BMW 216D MOT reliability

BMW 216Ds passed their MOT first time 85% of the time across 977 tests in 2025.

First-time pass rate

85%

MOTs analysed

977

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 diesel

225 MOTs

Passed first time 81%. Typical mileage 59,899 (most between 47,287 and 76,661).

2020: 67% → 2021: 87% → 2022: 87% → 2023: 82% → 2024: 78% → 2025: 81%

Most common failures

Headlamp: not working on dipped beam (3.1%)
Malfunction indicator lamp: inoperative or indicates a malfunction (2.7%)
Brake pads: less than 1.5 mm thick (2.2%)
Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm (2.2%)
Condition: has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords (1.8%)

Where 2018 216Ds fail

Lights & electrics

9.3%

Wheels & tyres

5.8%

Suspension & axles

3.6%

Brakes

2.7%

Exhaust, emissions & leaks

2.7%

Visibility & wipers

2.2%

Body, structure & corrosion

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.