BMW MOT pass rates by model

Every completed first-attempt MOT on a class-4 BMW in Great Britain in 2025 — 1,887,439 tests. How they age, and how each model compares, computed by SortedCars from the official DVSA record of every test.

BMW pass rate 2025
79.3%
7.0 points above the class-4 average (72.3%); covers all BMW class-4 vehicles; unadjusted for fleet age — the age-matched comparison is below
Tests analysed
1,887,439
first tests, 2025
Models tracked
26
with 2,000+ tests in 2025
Arrived with a dangerous fault
6.8%
of BMW first tests; national 7.3%

How many BMW cars are still on the road?

At the end of 2025, DVLA's register held 2,380,519 BMW cars that were taxed or on SORN: 2,110,033 taxed and 270,486 on SORN (Statutory Off Road Notification — kept, but declared off the road by the keeper), so 88.6% of them were taxed. DVLA lists 60 named BMW car models, counted across the whole United Kingdom. A further 4,575 taxed BMW cars are on the register with no model name recorded; they are in the totals here and under no model below. These are counts of cars, not tests, and cars only: vans, pickups and motorhomes are recorded as goods vehicles or motor caravans in the licensing data and are not in these figures. The model table below carries the count for each model DVLA records under a name of its own.

Still taxed, end of 2025
2,110,033
88.6% of the 2,380,519 BMW cars taxed or on SORN
On SORN, end of 2025
270,486
declared off the road by their keepers — 11.4% of that total

Population source: Department for Transport / DVLA vehicle licensing statistics, table VEH0124, updated 15 July 2026; counts of the cars on DVLA's register that were taxed or on SORN at the end of each year shown, United Kingdom, cars only; the make totals include cars recorded with no model name, the model figures exclude them. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. SortedCars is not affiliated with, or endorsed by, DVLA or the Department for Transport.

How BMW cars age

First-time pass rate by vehicle age, BMW vs all cars, 2025.

BMWAll cars
50%60%70%80%90%100%3579111315171920Vehicle age (years)BMW, vehicle age 3: 88.1%BMW, vehicle age 4: 88.7%BMW, vehicle age 5: 88.1%BMW, vehicle age 6: 87%BMW, vehicle age 7: 85.3%BMW, vehicle age 8: 83.8%BMW, vehicle age 9: 82.3%BMW, vehicle age 10: 80.1%BMW, vehicle age 11: 76.6%BMW, vehicle age 12: 73.1%BMW, vehicle age 13: 69.8%BMW, vehicle age 14: 70.9%BMW, vehicle age 15: 69.4%BMW, vehicle age 16: 68.4%BMW, vehicle age 17: 68.8%BMW, vehicle age 18: 68.6%BMW, vehicle age 19: 67%BMW, vehicle age 20: 66.1%All cars, vehicle age 3: 88.5%All cars, vehicle age 4: 87.2%All cars, vehicle age 5: 86%All cars, vehicle age 6: 83.5%All cars, vehicle age 7: 80.9%All cars, vehicle age 8: 78.2%All cars, vehicle age 9: 74.9%All cars, vehicle age 10: 71.9%All cars, vehicle age 11: 68.6%All cars, vehicle age 12: 65.8%All cars, vehicle age 13: 63.5%All cars, vehicle age 14: 61.2%All cars, vehicle age 15: 59.3%All cars, vehicle age 16: 58.3%All cars, vehicle age 17: 57.2%All cars, vehicle age 18: 57.4%All cars, vehicle age 19: 57%All cars, vehicle age 20: 57.6%BMW 66.1%All cars 57.6%
View this chart as a table
Age (years)BMW testsBMW pass rateAll cars
3108,01688.1%88.5%
4112,80888.7%87.2%
5108,75388.1%86.0%
6159,79687.0%83.5%
7157,55385.3%80.9%
8155,74183.8%78.2%
9160,98282.3%74.9%
10145,04780.1%71.9%
11123,35776.6%68.6%
12107,81573.1%65.8%
1393,54769.8%63.5%
1474,49970.9%61.2%
1564,13669.4%59.3%
1653,95768.4%58.3%
1746,98368.8%57.2%
1846,67168.6%57.4%
1938,43467.0%57.0%
2029,10166.1%57.6%

Better or worse than the average car?

BMW's pass rate minus the all-cars pass rate at each age, in percentage points. Bars above zero: BMW beats the average car of that age. Below zero: it trails.

BMW aheadBMW behind
-12-6+0+6+12Age 3: -0.4 points vs the average car3Age 4: +1.5 points vs the average carAge 5: +2.1 points vs the average car5Age 6: +3.5 points vs the average carAge 7: +4.4 points vs the average car7Age 8: +5.6 points vs the average carAge 9: +7.4 points vs the average car9Age 10: +8.2 points vs the average carAge 11: +8.0 points vs the average car11Age 12: +7.3 points vs the average carAge 13: +6.3 points vs the average car13Age 14: +9.7 points vs the average carAge 15: +10.1 points vs the average car15Age 16: +10.1 points vs the average carAge 17: +11.6 points vs the average car17Age 18: +11.2 points vs the average carAge 19: +10.0 points vs the average car19Age 20: +8.5 points vs the average car20Vehicle age (years)
View this chart as a table
Age (years)Gap (points)
3-0.4
4+1.5
5+2.1
6+3.5
7+4.4
8+5.6
9+7.4
10+8.2
11+8.0
12+7.3
13+6.3
14+9.7
15+10.1
16+10.1
17+11.6
18+11.2
19+10.0
20+8.5

The BMW fleet on the road, by age

How many BMW cars of each age took a first MOT in 2025 — the shape of the BMW fleet still in use.

050k100k150k200kAge 3: 108k3Age 4: 112kAge 5: 108k5Age 6: 159kAge 7: 157k7Age 8: 155kAge 9: 160k9Age 10: 145kAge 11: 123k11Age 12: 107kAge 13: 93k13Age 14: 74kAge 15: 64k15Age 16: 53kAge 17: 46k17Age 18: 46kAge 19: 38k19Age 20: 29k20Vehicle age (years)
View this chart as a table
Age (years)First tests
3108,016
4112,808
5108,753
6159,796
7157,553
8155,741
9160,982
10145,047
11123,357
12107,815
1393,547
1474,499
1564,136
1653,957
1746,983
1846,671
1938,434
2029,101

What a BMW fails on

Where the failure items land when a BMW fails or needs a fix at test, 2025. Every make has a signature — this is BMW's.

Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment22.5%
Tyres22.0%
Suspension17.4%
Brakes14.3%
Visibility8.3%
Noise, emissions and leaks5.5%
Road Wheels2.8%
Body, chassis, structure2.8%

Share of all failure items, 2025 — the 8 biggest categories shown (95.5% of the items); smaller categories are not listed.

The advisories to watch

Where testers most often write "keep an eye on this" on a BMW, 2025 — the faults in the post.

Tyres: 35.6% of advisories35.6%Brakes: 26.6% of advisories26.6%Suspension: 18.6% of advisories18.6%Non-component advisories: 6.7% of advisoriesNoise, emissions and leaks: 5.5% of advisoriesBody, chassis, structure: 2.1% of advisories
TyresBrakesSuspensionNon-component advisoriesNoise, emissions and leaksBody, chassis, structure
View this chart as a table
CategoryShare of advisories
Tyres35.6%
Brakes26.6%
Suspension18.6%
Non-component advisories6.7%
Noise, emissions and leaks5.5%
Body, chassis, structure2.1%

Petrol, diesel or hybrid BMW?

First-time pass rate for the five most-tested fuel types, 2025, against the all-cars average. Fleet ages differ by fuel — newer fleets help the electrified bars.

50%60%70%80%90%100%all cars 72.3%Diesel: 76.6% of 1,005,135 tests76.6%Diesel1,005,135 testsPetrol: 81.2% of 685,374 tests81.2%Petrol685,374 testsHybrid electric: 86.4% of 107,682 tests86.4%Hybrid107,682 testsElectric diesel: 87.5% of 48,329 tests87.5%Electric diesel48,329 testsElectric: 86.6% of 40,752 tests86.6%Electric40,752 tests
View this chart as a table
FuelTestsPass rate
Diesel1,005,13576.6%
Petrol685,37481.2%
Hybrid electric107,68286.4%
Electric diesel48,32987.5%
Electric40,75286.6%

What mileage is normal for a BMW?

Mileage recorded at test by vehicle age, all BMW class-4 vehicles, 2025. The line is the typical (median) BMW; the shaded band holds the middle half. A car far outside the band, in either direction, is worth questions the recorded history can answer.

Typical BMW (median)
0k25k50k75k100k125k150k175k3579111315171920Vehicle age (years)Age 3: typical 26,250 miles (middle half 18,750–36,250)Age 4: typical 33,750 miles (middle half 26,250–48,750)Age 5: typical 38,750 miles (middle half 28,750–53,750)Age 6: typical 46,250 miles (middle half 33,750–63,750)Age 7: typical 56,250 miles (middle half 41,250–73,750)Age 8: typical 66,250 miles (middle half 51,250–86,250)Age 9: typical 76,250 miles (middle half 56,250–96,250)Age 10: typical 83,750 miles (middle half 63,750–108,750)Age 11: typical 93,750 miles (middle half 73,750–118,750)Age 12: typical 101,250 miles (middle half 78,750–128,750)Age 13: typical 108,750 miles (middle half 83,750–136,250)Age 14: typical 113,750 miles (middle half 88,750–141,250)Age 15: typical 118,750 miles (middle half 91,250–146,250)Age 16: typical 118,750 miles (middle half 91,250–148,750)Age 17: typical 121,250 miles (middle half 93,750–151,250)Age 18: typical 128,750 miles (middle half 98,750–158,750)Age 19: typical 131,250 miles (middle half 101,250–163,750)Age 20: typical 131,250 miles (middle half 98,750–163,750)131k mi

Mileage values are midpoints of 2,500-mile bands.

View this chart as a table
Age (years)Lower quarterTypical (median)Upper quarter
318,75026,25036,250
426,25033,75048,750
528,75038,75053,750
633,75046,25063,750
741,25056,25073,750
851,25066,25086,250
956,25076,25096,250
1063,75083,750108,750
1173,75093,750118,750
1278,750101,250128,750
1383,750108,750136,250
1488,750113,750141,250
1591,250118,750146,250
1691,250118,750148,750
1793,750121,250151,250
1898,750128,750158,750
19101,250131,250163,750
2098,750131,250163,750

Every BMW model in the data

First-time pass rate per model, 2025. Every model with at least 2,000 tests is listed — all 26 of them, ordered by number of tests; models with 5,000+ tests link to their own page. All trims and variants are grouped under one model name. Pass rates are unadjusted for age: models with older fleets sit lower. The last three columns are the number of that model on DVLA's register at the end of 2025 — taxed, on SORN, and the taxed share — from the licensing statistics rather than the MOT record. They are left blank for vans, pickups and car-and-van models, which the licensing data counts as goods vehicles rather than cars, and for models DVLA does not record under a name of their own. DVLA's model groupings do not always draw the line where the MOT grouping does; each model page says what its count covers.

Model Tests 2025Pass rate Taxed, end 2025SORN, end 2025 Taxed share
3 Series478,77276.0%472,393120,61579.7%
1 Series395,03276.4%432,32624,58994.6%
5 Series205,79879.7%199,28841,84882.6%
2 Series135,79183.8%144,7561,67498.9%
X1112,49382.4%129,7232,59498.0%
4 Series111,94583.5%113,9132,79097.6%
X3108,57780.9%123,9645,68195.6%
X592,81280.3%106,39014,77787.8%
Z435,18077.7%32,4587,97280.3%
i326,18686.9%25,25140098.4%
6 Series21,67479.6%19,6604,82080.3%
X221,32986.0%26,66019499.3%
X418,79484.8%20,54030498.5%
7 Series18,60084.5%18,6397,70170.8%
M316,38386.8%27,88110,50272.6%
X616,00883.3%16,5991,44992.0%
M413,62087.8%20,0191,22694.2%
Z311,19570.3%6,7009,20042.1%
iX39,59885.4%19,2246599.7%
i46,95884.0%39,48821799.5%
8 Series6,79484.7%6,6741,27084.0%
iX5,72885.9%44,63548398.9%
M23,83788.5%24,43383796.7%
M53,82987.6%6,1392,86868.2%
X72,62185.8%5,93520196.7%
i82,14289.8%2,03324989.1%

BMW models ranked by pass rate

All 22 grouped BMW car models with 5,000 or more first tests in 2025, highest first-time pass rate first — the full field at that floor. Pass rates are unadjusted for fleet age — a model whose fleet runs older sits lower for that reason alone. Neighbouring rows can be effectively level, and models sharing a published rate share a rank.

RankModelTests 2025Pass rate
1BMW M413,62087.8%
2BMW i326,18686.9%
3BMW M316,38386.8%
4BMW X221,32986.0%
5BMW iX5,72885.9%
6BMW iX39,59885.4%
7BMW X418,79484.8%
8BMW 8 Series6,79484.7%
9BMW 7 Series18,60084.5%
10BMW i46,95884.0%
11BMW 2 Series135,79183.8%
12BMW 4 Series111,94583.5%
13BMW X616,00883.3%
14BMW X1112,49382.4%
15BMW X3108,57780.9%
16BMW X592,81280.3%
17BMW 5 Series205,79879.7%
18BMW 6 Series21,67479.6%
19BMW Z435,18077.7%
20BMW 1 Series395,03276.4%
21BMW 3 Series478,77276.0%
22BMW Z311,19570.3%

More vehicles we've checked

How these figures are computed. Every number on this page is calculated by SortedCars from the DVSA anonymised MOT results dataset (every MOT test in Great Britain — 2025 for single-year figures; trend figures state their span, currently 2023–2025). Where a figure comes from a sample or uses banded values (mileage is banded to 2,500 miles), the page says so beside the figure. Test class 4 only, first tests only — retests are excluded. Class 4 is the car MOT class and also covers car-derived vans, pickups and motorhomes tested to the same standard; where this page says "cars" it means class 4. Pass rate = passes ÷ (passes + failures + pass-after-rectification): a vehicle that failed and was fixed during the visit counts as a fail. Pass rates describe fleets, not individual machines: they reflect how cars were driven, maintained and used as well as how they were built, and beyond recorded mileage none of that is in the data. A well-kept example of a model with a weak average can still pass; a neglected example of a strong one can still fail. No figure is shown for any group with fewer than 500 tests. Alias spellings of a make in the DVSA file are counted under one make name, and all trims and variants of a model are grouped under one model name, using SortedCars' grouping tables. The taxed and SORN counts on this page are the one exception: they are not computed from MOT records but taken from the Department for Transport's vehicle licensing statistics (DfT/DVLA table VEH0124, updated 15 July 2026, Open Government Licence v3.0), which count the cars on DVLA's register that were taxed or on SORN at the end of each year shown, UK-wide, cars only. They describe a model as a whole, grouped under SortedCars' model names, and say nothing about any one car. “Dangerous” is DVSA's statutory defect category (in force since May 2018): a defect posing an immediate risk to road safety — driving the vehicle before repair is an offence. What these figures are for. These statistics are general information about groups of vehicles. They are not advice, a valuation or a recommendation to buy, avoid or price any particular vehicle, and no decision about one car should rest on them alone — check the car itself and its own records. We take care over the calculations, but we cannot guarantee they are complete, current or free of error, and we accept no liability for loss arising from reliance on them. This does not limit any liability that cannot lawfully be limited — see our Terms & Conditions. If you believe any figure on this page is inaccurate, contact us. SortedCars is not affiliated with, or endorsed by, the DVSA or DVLA. DVSA publishes the raw test records; the statistics on this page are SortedCars' own calculations from them. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.