%

Transmission & Drivetrain 65 3.7%

Fuel & Propulsion 61 3.4%