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CarsLore / Compare / Large cars / 5 Series vs STS

BMW 5 Series vs Cadillac STS

Two large cars, compared on the same official records: MOT and inspection results, safety ratings, fuel use, recalls and owner complaints. Side by side from official registers: recalls, complaints and registrations.

At a glance

BMW 5 SeriesCadillac STS
Model years in the US safety record1985–20231998–2012
New cars registered in Europe1,118,573 (2010–2022)—
Licensed in the United Kingdom199,283—
On the road in the Netherlands64,700—
In traffic in Finland34,822—

EEA new-car registrations (CC BY 4.0) · DVLA licensed vehicles (OGL v3.0) · RDW (CC0) · Traficom (CC BY 4.0) · generations: Wikidata (CC0).

Reliability and problems

BMW 5 SeriesCadillac STS
UK MOT first-time pass rate79%—
… against cars of the same age+10%—
New York safety inspections failed—2.2%
… against cars of the same year—−7%
Illogical odometer records (NL)4.8%—
US owner complaints427430
Most complaints aboutAir bagsAir bags
Model year with most complaints2008 (105)2006 (139)
US recall campaigns167
Manufacturer service bulletins9287,876
NHTSA defect investigations83

Complaint, recall and bulletin counts grow with the number of cars sold and are not adjusted for it. UK MOT: DVSA anonymised MOT results (OGL v3.0); New York: DMV inspections; complaints, recalls, bulletins and investigations: NHTSA (public domain); odometer: RDW (CC0).

Safety

BMW 5 SeriesCadillac STS
NHTSA overall rating5★ (2016)—

NHTSA New Car Assessment Program, most recent rated model year (public domain).

Fuel, emissions and price

BMW 5 SeriesCadillac STS
Official combined fuel use, Canada—10.8 l/100 km (2011)
Real-world use in Europe, diesel hybrid7.0 l/100 km—
Real-world use in Europe, petrol hybrid8.5 l/100 km—
Real-world use in Europe, petrol11.8 l/100 km—
Real-world use in Europe, diesel7.0 l/100 km—
Official CO₂ of new cars in Europe108 g/km—
Average power of new cars in Europe164 kW (221 hp)—
Average mass in running order1,918 kg—
Dutch list price when new (median)€70,710—
Average odometer in Finland256,000 km—

Canada: NRCan Fuel Consumption Ratings, most frugal version of the latest year (OGL Canada). Europe: EEA monitoring of new-car CO₂ and on-board fuel meters (OBFCM), CC BY 4.0. Price: RDW catalogue price (CC0). Finland: Traficom (CC BY 4.0).