BMW 540 MOT reliability

BMW 540s passed their MOT first time 75% of the time across 631 tests in 2025.

First-time pass rate

75%

MOTs analysed

631

Still licensed (GB)

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Body type

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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

2018 petrol

17 MOTs

These figures come from only 17 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 71%. Typical mileage 54,842 (most between 48,934 and 70,271).

2020: 100% → 2021: 89% → 2022: 82% → 2023: 86% → 2024: 81% → 2025: 71%

Most common failures

Condition: has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure (5.9%)
Side repeaters: not working (5.9%)
Condition: fractured (5.9%)
Washers: provides insufficient washer liquid (5.9%)
Condition: has a bulge, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure (5.9%)

Where 2018 540s fail

Wheels & tyres

17.6%

Lights & electrics

5.9%

Visibility & wipers

5.9%

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.