BMW 540I vs Lexus ES300

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 540I	Lexus ES300
Complaints on file	347	862
Model years covered	1994–2025	1992–2013
Worst model year	2018	2002
Best model year	1994	1999
Crashes reported	26	212
Fires reported	7	28
Injuries reported	14	99
Deaths reported	0	7
Most complained-about part	Engine & Cooling	Acceleration & Cruise Control
Share of complaints involving harm	13.5%	40.1%

BMW 540I by year

12 15 31 28 29 36 18 17 9 33 61 14 3 13 10 7 10 1

94 95 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 17 18 19 20 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

Engine & Cooling 70 20.2%

Airbags 49 14.1%

Electrical System 42 12.1%

Transmission & Drivetrain 26 7.5%

Brakes 21 6.1%

Seats 19 5.5%

Seat Belts 18 5.2%

Steering 17 4.9%

Lexus ES300 by year

46 53 50 55 44 50 61 35 78 36 194 147 1 4 8

92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 05 06 13

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

What breaks

Acceleration & Cruise Control 151 17.5%

Transmission & Drivetrain 122 14.2%

Engine & Cooling 92 10.7%

Airbags 73 8.5%

Electrical System 72 8.4%

Brakes 65 7.5%

Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 35 4.1%

Seat Belts 35 4.1%