Lexus LS460 vs BMW 5 Series

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 LS460	BMW 5 Series
Complaints on file	226	556
Model years covered	2007–2017	1989–2012
Worst model year	2008	2006
Best model year	2009	2003
Crashes reported	20	26
Fires reported	5	25
Injuries reported	10	22
Deaths reported	0	1
Most complained-about part	Brakes	Airbags
Share of complaints involving harm	15.5%	13.3%

Lexus LS460 by year

53 100 13 19 2 4 16 10 5 2 2

07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17

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

What breaks

Brakes 79 35.0%

Body & Structure 18 8.0%

Other & Unspecified 18 8.0%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 16 7.1%

Engine & Cooling 15 6.6%

Fuel & Propulsion 15 6.6%

Transmission & Drivetrain 13 5.8%

Electrical System 12 5.3%

BMW 5 Series by year

1 6 1 2 3 4 10 13 89 26 125 22 131 6 9 96 12

89 95 97 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12

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

What breaks

Airbags 96 17.3%

Engine & Cooling 67 12.1%

Electrical System 62 11.2%

Fuel & Propulsion 57 10.3%

Tires 43 7.7%

Transmission & Drivetrain 41 7.4%

Steering 32 5.8%

Brakes 22 4.0%