Buick Riviera vs BMW 330I

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	Buick Riviera	BMW 330I
Complaints on file	439	1,076
Model years covered	1969–1999	2001–2025
Worst model year	1995	2006
Best model year	1996	2005
Crashes reported	30	42
Fires reported	23	52
Injuries reported	18	35
Deaths reported	5	3
Most complained-about part	Engine & Cooling	Airbags
Share of complaints involving harm	17.3%	12.3%

Buick Riviera by year

1 1 1 1 7 2 8 1 10 16 16 17 9 177 69 48 43 12

69 73 82 83 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 95 96 97 98 99

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

What breaks

Engine & Cooling 66 15.0%

Brakes 60 13.7%

Electrical System 47 10.7%

Steering 42 9.6%

Seat Belts 38 8.7%

Transmission & Drivetrain 35 8.0%

Fuel & Propulsion 26 5.9%

Airbags 22 5.0%

BMW 330I by year

159 57 92 139 42 303 55 39 56 67 44 6 4 9 4

01 02 03 04 05 06 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

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

What breaks

Airbags 259 24.1%

Lights 162 15.1%

Electrical System 131 12.2%

Engine & Cooling 130 12.1%

Other & Unspecified 60 5.6%

Transmission & Drivetrain 45 4.2%

Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 33 3.1%

Steering 32 3.0%