BMW 3 Series MOT pass rate by year
How the BMW 3 Series's MOT pass rate changes year by year, from 1981 to 2021, across the DVSA record.
What is the BMW 3 Series MOT pass rate by year?
The MOT pass and failure rate for each BMW 3 Series model year, from the DVSA record. Only years with at least 1,000 tests are shown, so each figure is a real average rather than a handful of cars. The BMW 3 Series averages 24.9% failures across all years.
| Year | Pass rate | Failure rate | Tests |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | 69.3% | 30.7% | 1,493 |
| 1982 | 70.6% | 29.4% | 2,716 |
| 1983 | 69.8% | 30.2% | 1,289 |
| 1984 | 68.3% | 31.7% | 3,333 |
| 1985 | 67.8% | 32.2% | 5,746 |
| 1986 | 68.3% | 31.7% | 12,577 |
| 1987 | 68.9% | 31.1% | 22,345 |
| 1988 | 69.2% | 30.8% | 37,652 |
| 1989 | 69.0% | 31.0% | 65,200 |
| 1990 | 69.1% | 30.9% | 77,324 |
| 1991 | 66.8% | 33.2% | 81,889 |
| 1992 | 64.6% | 35.4% | 91,726 |
| 1993 | 63.7% | 36.3% | 113,834 |
| 1994 | 64.0% | 36.0% | 147,192 |
| 1995 | 64.6% | 35.4% | 215,288 |
| 1996 | 65.6% | 34.4% | 260,301 |
| 1997 | 66.6% | 33.4% | 290,256 |
| 1998 | 67.2% | 32.8% | 328,203 |
| 1999 | 68.0% | 32.0% | 529,267 |
| 2000 | 68.6% | 31.4% | 604,635 |
| 2001 | 69.8% | 30.2% | 770,440 |
| 2002 | 72.4% | 27.6% | 906,984 |
| 2003 | 73.5% | 26.5% | 920,194 |
| 2004 | 73.5% | 26.5% | 713,710 |
| 2005 | 76.3% | 23.7% | 670,498 |
| 2006 | 78.3% | 21.7% | 776,806 |
| 2007 | 78.5% | 21.5% | 877,743 |
| 2008 | 78.4% | 21.6% | 672,818 |
| 2009 | 78.5% | 21.5% | 540,048 |
| 2010 | 79.5% | 20.5% | 545,272 |
| 2011 | 80.3% | 19.7% | 521,279 |
| 2012 | 79.9% | 20.1% | 526,096 |
| 2013 | 82.2% | 17.8% | 460,958 |
| 2014 | 83.5% | 16.5% | 370,423 |
| 2015 | 85.9% | 14.1% | 318,278 |
| 2016 | 87.4% | 12.6% | 224,425 |
| 2017 | 88.1% | 11.9% | 28,533 |
| 2018 | 88.4% | 11.6% | 56,683 |
| 2019 | 87.9% | 12.1% | 63,644 |
| 2020 | 88.1% | 11.9% | 14,034 |
| 2021 | 89.9% | 10.1% | 1,213 |
Does age change how often a BMW 3 Series fails?
Older BMW 3 Seriess fail more often, as expected. The 1981 cars fail 30.7% of tests against 10.1% for the 2021. Across every year the model averages 24.9%. The 1993 is the weakest year at 36.3%, and the 2021 the strongest at 10.1%.
More on the BMW 3 Series
The full failure breakdown for this model, and how it compares to others.
| See also |
|---|
| BMW 3 Series: common MOT failures and the parts that fix them |
| All BMW models compared by MOT failure rate |
| MOT failure rates across Britain |
Sources: DVSA MOT History API: MOT test results and defect data ยท DVSA MOT testing data for Great Britain