Pass rate
81.3%
Around average — 7.3 pts ahead of the 74.0% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 96 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £22–£71
2009 BMW 130 MOT pass rate
- 2009
- typical 86,968 mi
Only 96 tests of this exact model and year are in the DVSA data, below the 100 we ask for before a page goes in the index. The figures are still shown, because they are the only ones there are.
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Brakes
22.1% of faults · 20.9% nationally
mostly worn pads and discs, corroded pipes and a handbrake that will not hold.
Which year to buy
- Best 2007 85.1% pass
- Avoid 2005 80.6% pass
Across the 5 years on record, a spread of 4.5 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 77.2%
- Typical mileage
- 87k mi
The 2009 BMW 130 MOT pass rate is 81.3% of its MOT tests — 7.3 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 22.1% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Beats its own age and mileage
Once you allow for how old and how far these cars have been driven, the expected pass rate is 74.0% and this one manages 81.3% — 7.3 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
- Based on a small sample. 96 tests back this page. That is enough to publish and to index, not enough to treat the decimal places as precise — read the pattern, not the second digit.
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 130? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2009 BMW 130 compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 74.0%, so this figure is 7.3 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 77.2%. The median 2009 BMW 130 in this dataset had covered 86,968 mi.
Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 84.2% of the time, April–September 79.3%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Mirrors slightly damaged", noted on 3.13% of tests.
- 96 recorded tests behind this page.
- 81.3% overall pass rate, 77.2% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the BMW 130, the average is 82.7% — best year 2007 (85.1%), worst 2005 (80.6%).
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
- 96
- Typical mileage (median)
- 86,968 mi
- Make and model
- BMW 130
- Updated
- 2026-11-07
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Bulb
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the 130 MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 68% so small gaps stay visible.
Where the BMW 130 is most common
Across all 130 model years on record (2005–2009): 1,369 BMW 130 cars tested in a recordable postcode area, across 2,907 tests. Birmingham (B) has the most, with 57 cars tested there. Cars are counted by the postcode area of the MOT station, so this is where they were tested, not necessarily where their owners live.
| # | Postcode area | Cars | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Birmingham (B) | 57 | 86.4% |
| 2 | Reading (RG) | 39 | 80.4% |
| 3 | Bristol (BS) | 39 | 82.4% |
| 4 | Guildford (GU) | 33 | 80.0% |
| 5 | Coventry (CV) | 32 | 83.6% |
| 6 | High Wycombe (HP) | 31 | 90.6% |
| 7 | Kingston upon Thames (KT) | 27 | 80.3% |
| 8 | Nottingham (NG) | 27 | 80.0% |
| 9 | Crawley (RH) | 26 | 89.6% |
| 10 | Slough (SL) | 26 | 90.5% |
| 11 | Leicester (LE) | 25 | 82.7% |
| 12 | Portsmouth (PO) | 22 | 81.3% |
| 13 | Ashford (TN) | 21 | 70.0% |
| 14 | Poole (BH) | 20 | 73.7% |
| 15 | Edinburgh (EH) | 20 | 80.0% |
| 16 | Gloucester (GL) | 20 | 86.4% |
| 17 | London (E) | 20 | 96.9% |
| 18 | Stockport (SK) | 19 | 73.5% |
| 19 | Leeds (LS) | 19 | 79.6% |
| 20 | Chelmsford (CM) | 19 | 80.5% |
The twenty areas with the most BMW 130 cars in the record, sorted by car count — sort the columns for a different question. Cars tested at a station whose postcode area could not be resolved are counted in the model's total but in no area, so the shares add up to slightly under 100% even across every area, and an area's cars are a subset of the model's. Pass rate is blank below 30 tests in an area, where a percentage is noise rather than a finding. How this model's pass rate varies by postcode →
Regional pass rates for the 130
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 30 | 83.3% |
| South West | 16 | 62.5% |
| West Midlands | 15 | 86.7% |
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 2009 130
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 2009 130
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 lights 3.1% of tests
“mirrors slightly damaged”
Switch everything on and walk round the car: both headlamps on dip and main, every indicator, both brake lights, reverse, fog and the two number-plate lamps. A bulb is a few pounds and a five-minute job.
-
Check the shock absorbers 3.1% of tests
“shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak”
Press down hard on each corner of the car and let go. It should settle in one bounce; if it keeps rocking, or you can see oil weeping down a shock absorber, that is the fault a tester will find.
-
Check the exhaust and emissions 2.1% of tests
“catalyst emissions carbon monoxide content after 2nd fast idle exceeds manufacturer's specified limits”
Listen for a blow at idle and have someone rev it gently. Then look at the tailpipe smoke: blue is oil, white when warm is coolant, black is over-fuelling. Any of those and the emissions test is the least of it.
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 2009 130 through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £22–£71 — and 50% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £22–£71
- Cheapest common item: mirrors slightly damaged
- £3–£15
- Dearest common item: catalyst emissions carbon monoxide content…
- £60–£250
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 70%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 50%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 96 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 130, side by side
5 model years on record, from 2005 to 2009. Across them the pass rate runs from 80.6% to 85.1% — a spread of 4.5 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2005 80.6% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2006 82.0% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2007 85.1% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2008 81.9% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2009 81.3%mirrors slightly damaged
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 2009 BMW 130 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 2009 cars with a similar record
- Toyota Hi-Ace 81.3%
- Nissan Elgrand 81.3%
- Mercedes-Benz S-Class 80.9%
- Subaru Impreza 80.8%
- Toyota Prius 80.6%
- Porsche Cayenne 82.0%
Closest pass rates among 2009 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 2009 BMW 130 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 136 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brakes | 30 | 22.10% | 20.89% | +1.21 |
| Tyres | 29 | 21.30% | 19.76% | +1.54 |
| Suspension | 27 | 19.90% | 20.98% | −1.08 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 13 | 9.60% | 5.52% | +4.08 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 12 | 8.80% | 12.21% | −3.41 |
| Visibility | 10 | 7.40% | 4.97% | +2.43 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 8 | 5.90% | 5.57% | +0.33 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 3 | 2.20% | 1.76% | +0.44 |
| Road Wheels | 3 | 2.20% | 0.75% | +1.45 |
| Non-component advisories | 1 | 0.70% | 4.18% | −3.48 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mirrors slightly damaged Visibility | Minor | 3.1% | £3–15 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 3.1% | £5–20 |
| Shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak Suspension | Major | 3.1% | £30–75 |
| Catalyst emissions carbon monoxide content after 2nd fast idle exceeds manufacturer's specified limits Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 2.1% | £60–250 |
| Headlamp aim too low Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 2.1% | £30–80 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Major | 2.1% | £40–150 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Major | 2.1% | £45–95 |
| Washers provides insufficient washer liquid Visibility | Major | 2.1% | £5–15 |
| Wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively Visibility | Major | 2.1% | £8–22 |
| Anti-lock braking system warning lamp indicates an ABS fault Brakes | Major | 1.0% | £3–15 |
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 | 18.8% | £45–95 |
| Flexible brake hoses excessively deteriorated Brakes | Advisory | 9.4% | £25–70 |
| Shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak Suspension | Advisory | 8.3% | £30–75 |
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 7.3% | £200–700 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 7.3% | £40–150 |
| Flexible couplings excessively deteriorated Body, chassis, structure | Advisory | 5.2% | £80–250 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30-60k | 18 | 88.9% | 48,033 mi |
| 60-90k | 34 | 82.4% | 75,916 mi |
| 90-120k | 26 | 76.9% | 102,193 mi |
| 120k+ | 18 | 77.8% | 131,205 mi |
Source: 96 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.
2009 130 MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2009 BMW 130?
81.3% of the 96 2009 BMW 130 tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 74.0% for cars first used in 2009. First-attempt pass rate: 77.2%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2009 BMW 130?
The three most recorded items are mirrors slightly damaged (3.13%), registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources (3.13%), shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak (3.13%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2009 BMW 130 MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 88.9% of the time, falling to 77.8% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2009 BMW 130 in this dataset had covered 86,968 mi.
Does the season affect the 2009 BMW 130 MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 84.2% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 79.3%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.