Pass rate
90.7%
Above average — 1.2 pts ahead of the 89.5% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 460 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £25–£57
2019 BMW 218D Luxury MOT pass rate
- 2019
- typical 38,851 mi
Most common fault
Tyres
50.7% of faults · 19.8% nationally
mostly tread below the limit, cuts and sidewall bulges.
Which year to buy
- Best 2018 92.9% pass
- Avoid 2021 88.1% pass
Across the 5 years on record, a spread of 4.8 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 89.8%
- Typical mileage
- 39k mi
The 2019 BMW 218D Luxury MOT pass rate is 90.7% of its MOT tests — 1.2 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Tyres is the biggest single reason it fails, at 50.7% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how BMW 218D Luxury does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Tyres: 2.6× the national share
Tyres make up 50.7% of everything recorded on the 2019 BMW 218d Luxury, against 19.8% nationally — 30.9 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.
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 218D Luxury? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2019 BMW 218D Luxury compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 89.5%, so this figure is 1.2 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 89.8%. The median 2019 BMW 218D Luxury in this dataset had covered 38,851 mi.
Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 90.4% of the time, April–September 90.9%.
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 3.26% of tests.
- 460 recorded tests behind this page.
- 90.7% overall pass rate, 89.8% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the BMW 218D Luxury, the average is 91.2% — best year 2018 (92.9%), worst 2021 (88.1%).
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
- 460
- Typical mileage (median)
- 38,851 mi
- Make and model
- BMW 218D Luxury
- 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 218D Luxury MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 79% so small gaps stay visible.
Regional pass rates for the 218D Luxury
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 98 | 89.8% |
| South West | 86 | 87.2% |
| North West | 69 | 94.2% |
| Scotland | 41 | 85.4% |
| East Midlands | 32 | 93.8% |
| Yorkshire | 28 | 89.3% |
| West Midlands | 27 | 100.0% |
| East of England | 22 | 95.5% |
| London | 20 | 95.0% |
| North East | 19 | 89.5% |
| Wales | 18 | 83.3% |
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 2019 218D Luxury
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 2019 218D Luxury
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 1.7% of tests
“malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction”
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 brakes 0.4% of tests
“brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick”
Look through the spokes of each wheel at the pad — less than 3mm of friction material, or a lip on the disc edge, is the usual failure. Check the handbrake holds on a slope with a few clicks, not at the top of its travel.
-
Check the coil springs 0.4% of tests
“coil spring fractured or broken”
Look up inside each wheel arch with a torch, all the way round the spring. A snapped spring usually breaks at the very bottom coil, where a quick glance will not reach.
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 2019 218D Luxury through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £25–£57 — and 41% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £25–£57
- Cheapest common item: malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or…
- £3–£12
- Dearest common item: has a cut in excess of the requirements deep…
- £45–£95
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 90%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 41%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 460 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 218D Luxury, side by side
5 model years on record, from 2018 to 2022. Across them the pass rate runs from 88.1% to 92.9% — a spread of 4.8 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2018 92.9% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2019 90.7%has a cut in excess of the…
- 2020 92.4% has a cut in excess of the…
- 2021 88.1% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2022 91.8% 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 2019 BMW 218D Luxury 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 2019 cars with a similar record
- Alfa Romeo Stelvio 90.7%
- Ford Ecosport 90.8%
- Kia Picanto 90.8%
- Volvo XC60 90.8%
- Fiat 500X 90.8%
- Audi A7 90.8%
Closest pass rates among 2019 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 2019 BMW 218D Luxury 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 291 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 | 148 | 50.70% | 19.76% | +30.94 |
| Brakes | 59 | 20.20% | 20.89% | −0.69 |
| Non-component advisories | 26 | 8.90% | 4.18% | +4.72 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 17 | 5.80% | 12.21% | −6.41 |
| Suspension | 15 | 5.10% | 20.98% | −15.88 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 12 | 4.10% | 5.52% | −1.42 |
| Visibility | 7 | 2.40% | 4.97% | −2.57 |
| Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | 4 | 1.40% | 0.82% | +0.58 |
| Road Wheels | 2 | 0.70% | 0.75% | −0.05 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 1 | 0.30% | 5.57% | −5.27 |
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 | 3.3% | £45–95 |
| Malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 1.7% | £3–12 |
| Has ply or cords exposed Tyres | Major | 0.65% | £45–95 |
| Stop lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 0.65% | £3–12 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Major | 0.43% | £18–45 |
| Coil spring fractured or broken Suspension | Major | 0.43% | £25–65 |
| Front fog lamps not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 0.43% | £3–15 |
| Headlamp aim too high Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 0.43% | £30–80 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 0.43% | £5–25 |
| Stop lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 0.43% | £3–12 |
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 | 13.7% | £45–95 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 8.7% | £45–95 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 5.0% | £18–45 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 3.5% | £45–110 |
| Non-component advisories Child Seat fitted not allowing full inspection of adult belt Non-component advisories | Advisory | 2.6% | £20–80 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 2.4% | £40–150 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 134 | 93.3% | 22,409 mi |
| 30-60k | 241 | 88.0% | 42,211 mi |
| 60-90k | 62 | 93.5% | 71,658 mi |
| 90-120k | 15 | 100.0% | 102,112 mi |
| 120k+ | 8 | 87.5% | 145,437 mi |
Source: 460 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.
2019 218D Luxury MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2019 BMW 218D Luxury?
90.7% of the 460 2019 BMW 218D Luxury tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 89.5% for cars first used in 2019. First-attempt pass rate: 89.8%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2019 BMW 218D Luxury?
The three most recorded items are has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords (3.26%), malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction (1.74%), has ply or cords exposed (0.65%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2019 BMW 218D Luxury MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 93.3% of the time, falling to 87.5% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2019 BMW 218D Luxury in this dataset had covered 38,851 mi.
Does the season affect the 2019 BMW 218D Luxury MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 90.4% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 90.9%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.