BMW X5 SAV vs Acura CL

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 X5 SAV	Acura CL
Complaints on file	293	731
Model years covered	2003–2013	1997–2004
Worst model year	2007	2001
Best model year	2013	1998
Crashes reported	14	49
Fires reported	5	4
Injuries reported	13	35
Deaths reported	0	7
Most complained-about part	Airbags	Transmission & Drivetrain
Share of complaints involving harm	10.9%	13%

BMW X5 SAV by year

1 36 82 34 30 27 38 29 16

03 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13

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

What breaks

Airbags 57 19.5%

Engine & Cooling 48 16.4%

Brakes 32 10.9%

Fuel & Propulsion 31 10.6%

Transmission & Drivetrain 28 9.6%

Electrical System 28 9.6%

Seats 13 4.4%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 10 3.4%

Acura CL by year

106 69 66 11 317 71 89 2

97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04

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

What breaks

Transmission & Drivetrain 333 45.6%

Airbags 77 10.5%

Electrical System 63 8.6%

Engine & Cooling 42 5.7%

Brakes 30 4.1%

Suspension 27 3.7%

Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 26 3.6%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 25 3.4%