BMW M3 vs Volkswagen CC

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	Volkswagen CC
Complaints on file	552	1,359
Model years covered	1988–2025	2008–2017
Worst model year	2008	2012
Best model year	2018	2015
Crashes reported	35	66
Fires reported	6	5
Injuries reported	22	43
Deaths reported	0	0
Most complained-about part	Transmission & Drivetrain	Airbags
Share of complaints involving harm	11.4%	8.4%

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%

Volkswagen CC by year

3 185 330 120 337 188 102 49 38 7

08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17

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

What breaks

Airbags 424 31.2%

Fuel & Propulsion 227 16.7%

Engine & Cooling 203 14.9%

Electrical System 123 9.1%

Transmission & Drivetrain 80 5.9%

Steering 65 4.8%

Other & Unspecified 53 3.9%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 34 2.5%