BMW 218I MOT reliability

BMW 218Is passed their MOT first time 88% of the time across 23,752 tests in 2025.

First-time pass rate

88%

MOTs analysed

23,752

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

2021 petrol

8,009 MOTs

Passed first time 89%. Typical mileage 31,431 (most between 23,170 and 42,284).

2022: 100% → 2023: 89% → 2024: 88% → 2025: 89%

Most common failures

Condition: has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords (2.3%)
Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm (1.4%)
Condition: has a bulge, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure (1.0%)
Condition: has ply or cords exposed (0.7%)
Brake pads: less than 1.5 mm thick (0.6%)

Where 2021 218Is fail

Wheels & tyres

6.1%

Lights & electrics

1.9%

Brakes

1.4%

Visibility & wipers

1.2%

Suspension & axles

0.7%

Body, structure & corrosion

0.4%

Seat belts & other equipment

0.4%

Exhaust, emissions & leaks

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.