BMW BMW MOT reliability

BMW BMWs passed their MOT first time 60% of the time across 25 tests in 2025.

Example photo of a BMW BMW — Photo: Franco Atirador · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

These figures come from 25 MOT tests. That's a fairly small number of cars, so they may not be typical of these cars as a whole.

First-time pass rate

60%

MOTs analysed

25

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

2008 diesel

4 MOTs

These figures come from only 4 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 75%. Typical mileage 171,805 (most between 166,523 and 178,012).

2011: 100% → 2012: 50% → 2013: 100% → 2014: 75% → 2015: 100% → 2016: 75% → 2017: 100% → 2018: 100% → 2019: 100% → 2020: 67% → 2021: 67% → 2022: 33% → 2023: 67% → 2024: 100% → 2025: 75%

Most common failures

Shock absorbers: has a serious fluid leak (25.0%)

2008 petrol

1 MOT

These figures come from only 1 MOT test. 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 100%. Typical mileage 68,063 (most between 68,063 and 68,063).

2011: 50% → 2012: 100% → 2013: 67% → 2014: 100% → 2015: 100% → 2016: 100% → 2017: 100% → 2018: 100% → 2019: 100% → 2020: 100% → 2021: 100% → 2022: 100% → 2023: 100% → 2024: 100% → 2025: 100%

Where 2008 BMWs fail

Suspension & axles

25.0%

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.