Saturn SW 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	Saturn SW	BMW 328XI
Complaints on file	274	672
Model years covered	1992–2001	2006–2016
Worst model year	1994	2008
Best model year	2000	2009
Crashes reported	41	32
Fires reported	12	61
Injuries reported	30	28
Deaths reported	2	0
Most complained-about part	Brakes	Electrical System
Share of complaints involving harm	31%	18%

Saturn SW by year

2 35 41 52 31 35 31 23 18 6

92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01

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

What breaks

Brakes 47 17.2%

Engine & Cooling 36 13.1%

Transmission & Drivetrain 27 9.9%

Electrical System 24 8.8%

Seats 21 7.7%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 17 6.2%

Seat Belts 17 6.2%

Airbags 15 5.5%

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%