BMW Z3 vs Cadillac DTS

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 Z3	Cadillac DTS
Complaints on file	299	729
Model years covered	1996–2003	2004–2011
Worst model year	1997	2006
Best model year	2001	2009
Crashes reported	17	56
Fires reported	10	30
Injuries reported	31	51
Deaths reported	3	0
Most complained-about part	Airbags	Electrical System
Share of complaints involving harm	20.4%	18.8%

BMW Z3 by year

34 66 45 56 54 31 9 4

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

Airbags 59 19.7%

Seat Belts 35 11.7%

Seats 34 11.4%

Transmission & Drivetrain 27 9.0%

Body & Structure 25 8.4%

Electrical System 18 6.0%

Suspension 18 6.0%

Engine & Cooling 17 5.7%

Cadillac DTS by year

8 10 356 137 121 46 32 19

04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11

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

What breaks

Electrical System 180 24.7%

Lights 110 15.1%

Engine & Cooling 97 13.3%

Steering 59 8.1%

Brakes 34 4.7%

Airbags 33 4.5%

Seats 28 3.8%

Fuel & Propulsion 25 3.4%