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CarsLore / Compare / Large cars / 5 Series vs IS 250C

BMW 5 Series vs Lexus IS 250C

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 SeriesLexus IS 250C
Model years in the US safety record1985–20232010–2017
New cars registered in Europe1,118,573 (2010–2022)1,169 (2010–2016)
Licensed in the United Kingdom199,283—
On the road in the Netherlands64,700118
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 SeriesLexus IS 250C
UK MOT first-time pass rate79%—
… against cars of the same age+10%—
Illogical odometer records (NL)4.8%—
US owner complaints42723
Most complaints aboutAir bagsAir bags
Model year with most complaints2008 (105)2010 (11)
US recall campaigns167
Manufacturer service bulletins9281,312
NHTSA defect investigations86

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 SeriesLexus IS 250C
NHTSA overall rating5★ (2016)—

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

Fuel, emissions and price

BMW 5 SeriesLexus IS 250C
Official combined fuel use, Canada—9.5 l/100 km (2013)
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)153 kW (205 hp)
Average mass in running order1,918 kg1,825 kg
Dutch list price when new (median)€70,710€67,131
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).