BMW M3 vs Ford Excursion

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 M3	Ford Excursion
Complaints on file	554	1,385
Model years covered	1988–2025	1997–2010
Worst model year	2008	2000
Best model year	2005	2005
Crashes reported	35	97
Fires reported	8	102
Injuries reported	22	52
Deaths reported	0	6
Most complained-about part	Transmission & Drivetrain	Tires
Share of complaints involving harm	11.7%	18.6%

BMW M3 by year

2 16 1 28 18 13 20 48 69 38 12 14 102 54 20 41 6 17 4 7 3 12 5 1 1 2

88 95 96 97 98 99 01 02 03 04 05 06 08 09 10 11 12 13 15 16 17 18 21 22 23 25

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

What breaks

Transmission & Drivetrain 120 21.7%

Airbags 101 18.2%

Engine & Cooling 95 17.1%

Electrical System 38 6.9%

Body & Structure 27 4.9%

Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 24 4.3%

Fuel & Propulsion 23 4.2%

Suspension 21 3.8%

Ford Excursion by year

1 10 635 240 150 139 125 84 1

97 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 10

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

What breaks

Tires 296 21.4%

Engine & Cooling 246 17.8%

Electrical System 157 11.3%

Brakes 129 9.3%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 78 5.6%

Suspension 77 5.6%

Transmission & Drivetrain 63 4.5%

Fuel & Propulsion 52 3.8%