BMW 120D MOT reliability

BMW 120Ds passed their MOT first time 91% of the time across 513 tests in 2025.

Example photo of a BMW 120D — Photo: Alexander-93 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

First-time pass rate

91%

MOTs analysed

513

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

2020 diesel

125 MOTs

Passed first time 90%. Typical mileage 43,171 (most between 33,235 and 53,425).

2023: 92% → 2024: 84% → 2025: 90%

Most common failures

Condition: has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords (3.2%)
Condition: has ply or cords exposed (2.4%)
Brake pads: less than 1.5 mm thick (1.6%)
Condition: has a bulge, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure (1.6%)
Headlamp aim: too high (1.6%)

Where 2020 120Ds fail

Wheels & tyres

7.2%

Lights & electrics

2.4%

Brakes

1.6%

Exhaust, emissions & leaks

0.8%

Seat belts & other equipment

0.8%

Suspension & axles

0.8%

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.