Calculate my fail sheet

2016 BMW 228 MOT pass rate

Check your postcode

Pass rate by postcode →

Pass rate

86.9%

Above average — 2.9 pts ahead of the 84.0% that cars this age and mileage manage.

Across 651 recorded tests.

Typical repair bill £42–£102

Which year to buy

  • Best 2016 86.9% pass · this year
  • Avoid 2015 85.7% pass

Across the 3 years on record, a spread of 1.2 points. See every year →

First-attempt pass
85.2%
Typical mileage
51k mi

The 2016 BMW 228 MOT pass rate is 86.9% of its MOT tests — 2.9 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Tyres is the biggest single reason it fails, at 32.3% of what testers record.

MOT PASS RATES

The 2016 BMW 228 on the real record

86.9% of 2016 BMW 228 MOTs passed — 651 tests, 2023–2025

Pass rate

The answer from the DVSA's class-4 MOT records.

Expert verdict

Tyres: 1.6× the national share

Tyres make up 32.3% of everything recorded on the 2016 BMW 228, against 19.8% nationally — 12.5 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 228? Get an email when these numbers change .

How does the 2016 BMW 228 compare?

Cars of this age and mileage average 84.0%, so this figure is 2.9 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 85.2%. The median 2016 BMW 228 in this dataset had covered 50,830 mi.

Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 86.9% of the time, April–September 87.0%.

The single most recorded failure item is "Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view", noted on 3.07% of tests.

  • 651 recorded tests behind this page.
  • 86.9% overall pass rate, 85.2% on a first attempt.
  • Across every year of the BMW 228, the average is 86.3% — best year 2016 (86.9%), worst 2015 (85.7%).

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
651
Typical mileage (median)
50,830 mi
Make and model
BMW 228
Updated
2026-11-07

Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.

Top part to budget for

Windscreen

Typically a garage job — get quotes before committing.

Does mileage affect the 228 MOT pass rate?

0-30k 91.2%
30-60k 88.4%
60-90k 83.8%
90-120k 76.3%
120k+ 100.0%

Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 68% so small gaps stay visible.

Regional pass rates for the 228

Region Tests Pass rate
South East 190 86.3%
East of England 113 89.4%
West Midlands 55 89.1%
North West 54 88.9%
London 50 92.0%
South West 48 83.3%
Yorkshire 45 88.9%
East Midlands 36 83.3%
Scotland 28 78.6%
Wales 24 87.5%

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 2016 228

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.

Tyres 32.3%
+12.5 pts vs national national 19.8% Compare tyre prices
Brakes 21.7%
+0.8 pts vs national national 20.9% Price brakes parts
Suspension 12.1%
−8.9 pts vs national national 21.0% Price suspension parts
Emissions & leaks 8.6%
+3.1 pts vs national national 5.5% Price emissions & leaks parts
Show the other 6 fault categories
  • Visibility 7.3%
  • Lamps & electrics 4.9%
  • Road wheels 4.9%
  • Advisories 3.4%
  • Body & chassis 1.9%
  • Steering 1.1%

Shares are of every item recorded on 2016 BMW 228 tests — a composition, so they add to 100% across all sections, not per test.

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 2016 228

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.

  1. Check the windscreen 3.1% 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.

  2. Check the shock absorbers 2.3% 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.

  3. Check the tyre tread 0.9% 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 2016 228 through its MOT

Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £42–£102 — and 14% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.

Average repair across the 10 common items
£42–£102
Cheapest common item: washers provides insufficient washer liquid
£5–£15
Dearest common item: windscreen damaged
£80–£200
Common items a careful owner can do at home
80%
Repairs that still cost under £30
14%

Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 651 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 228, side by side

3 model years on record, from 2014 to 2016. Across them the pass rate runs from 85.7% to 86.9% — a spread of 1.2 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.

  1. 2014 86.8% shock absorbers has a serious…
  2. 2015 85.7% shock absorbers has a serious…
  3. 2016 86.9%
    windscreen damaged but not…

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 2016 BMW 228 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.

Compare 2016 with another year →

Compare two different cars instead →

Other 2016 cars with a similar record

Closest pass rates among 2016 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 2016 BMW 228 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 525 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 173 32.30% 19.76% +12.54
Brakes 116 21.70% 20.89% +0.81
Suspension 65 12.10% 20.98% −8.88
Noise, emissions and leaks 46 8.60% 5.52% +3.08
Visibility 39 7.30% 4.97% +2.33
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 26 4.90% 12.21% −7.31
Road Wheels 26 4.90% 0.75% +4.15
Non-component advisories 18 3.40% 4.18% −0.78
Body, chassis, structure 10 1.90% 5.57% −3.67
Steering 6 1.10% 2.57% −1.47

The exact failure items, in the tester's words

Share of the 651 tests on this vehicle that recorded each item
Recorded item Severity Tests Est. cost Part
Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility Minor 3.1% £80–200 Windscreen →
Shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak Suspension Major 2.3% £30–75 Shock Absorber →
Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords Tyres Major 1.5% £45–95 Tyres →
Has a bulge, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres Major 1.1% £45–95 Tyres →
Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres Major 0.92% £45–95 Tyres →
Washers provides insufficient washer liquid Visibility Major 0.92% £5–15 Windscreen Washer →
Headlamp cleaning device for LED or HID headlamp inoperative Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment Major 0.77% £5–25 Headlight Bulb →
Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes Major 0.61% £18–45 Brake Pads Set →
Fixing missing Road Wheels Major 0.61% £20–55 Wheel Hub Bearing Kit →
Headlamp aim too high Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment Rectified 0.61% £30–80 Headlight Alignment →

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.

Items recorded as advisory on this vehicle
Recorded item Severity Tests Est. cost
Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres Advisory 14.4% £45–95
Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes Advisory 9.1% £18–45
Transmission oil leaks leaking excessively from transmission Noise, emissions and leaks Advisory 4.5% £200–700
Shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak Suspension Advisory 4.3% £30–75
Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes Advisory 4.2% £45–110
Badly distorted Road Wheels Advisory 3.1% £20–55

Pass rate by mileage

Mileage Tests Pass rate Median odometer
0-30k 91 91.2% 21,172 mi
30-60k 337 88.4% 45,846 mi
60-90k 179 83.8% 70,971 mi
90-120k 38 76.3% 100,644 mi
120k+ 6 100.0% 132,310 mi

Source: 651 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.

2016 228 MOT questions

What is the MOT pass rate for a 2016 BMW 228?

86.9% of the 651 2016 BMW 228 tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 84.0% for cars first used in 2016. First-attempt pass rate: 85.2%.

What are the most common MOT failures on a 2016 BMW 228?

The three most recorded items are windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view (3.07%), shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak (2.30%), has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords (1.54%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.

Does mileage affect the 2016 BMW 228 MOT pass rate?

Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 91.2% of the time, falling to 100.0% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2016 BMW 228 in this dataset had covered 50,830 mi.

Does the season affect the 2016 BMW 228 MOT pass rate?

Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 86.9% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 87.0%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.