Nissan D21 vs BMW 335I

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	Nissan D21	BMW 335I
Complaints on file	466	1,136
Model years covered	1988–1997	2007–2016
Worst model year	1995	2008
Best model year	1996	2015
Crashes reported	66	43
Fires reported	16	45
Injuries reported	35	22
Deaths reported	1	3
Most complained-about part	Body & Structure	Fuel & Propulsion
Share of complaints involving harm	25.3%	9.9%

Nissan D21 by year

1 5 1 35 21 49 76 159 47 72

88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97

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

What breaks

Body & Structure 69 14.8%

Engine & Cooling 47 10.1%

Tires 43 9.2%

Transmission & Drivetrain 40 8.6%

Airbags 36 7.7%

Seat Belts 36 7.7%

Brakes 34 7.3%

Electrical System 33 7.1%

BMW 335I by year

388 276 128 58 136 30 70 31 16 3

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

Fuel & Propulsion 278 24.5%

Airbags 192 16.9%

Engine & Cooling 175 15.4%

Electrical System 147 12.9%

Transmission & Drivetrain 46 4.0%

Steering 36 3.2%

Other & Unspecified 35 3.1%

Lights 32 2.8%