BMW 120: 71% pass.

38,449 tests of cars aged 3 and over passed first time 71% of the time in 2025. For cars of the same ages, 66% would be expected: 5 points better than that.

How it does as it ages.

01 / By age

Source: Anonymised MOT tests and results (Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency) Checked 4 Nov 2026, 13:37

Diesel
Age of car	Pass first time	All cars this age	Fixed at the station	Failed	Tests
3 years	90%	88%	1%	8%	147
4 years	89%	86%	1%	10%	512
5 years	83%	84%	2%	15%	479
6 years	81%	82%	4%	15%	565
7 years	84%	79%	3%	13%	1,155
8 years	81%	76%	3%	16%	2,237
9 years	81%	73%	3%	16%	2,892
10 years	75%	70%	5%	19%	2,909
11 years	73%	67%	6%	21%	2,798
12 years	69%	64%	5%	25%	1,590
13 years	66%	62%	6%	28%	2,690
14 years	64%	60%	7%	29%	2,672
15 years	63%	58%	7%	30%	2,507
16 years	63%	57%	7%	31%	2,446
17 years	66%	57%	8%	26%	1,996
18 years	62%	57%	8%	30%	1,515
19 years	61%	57%	8%	31%	1,489
20 years	64%	57%	8%	28%	904

Petrol
Age of car	Pass first time	All cars this age	Fixed at the station	Failed	Tests
5 years	92%	84%	2%	6%	122
6 years	89%	82%	3%	9%	518
7 years	88%	79%	2%	10%	593
8 years	86%	76%	2%	12%	707
9 years	85%	73%	3%	12%	713
10 years	79%	70%	5%	16%	153
11 years	79%	67%	5%	16%	131
12 years	68%	64%	6%	27%	157
13 years	75%	62%	3%	22%	356
14 years	68%	60%	7%	24%	617
15 years	70%	58%	8%	22%	671
16 years	68%	57%	8%	25%	733
17 years	62%	57%	7%	31%	617
18 years	63%	57%	12%	25%	255
19 years	71%	57%	6%	22%	241
20 years	64%	57%	8%	28%	296

Ages with fewer than 30 tests are left out. "All cars this age" is every make and model at that age, so you can see whether this one does better or worse than most.

A pass rate is the share of normal MOT tests a car passed first time, with no repair needed at the test station. A car that failed and was fixed on the spot is counted separately. Retests, aborted tests and other vehicles are left out.
The figures say how often cars of a kind pass, not how reliable or safe they are. Cars that are looked after better, or that are driven fewer miles, pass more often, and that differs by model. Groups of fewer than 30 tests are left out.
Make and model names are as DVSA records them, and a model can appear under more than one name.

More on BMW and costs.

02 / Related

Data sources

Anonymised MOT tests and results (Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency). Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. MOT test results for cars, counted by make, model and age from DVSA's anonymised data. The counts are ours; DVSA does not endorse them.