Play in steering rack inner joint on the BMW 3 Series
Play in steering rack inner joint on the BMW 3 Series is recorded on 43,614 tests — 3.3% of all its MOT tests, against 1.6% across every car in the data. That is 2.1× the national share.
Is this unusual for this model?
| Compared with | What it says |
|---|---|
| Every car in the data | 1.6% of tests record it — this model is 2.1× that share |
| The 325 models compared | 51 of 325, highest first |
| The model's own record | 1,302,681 tests · every year of the 3 Series → |
A share of tests is not a probability for your car: it counts every BMW 3 Series tested, whatever its mileage, service history and use. The like-for-like comparison on the model page is the fairer number.
Year by year
In 2000, 6.1% of this model's tests recorded it; in 2018, 0.4%. The share has fallen 5.7 points over that time. Worst year 2013 at 10.1%; best 2018 at 0.4%.
| Year | Failures recorded | Tests | Share of tests |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 568 | 9,337 | 6.1% |
| 2001 | 923 | 17,803 | 5.2% |
| 2002 | 957 | 27,568 | 3.5% |
| 2003 | 1,307 | 35,682 | 3.7% |
| 2004 | 996 | 33,774 | 3.0% |
| 2005 | 1,092 | 44,337 | 2.5% |
| 2006 | 1,027 | 69,154 | 1.5% |
| 2007 | 1,330 | 93,159 | 1.4% |
| 2008 | 1,076 | 81,169 | 1.3% |
| 2009 | 633 | 83,450 | 0.8% |
| 2010 | 797 | 92,902 | 0.9% |
| 2011 | 639 | 99,851 | 0.6% |
| 2012 | 10,320 | 117,613 | 8.8% |
| 2013 | 11,662 | 116,041 | 10.1% |
| 2014 | 6,612 | 104,635 | 6.3% |
| 2015 | 1,764 | 103,163 | 1.7% |
| 2016 | 1,549 | 82,163 | 1.9% |
| 2017 | 195 | 12,195 | 1.6% |
| 2018 | 102 | 28,395 | 0.4% |
Years with fewer than 0.2% of tests recording the item are left out: a year with two failures in 400 tests is noise, and this table is not here to make noise look like a trend.
What it costs
A typical UK repair for this item is £120–£300 fitted. It is a job for a garage, not a driveway. What the part is, and what to buy →
Prices are typical UK supply-and-fitting estimates, not quotes. What happens if it fails covers the retest rules.
Where this sits
- Play in steering rack inner joint: every model, every year → — the item's own page, with the part guide.
- BMW 3 Series MOT pass rate by year → — the model's whole record, and what else it fails on.
- Every BMW model →