BMW X5 SAV vs Audi S4

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	Audi S4
Complaints on file	293	721
Model years covered	2003–2013	1992–2022
Worst model year	2007	2001
Best model year	2013	1993
Crashes reported	14	23
Fires reported	5	8
Injuries reported	13	10
Deaths reported	0	0
Most complained-about part	Airbags	Electrical System
Share of complaints involving harm	10.9%	5.7%

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%

Audi S4 by year

5 18 8 1 171 92 31 1 37 54 37 21 4 73 34 27 34 23 1 9 3 34 2 1

92 93 94 95 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 10 11 12 13 14 15 18 19 20 21 22

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

What breaks

Electrical System 150 20.8%

Transmission & Drivetrain 104 14.4%

Brakes 82 11.4%

Engine & Cooling 72 10.0%

Lights 66 9.2%

Tires 51 7.1%

Steering 37 5.1%

Airbags 33 4.6%