BMW 640 MOT reliability

BMW 640s passed their MOT first time 81% of the time across 9,613 tests in 2025.

First-time pass rate

81%

MOTs analysed

9,613

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

2016 diesel

1,633 MOTs

Passed first time 85%. Typical mileage 72,825 (most between 57,389 and 92,226).

2018: 90% → 2019: 82% → 2020: 84% → 2021: 85% → 2022: 84% → 2023: 84% → 2024: 84% → 2025: 85%

Most common failures

Coil spring: fractured or broken (2.4%)
Condition: has a bulge, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure (2.3%)
Condition: has ply or cords exposed (2.1%)
Condition: has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords (1.7%)
Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm (1.4%)

2016 petrol

111 MOTs

Passed first time 85%. Typical mileage 54,129 (most between 40,978 and 68,479).

2018: 100% → 2019: 86% → 2020: 84% → 2021: 86% → 2022: 88% → 2023: 89% → 2024: 86% → 2025: 85%

Most common failures

Wipers: does not clear the windscreen effectively (4.5%)
Condition: has a bulge, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure (2.7%)
Condition: has ply or cords exposed (2.7%)
Condition: has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords (2.7%)
Registration plates: inscription illegible (0.9%)

Where 2016 640s fail

Wheels & tyres

8.8%

Suspension & axles

2.8%

Lights & electrics

1.8%

Visibility & wipers

1.8%

Brakes

0.7%

Exhaust, emissions & leaks

0.4%

Body, structure & corrosion

0.3%

Seat belts & other equipment

0.2%

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.