MOT pass rate · 2025 data
BMW 120 MOT pass rate
The BMW 120 passed 77.04% of its 38,567 initial MOT tests in 2025 — in line with the 77.3% average across all cars tested that year.
How the BMW 120 holds up with age
Every car fails the MOT more often as it gets older. What matters when you are buying is how steeply that happens for this particular model. These are the 2025 pass rates for the BMW 120 grouped by the vehicle's age at the time of the test.
| Age at test | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| 3–5 years | 944 | 89.19% |
| 6–10 years | 11,269 | 85.23% |
| 11 years and over | 26,349 | 73.1% |
The BMW 120 drops 16.1 percentage points between its early years and the 11-plus bracket, which is a steep decline. On an older example, the MOT history is worth reading closely before you buy.
Why the BMW 120 fails its MOT
Across every BMW 120 that failed its 2025 MOT, the most common area of failure was suspension, accounting for 21.01% of all recorded failure items. These are the areas worth having checked before you buy, and worth budgeting for on an older example.
| Failure area | Share of failure items | Recorded items |
|---|---|---|
| Suspension | 21.01% | 4,618 |
| Brakes | 20.07% | 4,411 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 18.67% | 4,103 |
| Tyres | 18.25% | 4,010 |
| Visibility | 7.74% | 1,701 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 5.09% | 1,118 |
How the BMW 120 compares
Ranked on pass rate, the BMW 120 sits 381st of 651 models in this data , and 71st of the 77 BMW models covered . BMW as a whole averaged 82.85%, so this model runs 5.8 points behind its own brand average.
What this means when buying a used BMW 120
A pass rate is a population average, not a verdict on the specific car in front of you. The average BMW 120 came to its 2025 test at 101,321 miles and 13.1 years old. Most examples tested were diesel.
The useful check is the individual car's own MOT record: how many times it has failed, what for, and whether advisories keep reappearing. A recurring advisory on corrosion, suspension or brakes tells you far more than a model-wide average, and a mileage that does not move consistently between tests is a warning in itself.
Check a specific BMW 120
Run the registration through a free MOT history check to see that car's test results, advisories and recorded mileages. For the risks an MOT never covers — outstanding finance, insurance write-off records, stolen markers and ownership history — a full car history check brings them together in one £15 report.
Also useful: mileage check · write-off check · free car check
Other BMW models
- BMW 3 Series 77.74% pass rate · 346,651 tests
- BMW 118 83.02% pass rate · 152,065 tests
- BMW X1 85.23% pass rate · 110,526 tests
- BMW X3 84.47% pass rate · 107,873 tests
- BMW 116 78.55% pass rate · 100,563 tests
- BMW X5 83.17% pass rate · 92,379 tests
Models with a similar pass rate
- Audi A4 77.09% pass rate
- Mercedes-Benz A-Class 77.86% pass rate
- Kia Picanto 76.85% pass rate
- Volkswagen Passat 75.9% pass rate
- Ford Ranger 77.42% pass rate
- Dacia Sandero 75.9% pass rate
Figures aggregated from the DVSA MOT Anonymised data set for 2025, class 4 initial tests only, contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Retests are excluded, so these are first-time pass rates.