BMW 545I vs Lincoln MKS

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 545I	Lincoln MKS
Complaints on file	198	492
Model years covered	2004–2005	2009–2016
Worst model year	—	2013
Best model year	—	2012
Crashes reported	4	29
Fires reported	3	10
Injuries reported	6	19
Deaths reported	0	14
Most complained-about part	Airbags	Steering
Share of complaints involving harm	6.6%	14.6%

BMW 545I by year

77 121

04 05

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

What breaks

Airbags 56 28.3%

Electrical System 26 13.1%

Transmission & Drivetrain 23 11.6%

Engine & Cooling 17 8.6%

Brakes 15 7.6%

Seat Belts 14 7.1%

Steering 9 4.5%

Seats 7 3.5%

Lincoln MKS by year

70 64 57 26 182 60 28 5

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

Steering 121 24.6%

Electrical System 55 11.2%

Engine & Cooling 52 10.6%

Fuel & Propulsion 38 7.7%

Brakes 34 6.9%

Other & Unspecified 27 5.5%

Transmission & Drivetrain 24 4.9%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 24 4.9%