Cadillac DTS vs BMW 325I

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	Cadillac DTS	BMW 325I
Complaints on file	729	1,808
Model years covered	2004–2011	1987–2012
Worst model year	2006	2006
Best model year	2009	1993
Crashes reported	56	71
Fires reported	30	103
Injuries reported	51	76
Deaths reported	0	2
Most complained-about part	Electrical System	Airbags
Share of complaints involving harm	18.8%	13.9%

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%

BMW 325I by year

5 7 10 5 4 55 25 23 42 1 196 198 261 182 81 709 1 1 1 1

87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 11 12

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

What breaks

Airbags 529 29.3%

Electrical System 217 12.0%

Lights 205 11.3%

Engine & Cooling 176 9.7%

Doors, Latches & Locks 78 4.3%

Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 71 3.9%

Transmission & Drivetrain 65 3.6%

Steering 60 3.3%