Can-Am Spyder RS vs BMW 320I

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	Can-Am Spyder RS	BMW 320I
Complaints on file	101	247
Model years covered	2008–2016	1978–2018
Worst model year	2008	2014
Best model year	2009	2013
Crashes reported	5	36
Fires reported	13	8
Injuries reported	6	24
Deaths reported	0	0
Most complained-about part	Steering	Engine & Cooling
Share of complaints involving harm	23.8%	27.5%

Can-Am Spyder RS by year

45 14 15 6 7 10 1 3

08 09 10 11 12 13 14 16

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

What breaks

Steering 37 36.6%

Fuel & Propulsion 15 14.9%

Engine & Cooling 14 13.9%

Transmission & Drivetrain 7 6.9%

Electrical System 7 6.9%

Lights 5 5.0%

Stability & Traction Control 5 5.0%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 4 4.0%

BMW 320I by year

3 1 6 1 1 2 5 13 80 46 40 13 36

78 79 80 82 02 04 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

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

What breaks

Engine & Cooling 47 19.0%

Fuel & Propulsion 29 11.7%

Electrical System 27 10.9%

Airbags 25 10.1%

Other & Unspecified 23 9.3%

Transmission & Drivetrain 17 6.9%

Brakes 17 6.9%

Lights 14 5.7%