BMW 3 SERIES: 73% pass.

346,347 tests of cars aged 3 and over passed first time 73% of the time in 2025. For cars of the same ages, 65% would be expected: 8 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	80%	88%	2%	18%	56
4 years	88%	86%	2%	11%	1,253
5 years	85%	84%	2%	13%	5,649
6 years	85%	82%	2%	13%	6,145
7 years	85%	79%	1%	14%	3,830
8 years	84%	76%	3%	13%	9,222
9 years	81%	73%	4%	15%	23,669
10 years	77%	70%	5%	19%	25,192
11 years	74%	67%	5%	21%	26,258
12 years	69%	64%	6%	25%	25,101
13 years	68%	62%	6%	27%	21,332
14 years	68%	60%	6%	26%	17,144
15 years	67%	58%	6%	28%	14,184
16 years	66%	57%	6%	27%	10,275
17 years	67%	57%	7%	26%	10,586
18 years	66%	57%	7%	27%	9,831
19 years	65%	57%	8%	28%	6,264
20 years	63%	57%	7%	30%	2,703

Hybrid
Age of car	Pass first time	All cars this age	Fixed at the station	Failed	Tests
6 years	85%	82%	1%	14%	494
7 years	80%	79%	2%	18%	803
8 years	81%	76%	4%	15%	1,260
9 years	80%	73%	3%	18%	1,022
11 years	90%	67%	0%	10%	31
12 years	84%	64%	6%	9%	32

Petrol
Age of car	Pass first time	All cars this age	Fixed at the station	Failed	Tests
3 years	93%	88%	0%	7%	208
4 years	87%	86%	2%	11%	566
5 years	89%	84%	1%	10%	2,593
6 years	89%	82%	1%	10%	3,155
7 years	86%	79%	2%	12%	1,370
8 years	86%	76%	3%	11%	2,336
9 years	84%	73%	3%	13%	4,787
10 years	81%	70%	3%	15%	3,381
11 years	78%	67%	5%	18%	4,635
12 years	74%	64%	5%	21%	5,766
13 years	70%	62%	5%	24%	5,630
14 years	71%	60%	6%	24%	6,548
15 years	68%	58%	6%	26%	7,650
16 years	68%	57%	6%	26%	7,966
17 years	69%	57%	6%	25%	10,632
18 years	69%	57%	7%	24%	9,026
19 years	69%	57%	7%	25%	6,132
20 years	69%	57%	6%	26%	5,229

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.