BMW 5 Series MOT reliability

BMW 5 Seriess passed their MOT first time 83% of the time across 72,242 tests in 2025. 186,474 are still licensed in Great Britain.

Example photo of a BMW 5 Series — Photo: Chanokchon · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

First-time pass rate

83%

MOTs analysed

72,242

Still licensed (GB)

186,474

Body type

Sedan

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 petrol

1,777 MOTs

Passed first time 89%. Typical mileage 38,340 (most between 28,274 and 50,303).

2021: 100% → 2022: 97% → 2023: 91% → 2024: 90% → 2025: 89%

Most common failures

Condition: has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords (2.8%)
Condition: has ply or cords exposed (1.9%)
Condition: has a bulge, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure (1.0%)
Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm (1.0%)
Condition: fractured (0.7%)

2020 diesel

1,312 MOTs

Passed first time 88%. Typical mileage 49,874 (most between 36,413 and 66,538).

2021: 80% → 2022: 91% → 2023: 88% → 2024: 89% → 2025: 88%

Most common failures

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 (1.8%)
Malfunction indicator lamp: inoperative or indicates a malfunction (1.4%)
Condition: has a bulge, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure (1.4%)
Condition: fractured (1.0%)

2020 hybrid

897 MOTs

Passed first time 87%. Typical mileage 61,653 (most between 43,206 and 83,859).

2020: 100% → 2021: 90% → 2022: 83% → 2023: 83% → 2024: 88% → 2025: 87%

Most common failures

Shock absorbers: has a serious fluid leak (2.3%)
Condition: has ply or cords exposed (2.1%)
Condition: has a bulge, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure (2.0%)
Condition: has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords (2.0%)
Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm (1.7%)

2020 ed

80 MOTs

These figures come from 80 MOT tests. That's a fairly small number of cars, so they may not be typical of these cars as a whole.

Passed first time 88%. Typical mileage 58,720 (most between 45,985 and 76,692).

2020: 100% → 2021: 92% → 2022: 95% → 2023: 92% → 2024: 89% → 2025: 88%

Most common failures

Condition: has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords (2.5%)
Malfunction indicator lamp: inoperative or indicates a malfunction (2.5%)
Condition: has a lump, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure (1.3%)
Headlamp aim: too high (1.3%)
Position lamp: not working (1.3%)

Where 2020 5 Seriess fail

Wheels & tyres

7.7%

Brakes

1.2%

Lights & electrics

1.2%

Visibility & wipers

1.0%

Body, structure & corrosion

0.4%

Exhaust, emissions & leaks

0.2%

Suspension & axles

0.2%

Seat belts & other equipment

0.1%

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.