BMW X6 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 X6	Acura CL
Complaints on file	299	731
Model years covered	2006–2026	1997–2004
Worst model year	2011	2001
Best model year	2020	1998
Crashes reported	11	49
Fires reported	21	4
Injuries reported	8	35
Deaths reported	0	7
Most complained-about part	Engine & Cooling	Transmission & Drivetrain
Share of complaints involving harm	13.4%	13%

BMW X6 by year

1 1 5 25 21 52 47 36 12 12 11 3 6 6 12 13 5 1 21 3 6

06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26

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

What breaks

Engine & Cooling 68 22.7%

Transmission & Drivetrain 37 12.4%

Airbags 34 11.4%

Fuel & Propulsion 25 8.4%

Electrical System 24 8.0%

Brakes 22 7.4%

Other & Unspecified 18 6.0%

Driver Assist & Collision Avoidance 14 4.7%

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%