BMW 540I vs Pontiac Aztek

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	Pontiac Aztek
Complaints on file	340	829
Model years covered	1994–2025	2001–2005
Worst model year	2018	2001
Best model year	1994	2005
Crashes reported	26	43
Fires reported	7	18
Injuries reported	14	38
Deaths reported	0	0
Most complained-about part	Engine & Cooling	Fuel & Propulsion
Share of complaints involving harm	13.8%	11.9%

BMW 540I by year

12 15 31 28 29 36 18 17 9 33 57 14 3 13 7 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 20.6%

Airbags 49 14.4%

Electrical System 42 12.4%

Transmission & Drivetrain 23 6.8%

Brakes 21 6.2%

Steering 17 5.0%

Seats 17 5.0%

Seat Belts 16 4.7%

Pontiac Aztek by year

329 173 188 96 43

01 02 03 04 05

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

What breaks

Fuel & Propulsion 129 15.6%

Electrical System 120 14.5%

Engine & Cooling 94 11.3%

Brakes 84 10.1%

Transmission & Drivetrain 55 6.6%

Suspension 52 6.3%

Equipment & Accessories 41 4.9%

Airbags 38 4.6%