BMW 3 Series MOT reliability

BMW 3 Seriess passed their MOT first time 73% of the time across 346,651 tests in 2025. 457,574 are still licensed in Great Britain.

Example photo of a BMW 3 Series — Photo: Alexander Migl · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

First-time pass rate

73%

MOTs analysed

346,651

Still licensed (GB)

457,574

Body type

Sedan

Pass rate by year of first registration

Older cars fail more often, so compare a car with others of the same age. Years with very few MOTs can show extreme pass rates, even 0% or 100%, so give more weight to years with more tests.

In detail:

First registered

2021 petrol

276 MOTs

Passed first time 91%. Typical mileage 32,365 (most between 24,568 and 43,227).

2021: 60% → 2023: 93% → 2024: 89% → 2025: 91%

Most common failures

Condition: has ply or cords exposed (1.8%)
Condition: has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords (1.8%)
Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm (1.1%)
Condition: has a lump, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure (1.1%)
Condition: has a bulge, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure (0.7%)

2021 diesel

102 MOTs

Passed first time 82%. Typical mileage 39,699 (most between 31,396 and 50,670).

2021: 100% → 2022: 100% → 2023: 100% → 2024: 87% → 2025: 82%

Most common failures

Malfunction indicator lamp: inoperative or indicates a malfunction (5.9%)
Condition: has a bulge, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure (3.9%)
Condition: has a lump, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure (2.0%)
Condition: has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords (2.0%)
Condition: has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure (2.0%)

2021 hybrid

4 MOTs

These figures come from only 4 MOT tests. With so few cars, a single pass or fail changes the percentages a lot, so treat them as a rough guide rather than a true average.

Passed first time 75%. Typical mileage 53,887 (most between 37,700 and 74,093).

2024: 100% → 2025: 75%

Most common failures

Headlamp aim: too low (25.0%)

2021 ed

1 MOT

These figures come from only 1 MOT test. With so few cars, a single pass or fail changes the percentages a lot, so treat them as a rough guide rather than a true average.

Passed first time 100%. Typical mileage 35,792 (most between 35,792 and 35,792).

2024: 100% → 2025: 100%

Most common failures

2021 electric

1 MOT

These figures come from only 1 MOT test. With so few cars, a single pass or fail changes the percentages a lot, so treat them as a rough guide rather than a true average.

Passed first time 100%. Typical mileage 42,993 (most between 42,993 and 42,993).

Most common failures

Where 2021 3 Seriess fail

Wheels & tyres

6.2%

Brakes

1.1%

Lights & electrics

0.7%

Visibility & wipers

0.7%

Steering

0.4%

Looking at a particular car?

See its own MOT history, mileage and red flags, compared with these figures. Free.

Based on 2025 initial MOT tests in DVSA's anonymised MOT dataset (cars and light vans). Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Model details: Vehicle data by VehiclesDB.