Pass rate
91.5%
Above average — 0.8 pts ahead of the 90.7% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 57,531 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £41–£95
2020 BMW 118 MOT pass rate
- 2020
- typical 29,390 mi
Most common fault
Tyres
58.0% of faults · 19.8% nationally
mostly tread below the limit, cuts and sidewall bulges.
Part only £55–£85 for Tread depth below 1.6 mm. What fitting it takes →
5.9 pts down across model years — 9.3% in 2004, 3.4% in 2022.
Which year to buy
- Best 2023 95.9% pass
- Avoid 2004 72.4% pass
Across the 20 years on record, a spread of 23.5 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 90.8%
- Typical mileage
- 29k mi
The 2020 BMW 118 MOT pass rate is 91.5% of its MOT tests — about what its age and mileage predict. Tyres is the biggest single reason it fails, at 58.0% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how BMW 118 does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Tyres: 2.9× the national share
Tyres make up 58.0% of everything recorded on the 2020 BMW 118, against 19.8% nationally — 38.2 points above. Check all four tyres yourself, including the inner shoulders, and look at the date stamp — a tyre can pass on tread and still be six years old.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 17% of this model’s typical repairs come in under £30 in parts — the failures here tend to be the kind that need a garage rather than a bulb.
Written from this page's own figures: fault shares against the national composition, the like-for-like pass rate, and the priced repair list. How these are worked out
Watching a BMW 118? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2020 BMW 118 compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 90.7%, so this figure is 0.8 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 90.8%. The median 2020 BMW 118 in this dataset had covered 29,390 mi.
The most common fuel recorded here is Petrol — 89% of tests, with a 91.6% pass rate. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 91.2% of the time, April–September 91.8%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords", noted on 2.33% of tests.
- 57,531 recorded tests behind this page.
- 91.5% overall pass rate, 90.8% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the BMW 118, the average is 84.8% — best year 2023 (95.9%), worst 2004 (72.4%).
Figures count every completed test on this vehicle-year in the dataset, including retests. See methodology for the exact definition.
This page's data
- Tests analysed
- 57,531
- Typical mileage (median)
- 29,390 mi
- Make and model
- BMW 118
- Updated
- 2026-11-05
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Tyres
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the 118 MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 77% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Petrol is the most common here (89% of tests).
Regional pass rates for the 118
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 10,134 | 91.8% |
| North West | 9,406 | 91.5% |
| Scotland | 8,464 | 89.5% |
| West Midlands | 5,640 | 91.6% |
| Yorkshire | 4,964 | 92.8% |
| East of England | 4,853 | 91.1% |
| South West | 3,765 | 91.4% |
| East Midlands | 3,507 | 92.0% |
| London | 2,394 | 91.2% |
| North East | 2,275 | 94.3% |
| Wales | 2,128 | 92.2% |
Regions come from the postcode area recorded at the test station. Areas on region borders are assigned to the region with the majority of their population.
What fails a 2020 118
Everything a tester recorded on this vehicle, grouped into the inspection sections that produced it. The notch on each bar is the national share, so you can see at a glance whether this car is unusual or just ordinary.
A test can record several items, so these percentages do not add up to 100%. The exact strings, with prices, are in the full DVSA record at the bottom of this page.
Before your test
Three checks worth doing on a 2020 118
These are not generic tips — they are the faults recorded most often on this exact model, rewritten as things you can check yourself. All three take about ten minutes and cost nothing.
-
Check the windscreen 1.4% of tests
“windscreen damaged”
Check the driver’s side of the screen within the swept area for chips and cracks; anything larger than 10mm in the driver’s central view is a fail. Most chips can be resin-repaired for far less than a new screen.
-
Check the wipers and washers 0.9% of tests
“wipers blade defective”
Run the wipers with the screen wet: they should clear it in one sweep without smearing or juddering. Top the washer bottle up and check both jets hit the screen.
-
Check the tyre tread 0.8% of tests
“tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm”
Check all four tyres cold, including the inner shoulder where wear hides — 1.6mm across the central three-quarters is the legal limit, and most testers fail at 1.6mm without argument.
Shares are the proportion of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item, so they overlap: one test can record several.
What it costs to get a 2020 118 through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £41–£95 — and 17% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £41–£95
- Cheapest common item: wipers blade defective
- £8–£22
- Dearest common item: windscreen damaged
- £80–£200
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 80%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 17%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 57,531 MOT tests on this vehicle. They exclude diagnostics, retest fees and garage labour where the part is a DIY fit, and they are not figures from the DVSA dataset. Older and higher-mileage examples cost more than the average. How these estimates are built → · All MOT repair costs → · Cheapest cars to put through a test →
Every year of the 118, side by side
20 model years on record, from 2004 to 2023. Across them the pass rate runs from 72.4% to 95.9% — a spread of 23.5 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2004 72.4% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2005 75.2% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2006 75.4% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2007 76.9% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2008 76.8% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2009 77.1% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2010 78.1% shock absorbers has a serious…
- 2011 78.8% shock absorbers has a serious…
- 2012 78.3% shock absorbers has a serious…
- 2013 81.7% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2014 83.5% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2015 86.5% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2016 86.9% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2017 87.8% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2018 88.1% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2019 89.8% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2020 91.5%has a cut in excess of the…
- 2021 92.7% has a cut in excess of the…
- 2022 93.1% has a cut in excess of the…
- 2023 95.9% has a cut in excess of the…
Colour is the pass rate on a fixed scale, so a block means the same thing on any model. Each year links to its own page with the full fault breakdown.
Compare the 2020 BMW 118 with another year
The raw pass rate mostly measures age. The year comparison adds the like-for-like figure, the mileage bands and the repair bill.
Other 2020 cars with a similar record
- Hyundai Kona 91.5%
- Skoda Kamiq 91.5%
- Audi RS 91.5%
- Audi A4 Technik 91.5%
- Audi A3 91.6%
- Audi A1 91.4%
Closest pass rates among 2020 cars with at least 2,000 tests, so a small sample cannot flatter itself into the list. See the full rankings: best and worst MOT pass rates.
The full DVSA record for the 2020 BMW 118 10 failure items · 6 advisories · 10 inspection categories · mileage brackets · all of it in the page, none of it above the fold
Every inspection category
Shares of the 32,418 individual items recorded on this vehicle, and the same share across all cars nationally. A single test can record several items, so a row is not a percentage of tests.
| Category | Items | This car | Nationally | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tyres | 18,971 | 58.00% | 19.76% | +38.24 |
| Brakes | 5,494 | 16.80% | 20.89% | −4.09 |
| Non-component advisories | 2,677 | 8.20% | 4.18% | +4.02 |
| Visibility | 2,279 | 7.00% | 4.97% | +2.03 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 945 | 2.90% | 12.21% | −9.31 |
| Suspension | 699 | 2.10% | 20.98% | −18.88 |
| Road Wheels | 527 | 1.60% | 0.75% | +0.85 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 297 | 0.90% | 5.57% | −4.67 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 273 | 0.80% | 1.76% | −0.96 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 256 | 0.80% | 5.52% | −4.72 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords Tyres | Major | 2.3% | £45–95 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 1.4% | £80–200 |
| Wipers blade defective Visibility | Minor | 0.91% | £8–22 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Major | 0.82% | £45–95 |
| Has a bulge, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Major | 0.65% | £45–95 |
| Has ply or cords exposed Tyres | Major | 0.59% | £45–95 |
| Wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively Visibility | Major | 0.50% | £8–22 |
| Brake pads worn down to wear indicator Brakes | Major | 0.43% | £18–45 |
| Headlamp aim too high Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 0.42% | £30–80 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Major | 0.35% | £18–45 |
Severity is as recorded: Major and Dangerous fail the test outright; Minor and Advisory do not. Costs are estimates from typical UK parts prices — see how they are built.
What testers noted without failing the car
Advisories are the early warnings — the same parts a year or two before they fail. Reading them is how you tell a car that has been maintained from one that has been patched.
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 12.1% | £45–95 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 8.3% | £45–95 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 5.3% | £18–45 |
| Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords Tyres | Advisory | 3.9% | £45–95 |
| Non-component advisories Nail in tyre Non-component advisories | Advisory | 2.3% | £45–95 |
| Tread depth tread pattern not visible over the whole tread area when minimum depth required is 1.0mm Tyres | Advisory | 1.9% | £45–95 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 29,716 | 93.1% | 20,182 mi |
| 30-60k | 24,205 | 90.0% | 40,795 mi |
| 60-90k | 3,185 | 87.4% | 69,878 mi |
| 90-120k | 358 | 91.9% | 100,429 mi |
| 120k+ | 64 | 85.9% | 139,938 mi |
Source: 57,531 recorded tests on this vehicle-year. Every row above is recomputed from the same DVSA extract as the rest of the page — see the methodology.
2020 118 MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2020 BMW 118?
91.5% of the 57,531 2020 BMW 118 tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 90.7% for cars first used in 2020. First-attempt pass rate: 90.8%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2020 BMW 118?
The three most recorded items are has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords (2.33%), windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view (1.39%), wipers blade defective (0.91%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2020 BMW 118 MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 93.1% of the time, falling to 85.9% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2020 BMW 118 in this dataset had covered 29,390 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2020 BMW 118?
Petrol: 91.6% pass rate across 51,278 tests. Diesel: 90.3% pass rate across 6,253 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2020 BMW 118 MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 91.2% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 91.8%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.