BMW 5 Series: Years to Avoid and Best Years to Buy
BMW 5 Series: 13 model years scored from 1,898 NHTSA owner complaints and 43 recall campaigns. Worst year 2011, best year 2013.
BMW 5 Series: which years to avoid
Across 9 scored model years the BMW 5 Series ranges from 37/100 in 2011 to 94/100 in 2017 — a 57-point spread, so which year you buy matters more than whether you buy a 5 Series at all. The weakest year’s complaints concentrate in Tires (235 of them).
Avoid: 2011, 2012 — scored below 45 on the complaint and recall record.
Safest years: 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 — scored 70 or better.
Scored from NHTSA complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns. How the score works · every car’s years to avoid.
Editor's note
Avoid the 2011 5 Series, with 1,063 owner complaints and a score of 37, and the 2012 car, with 317 complaints and a score of 46. No 5 Series year with a deep record does better than CAUTION: the 2013 and 2014 cars score 58 and 54 on 252 and 233 complaints, and the 2017 to 2019 cars that score 91 to 94 do so on 18, 0 and 12 complaints with low evidence. The 2011 car is unusual in that Tires is its top component at 235, ahead of Engine at 210, Power Train at 159, Fuel/Propulsion System at 133 and Steering at 117, and none of its six campaigns addresses tyres or steering; they cover the engine (14V176000), the 550i turbocharger (18V248000), the fuel pump (16V746000) and an air bag sensor cluster (16V832000). Recall activity rises again on the 2020 and 2021 cars, with 21V046000 for output shafts on xDrive models and 26V525000 for the driveshaft on 540i and M550i cars.
Read the guide
Used BMW 3 Series and 5 Series: the years to avoid — written and signed by Adir Trabelsi, 2026-09-16.
How the 5 Series changed, run by run
The federal record falls into 2 stretches of years that behave alike. A redesign shows up here as a step in the complaint rate that then holds.
2011–2014
Mean score 48/100, about 33 complaints per year on the road. Owners of these years complain about Engine more than anything else (499 complaints). 10 recall campaign(s) in this run touch fire, crash or stall risk.
2017–2021
Mean score 87/100, about 1 complaints per year on the road. Owners of these years complain about Electrical System more than anything else (8 complaints). The record improves by 39 points against the years before it. 9 recall campaign(s) in this run touch fire, crash or stall risk.
Year-by-year data table
Best year in our data: 2013 (score 58). Worst: 2011 (score 37, AVOID).
| Year | Score | Verdict | Running cost / yr | NHTSA complaints | Recalls |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | — | DATA PENDING | $3,030 | 0 | 0 |
| 2024 | — | DATA PENDING | $3,320 | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 | — | DATA PENDING | $3,760 | 0 | 0 |
| 2022 | — | DATA PENDING | $3,900 | 0 | 0 |
| 2021 | 74 | BUY | $4,044 | 1 | 9 |
| 2020 | 83 | BUY | $4,186 | 2 | 7 |
| 2019 | 92 | BUY | $4,252 | 12 | 2 |
| 2018 | 91 | BUY | $4,460 | 0 | 2 |
| 2017 | 94 | BUY | $4,738 | 18 | 1 |
| 2014 | 54 | CAUTION | $5,338 | 233 | 6 |
| 2013 | 58 | CAUTION | $5,378 | 252 | 4 |
| 2012 | 45 | AVOID | $5,580 | 317 | 6 |
| 2011 | 37 | AVOID | $6,886 | 1,063 | 6 |
Running cost is fuel or energy plus the maintenance band midpoint for that car at its age today, re-priced to your country. Purchase price, insurance and depreciation are not included.
Photographs and every generation of the 5 Series, through the years →
5 Series sub-models & family
Variants & trims on record
Body, powertrain and trim variants of the 5 Series on the federal record. Variants folded into this nameplate are counted in this page's data; the rest have too thin a record for a page of their own yet.
What goes wrong on the BMW 5 Series
Across every 5 Series model year in our index, owners report these component groups most often. The cost beside each one is the representative repair for that group at a US independent shop, re-priced to your country.
- Engine502 complaints across all 5 Series years · typical job: Cooling-system or timing-drive repair$1,040–$2,220
- Power Train274 complaints across all 5 Series years · typical job: Transmission service or clutch-pack repair$1,290–$4,040
- Electrical System272 complaints across all 5 Series years · typical job: Alternator, battery-drain or body-module diagnosis and replacement$540–$1,310
- Tires269 complaints across all 5 Series years · typical job: Tyre replacement and TPMS service, per axle$340–$1,020
- Fuel/Propulsion System252 complaints across all 5 Series years · typical job: Fuel pump or injector replacement$680–$1,620
- Steering118 complaints across all 5 Series years · typical job: Electric power-steering rack or column motor replacement$1,020–$2,500
Flat-rate labour hours x local shop rate plus a parts band. An estimate of what this class of failure costs, not a quote. Formula.
FAQ
Which BMW 5 Series years should I avoid?
On the NHTSA record the years to avoid are 2011, 2012 — each scores below 45 out of 100 on complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns. The 2011 is the weakest at 37/100, with its complaints concentrated in Tires.
What are the best BMW 5 Series years to buy?
2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 all score 70 or better. The strongest is the 2017 at 94/100, on 18 complaints and 1 recall campaigns.
What is the most common BMW 5 Series problem?
502 of the complaints filed against the 5 Series across all its model years sit in the Engine group — more than any other component.
Compare with
Sources: NHTSA, EPA · Methodology · Updated 2026-10-04