Pass rate
75.6%
Around average — 3.0 pts ahead of the 72.6% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 2,497 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £38–£109
2003 BMW 316 MOT pass rate
- 2003
- typical 91,298 mi
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Brakes
26.2% of faults · 20.9% nationally
mostly worn pads and discs, corroded pipes and a handbrake that will not hold.
Part only £25–£55 for Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded. What fitting it takes →
12.8 pts down across model years — 13.5% in 2000, 0.7% in 2015.
Which year to buy
- Best 2019 92.6% pass
- Avoid 2004 73.1% pass
Across the 17 years on record, a spread of 19.5 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 70.0%
- Typical mileage
- 91k mi
The 2003 BMW 316 MOT pass rate is 75.6% of its MOT tests — 3.0 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 26.2% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Emissions & leaks: 3.3× the national share
Emissions & leaks make up 18.4% of everything recorded on the 2003 BMW 316, against 5.5% nationally — 12.9 points above. Brakes are still the single largest share at 26.2%, but at 20.9% nationally that one is ordinary. A smoky diesel or a leaking joint fails on emissions more often than on wear, so ask for a recent emissions printout.
- 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 72.6% and this one manages 75.6% — 3.0 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 28% 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 316? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2003 BMW 316 compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 72.6%, so this figure is 3.0 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 70.0%. The median 2003 BMW 316 in this dataset had covered 91,298 mi.
Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 75.7% of the time, April–September 75.4%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Rbt (sp) efficiency below requirements", noted on 3.88% of tests.
- 2,497 recorded tests behind this page.
- 75.6% overall pass rate, 70.0% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the BMW 316, the average is 81.5% — best year 2019 (92.6%), worst 2004 (73.1%).
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
- 2,497
- Typical mileage (median)
- 91,298 mi
- Make and model
- BMW 316
- Updated
- 2026-11-07
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Brake Discs and Pads Set
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the 316 MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 62% so small gaps stay visible.
Where the BMW 316 is most common
Across all 316 model years on record (2000–2019): 13,606 BMW 316 cars tested in a recordable postcode area, across 30,372 tests. Birmingham (B) has the most, with 561 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) | 561 | 86.0% |
| 2 | Manchester (M) | 330 | 85.7% |
| 3 | Sheffield (S) | 285 | 85.1% |
| 4 | Leicester (LE) | 263 | 85.5% |
| 5 | Peterborough (PE) | 228 | 83.7% |
| 6 | Coventry (CV) | 219 | 81.7% |
| 7 | London (E) | 217 | 88.5% |
| 8 | Nottingham (NG) | 215 | 79.7% |
| 9 | Liverpool (L) | 210 | 83.0% |
| 10 | London (SE) | 198 | 87.1% |
| 11 | Bristol (BS) | 195 | 76.5% |
| 12 | Hayes (UB) | 195 | 87.9% |
| 13 | Cardiff (CF) | 193 | 76.9% |
| 14 | Glasgow (G) | 189 | 82.8% |
| 15 | Romford (RM) | 186 | 87.3% |
| 16 | Guildford (GU) | 184 | 75.1% |
| 17 | London (N) | 179 | 88.4% |
| 18 | Warrington (WA) | 177 | 82.2% |
| 19 | Reading (RG) | 176 | 83.9% |
| 20 | London (NW) | 173 | 87.7% |
The twenty areas with the most BMW 316 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 316
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 659 | 77.5% |
| North West | 302 | 76.8% |
| East of England | 285 | 73.0% |
| South West | 263 | 72.6% |
| London | 255 | 82.4% |
| West Midlands | 171 | 77.8% |
| Yorkshire | 141 | 73.8% |
| Wales | 135 | 71.9% |
| Scotland | 116 | 67.2% |
| East Midlands | 116 | 73.3% |
| North East | 54 | 70.4% |
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 2003 316
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 2003 316
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 3.6% 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 lights 3.5% of tests
“registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources”
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 brake pipes 2.8% of tests
“rigid brake pipes excessively corroded”
Brake pipes run under the car, usually in front of the rear wheels. Flaking or crusty metal is what fails; a light dusting of surface rust does not. Worth asking a garage to look while it is on a ramp.
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 2003 316 through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £38–£109 — and 28% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £38–£109
- Cheapest common item: srs malfunction indicator lamp warning lamp…
- £3–£12
- Dearest common item: catalyst emissions lambda reading after 2nd…
- £60–£250
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 60%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 28%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 2,497 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 316, side by side
17 model years on record, from 2000 to 2019. Across them the pass rate runs from 73.1% to 92.6% — a spread of 19.5 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2000 77.6% component mounting prescribed…
- 2001 75.3% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2002 77.5% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2003 75.6%rbt (sp) efficiency below…
- 2004 73.1% catalyst emissions carbon…
- 2005 75.4% catalyst emissions carbon…
- 2009 75.1% position lamp not working
- 2010 78.2% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2011 80.2% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2012 79.7% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2013 83.5% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2014 84.1% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2015 84.6% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2016 84.7% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2017 88.5% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2018 89.9% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2019 92.6% brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick
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 2003 BMW 316 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 2003 cars with a similar record
- Toyota Avensis 75.6%
- Mercedes-Benz Clk 75.5%
- Land Rover Defender 75.7%
- Rover 25 75.7%
- SEAT Leon 75.8%
- Toyota RAV4 75.9%
Closest pass rates among 2003 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 2003 BMW 316 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 6,978 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 | 1,859 | 26.20% | 20.89% | +5.31 |
| Suspension | 1,357 | 19.10% | 20.98% | −1.88 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 1,304 | 18.40% | 5.52% | +12.88 |
| Tyres | 753 | 10.60% | 19.76% | −9.16 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 596 | 8.40% | 12.21% | −3.81 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 369 | 5.20% | 5.57% | −0.37 |
| Visibility | 285 | 4.00% | 4.97% | −0.97 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 182 | 2.60% | 1.76% | +0.84 |
| Non-component advisories | 145 | 2.00% | 4.18% | −2.18 |
| Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | 128 | 1.80% | 0.82% | +0.98 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rbt (sp) efficiency below requirements Brakes | Major | 3.9% | £45–110 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 3.6% | £80–200 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 3.5% | £5–20 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Major | 2.8% | £80–180 |
| Catalyst emissions Lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 2.8% | £60–250 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Major | 2.4% | £40–150 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 2.4% | £18–45 |
| Srs malfunction indicator lamp warning lamp indicates a fault Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | Major | 2.2% | £3–12 |
| Wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively Visibility | Major | 2.2% | £8–22 |
| Linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Suspension | Major | 2.2% | £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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 31.9% | £200–700 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Advisory | 18.9% | £80–180 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 11.8% | £45–95 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 11.7% | £45–95 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 11.1% | £40–150 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 10.8% | £45–110 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 74 | 87.8% | 21,887 mi |
| 30-60k | 355 | 83.7% | 48,632 mi |
| 60-90k | 767 | 77.3% | 76,289 mi |
| 90-120k | 730 | 72.6% | 103,175 mi |
| 120k+ | 565 | 70.4% | 144,980 mi |
Source: 2,497 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.
2003 316 MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2003 BMW 316?
75.6% of the 2,497 2003 BMW 316 tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 72.6% for cars first used in 2003. First-attempt pass rate: 70.0%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2003 BMW 316?
The three most recorded items are rbt (sp) efficiency below requirements (3.88%), windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view (3.56%), registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources (3.52%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2003 BMW 316 MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 87.8% of the time, falling to 70.4% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2003 BMW 316 in this dataset had covered 91,298 mi.
Does the season affect the 2003 BMW 316 MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 75.7% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 75.4%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.