Pontiac G5 vs BMW 528I

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	Pontiac G5	BMW 528I
Complaints on file	510	1,239
Model years covered	2007–2010	1979–2016
Worst model year	2007	2008
Best model year	2009	2009
Crashes reported	66	28
Fires reported	5	72
Injuries reported	42	45
Deaths reported	5	0
Most complained-about part	Fuel & Propulsion	Engine & Cooling
Share of complaints involving harm	23.1%	11.7%

Pontiac G5 by year

249 155 104 2

07 08 09 10

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

What breaks

Fuel & Propulsion 132 25.9%

Steering 95 18.6%

Electrical System 81 15.9%

Airbags 69 13.5%

Engine & Cooling 20 3.9%

Transmission & Drivetrain 20 3.9%

Brakes 18 3.5%

Lights 15 2.9%

BMW 528I by year

1 2 49 39 59 53 3 1 181 33 87 164 145 119 92 106 105

79 80 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 384 31.0%

Electrical System 183 14.8%

Transmission & Drivetrain 106 8.6%

Fuel & Propulsion 104 8.4%

Airbags 98 7.9%

Other & Unspecified 66 5.3%

Lights 63 5.1%

Brakes 36 2.9%