Lexus LS vs BMW 535I

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	Lexus LS	BMW 535I
Complaints on file	293	722
Model years covered	1994–2025	1986–2016
Worst model year	2007	2011
Best model year	2009	2016
Crashes reported	21	37
Fires reported	3	30
Injuries reported	20	23
Deaths reported	0	0
Most complained-about part	Brakes	Engine & Cooling
Share of complaints involving harm	15%	12.5%

Lexus LS by year

6 2 3 1 2 3 1 3 10 1 11 6 26 58 59 23 9 12 6 8 3 3 7 20 1 5 1 3

94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 18 19 21 23 25

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

What breaks

Brakes 63 21.5%

Other & Unspecified 32 10.9%

Electrical System 28 9.6%

Engine & Cooling 27 9.2%

Body & Structure 19 6.5%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 18 6.1%

Fuel & Propulsion 14 4.8%

Airbags 13 4.4%

BMW 535I by year

1 1 9 3 5 5 2 116 100 81 156 86 59 46 37 15

86 88 89 90 91 92 94 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

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

What breaks

Engine & Cooling 167 23.1%

Fuel & Propulsion 146 20.2%

Electrical System 79 10.9%

Airbags 51 7.1%

Transmission & Drivetrain 45 6.2%

Lights 43 6.0%

Other & Unspecified 28 3.9%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 21 2.9%