BMW 740IL vs Lexus GS300

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 740IL	Lexus GS300
Complaints on file	180	446
Model years covered	1993–2001	1993–2014
Worst model year	1998	2006
Best model year	2000	2001
Crashes reported	8	51
Fires reported	5	8
Injuries reported	8	21
Deaths reported	0	1
Most complained-about part	Engine & Cooling	Acceleration & Cruise Control
Share of complaints involving harm	11.7%	18.2%

BMW 740IL by year

10 4 13 14 27 49 7 23 33

93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01

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

What breaks

Engine & Cooling 37 20.6%

Electrical System 20 11.1%

Fuel & Propulsion 17 9.4%

Transmission & Drivetrain 13 7.2%

Brakes 13 7.2%

Airbags 12 6.7%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 10 5.6%

Steering 9 5.0%

Lexus GS300 by year

7 7 12 2 91 56 45 21 15 16 6 2 164 1 1

93 94 95 96 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 13 14

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

What breaks

Acceleration & Cruise Control 85 19.1%

Brakes 44 9.9%

Lights 41 9.2%

Engine & Cooling 40 9.0%

Suspension 40 9.0%

Electrical System 34 7.6%

Transmission & Drivetrain 26 5.8%

Steering 20 4.5%