Mercedes Benz ML350 vs BMW Z4

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	Mercedes Benz ML350	BMW Z4
Complaints on file	603	1,444
Model years covered	2010–2015	2002–2022
Worst model year	2015	2003
Best model year	2010	2008
Crashes reported	60	34
Fires reported	13	7
Injuries reported	34	9
Deaths reported	0	2
Most complained-about part	Airbags	Steering
Share of complaints involving harm	17.7%	3.6%

Mercedes Benz ML350 by year

113 128 95 82 107 78

10 11 12 13 14 15

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

What breaks

Airbags 139 23.1%

Engine & Cooling 76 12.6%

Electrical System 72 11.9%

Fuel & Propulsion 56 9.3%

Other & Unspecified 45 7.5%

Brakes 40 6.6%

Transmission & Drivetrain 30 5.0%

Steering 23 3.8%

BMW Z4 by year

6 460 443 204 107 42 27 26 10 57 7 12 10 7 5 7 11 1 2

02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 19 20 21 22

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

What breaks

Steering 993 68.8%

Airbags 101 7.0%

Engine & Cooling 78 5.4%

Electrical System 74 5.1%

Wheels 25 1.7%

Brakes 21 1.5%

Transmission & Drivetrain 18 1.2%

Body & Structure 18 1.2%