BMW 635 MOT reliability

BMW 635s passed their MOT first time 78% of the time across 1,778 tests in 2025.

Example photo of a BMW 635 — Photo: The Car Spy · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

First-time pass rate

78%

MOTs analysed

1,778

Still licensed (GB)

–

Body type

–

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

2009 diesel

359 MOTs

Passed first time 73%. Typical mileage 122,468 (most between 99,254 and 152,650).

2011: 100% → 2012: 81% → 2013: 83% → 2014: 81% → 2015: 80% → 2016: 77% → 2017: 82% → 2018: 78% → 2019: 76% → 2020: 79% → 2021: 76% → 2022: 74% → 2023: 76% → 2024: 75% → 2025: 73%

Most common failures

Ball joint excessively worn (3.9%)
Coil spring: fractured or broken (3.1%)
Rbt (sp): efficiency below requirements (3.1%)
Track rod end: ball joint has excessive play (3.1%)
Condition: has ply or cords exposed (2.5%)

2009 petrol

3 MOTs

These figures come from only 3 MOT tests. With so few cars, a single pass or fail changes the percentages a lot, so treat them as a rough guide rather than a true average.

Passed first time 67%. Typical mileage 100,113 (most between 84,503 and 140,935).

2011: 100% → 2012: 86% → 2013: 80% → 2014: 63% → 2015: 100% → 2016: 92% → 2017: 89% → 2018: 78% → 2019: 67% → 2020: 86% → 2021: 71% → 2022: 83% → 2023: 100% → 2024: 100% → 2025: 67%

Most common failures

Track rod end: ball joint has excessive play (33.3%)

Where 2009 635s fail

Suspension & axles

10.9%

Lights & electrics

6.7%

Wheels & tyres

6.4%

Brakes

5.6%

Steering

3.9%

Visibility & wipers

3.1%

Exhaust, emissions & leaks

0.8%

Seat belts & other equipment

0.6%

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.