Mercedes Benz S500 vs BMW 328XI

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 S500	BMW 328XI
Complaints on file	274	672
Model years covered	1993–2007	2006–2016
Worst model year	2000	2008
Best model year	1999	2009
Crashes reported	9	32
Fires reported	4	61
Injuries reported	8	28
Deaths reported	0	0
Most complained-about part	Electrical System	Electrical System
Share of complaints involving harm	7.7%	18%

Mercedes Benz S500 by year

2 4 6 1 12 85 55 36 12 24 19 16 2

93 94 95 96 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07

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

What breaks

Electrical System 96 35.0%

Lights 45 16.4%

Suspension 27 9.9%

Engine & Cooling 19 6.9%

Transmission & Drivetrain 15 5.5%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 12 4.4%

Brakes 11 4.0%

Steering 7 2.6%

BMW 328XI by year

6 287 152 18 29 99 1 33 21 22 4

06 07 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

Electrical System 146 21.7%

Engine & Cooling 144 21.4%

Airbags 96 14.3%

Other & Unspecified 41 6.1%

Fuel & Propulsion 37 5.5%

Transmission & Drivetrain 34 5.1%

Doors, Latches & Locks 29 4.3%

Steering 28 4.2%