BMW M3 vs Mazda Protege

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	Mazda Protege
Complaints on file	552	1,377
Model years covered	1988–2025	1989–2003
Worst model year	2008	1995
Best model year	2018	1998
Crashes reported	35	242
Fires reported	6	30
Injuries reported	22	197
Deaths reported	0	4
Most complained-about part	Transmission & Drivetrain	Seat Belts
Share of complaints involving harm	11.4%	34.4%

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 10 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 18.3%

Engine & Cooling 94 17.0%

Electrical System 37 6.7%

Body & Structure 27 4.9%

Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 24 4.3%

Fuel & Propulsion 23 4.2%

Suspension 21 3.8%

Mazda Protege by year

2 45 60 72 56 89 232 91 103 53 102 126 68 133 145

89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03

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

What breaks

Seat Belts 230 16.7%

Airbags 171 12.4%

Transmission & Drivetrain 170 12.3%

Engine & Cooling 144 10.5%

Brakes 103 7.5%

Electrical System 74 5.4%

Tires 54 3.9%

Suspension 48 3.5%