BMW X3 MOT reliability

BMW X3s passed their MOT first time 81% of the time across 108,595 tests in 2025. 121,700 are still licensed in Great Britain.

Example photo of a BMW X3 — Photo: Alexander-93 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

First-time pass rate

81%

MOTs analysed

108,595

Still licensed (GB)

121,700

Body type

Suv

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 ed

5,612 MOTs

Passed first time 88%. Typical mileage 36,139 (most between 27,917 and 46,099).

2022: 100% → 2023: 93% → 2024: 89% → 2025: 88%

Most common failures

Condition: has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords (3.1%)
Malfunction indicator lamp: inoperative or indicates a malfunction (2.6%)
Wipers: does not clear the windscreen effectively (2.2%)
Condition: has ply or cords exposed (1.5%)
Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm (0.7%)

2021 hybrid

2,615 MOTs

Passed first time 88%. Typical mileage 38,395 (most between 27,276 and 54,008).

2022: 100% → 2023: 95% → 2024: 88% → 2025: 88%

Most common failures

Condition: has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords (3.6%)
Wipers: does not clear the windscreen effectively (2.3%)
Condition: has ply or cords exposed (1.6%)
Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm (0.7%)
Side repeaters: not working (0.6%)

2021 petrol

2,344 MOTs

Passed first time 91%. Typical mileage 30,871 (most between 22,968 and 39,892).

2021: 50% → 2022: 83% → 2023: 94% → 2024: 90% → 2025: 91%

Most common failures

Condition: has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords (2.6%)
Wipers: does not clear the windscreen effectively (1.5%)
Condition: has ply or cords exposed (0.9%)
Headlamp aim: too high (0.7%)
Side repeaters: not working (0.6%)

2021 diesel

88 MOTs

These figures come from 88 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 84%. Typical mileage 37,726 (most between 27,948 and 45,894).

2021: 71% → 2023: 50% → 2024: 91% → 2025: 84%

Most common failures

Condition: has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords (5.7%)
Malfunction indicator lamp: inoperative or indicates a malfunction (2.3%)
Wipers: does not clear the windscreen effectively (2.3%)
Condition: buckle not functioning as intended (1.1%)
Condition: has a bulge, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure (1.1%)

2021 electric

5 MOTs

These figures come from only 5 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 80%. Typical mileage 39,415 (most between 35,451 and 46,001).

2024: 100% → 2025: 80%

Most common failures

Wipers: does not clear the windscreen effectively (20.0%)

Where 2021 X3s fail

Wheels & tyres

6.0%

Visibility & wipers

2.8%

Exhaust, emissions & leaks

2.6%

Lights & electrics

1.5%

Brakes

0.4%

Body, structure & corrosion

0.1%

Seat belts & other equipment

0.1%

Suspension & axles

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.