Nissan Leaf vs BMW 328I

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 Leaf	BMW 328I
Complaints on file	1,515	3,783
Model years covered	2010–2026	1996–2016
Worst model year	2019	2013
Best model year	2025	1998
Crashes reported	110	210
Fires reported	20	193
Injuries reported	39	159
Deaths reported	0	1
Most complained-about part	Electrical System	Engine & Cooling
Share of complaints involving harm	11.2%	14.9%

Nissan Leaf by year

1 117 71 120 45 146 50 27 117 321 223 82 141 33 7 10 4

10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26

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

What breaks

Electrical System 516 34.1%

Brakes 242 16.0%

Other & Unspecified 162 10.7%

Fuel & Propulsion 136 9.0%

Airbags 92 6.1%

Transmission & Drivetrain 61 4.0%

Driver Assist & Collision Avoidance 60 4.0%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 57 3.8%

BMW 328I by year

36 29 34 125 146 5 574 375 297 232 804 198 392 237 203 96

96 97 98 99 00 01 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

Engine & Cooling 1,097 29.0%

Electrical System 685 18.1%

Airbags 604 16.0%

Other & Unspecified 179 4.7%

Transmission & Drivetrain 174 4.6%

Fuel & Propulsion 149 3.9%

Brakes 114 3.0%

Body & Structure 112 3.0%