Pass rate
79.7%
Around average — 2.5 pts ahead of the 77.2% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 1,564 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £34–£91
2012 BMW 316 MOT pass rate
- 2012
- typical 119,895 mi
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Suspension
19.9% of faults · 21.0% nationally
mostly worn arm bushes, split ball-joint boots and broken coil springs.
Part only £35–£75 for Suspension pin or bush excessively worn. What fitting it takes →
5.9 pts down across model years — 7.4% in 2000, 1.5% in 2017.
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
- 75.2%
- Typical mileage
- 120k mi
The 2012 BMW 316 MOT pass rate is 79.7% of its MOT tests — 2.5 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Suspension is the biggest single reason it fails, at 19.9% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Advisories: 2.5× the national share
Advisories make up 10.3% of everything recorded on the 2012 BMW 316, against 4.2% nationally — 6.1 points above. Suspension is still the single largest share at 19.9%, but at 21.0% nationally that one is ordinary. Most of what testers record here is advisory — worth reading, not worth walking away from on its own.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 23% 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 2012 BMW 316 compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 77.2%, so this figure is 2.5 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 75.2%. The median 2012 BMW 316 in this dataset had covered 119,895 mi.
98% of the tests on this vehicle ran on Diesel, which passed 79.5% of the time. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 78.2% of the time, April–September 81.3%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view", noted on 4.67% of tests.
- 1,564 recorded tests behind this page.
- 79.7% overall pass rate, 75.2% 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
- 1,564
- Typical mileage (median)
- 119,895 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
Windscreen
Typically a garage job — get quotes before committing.
Does mileage affect the 316 MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 71% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Diesel is the most common here (98% of tests).
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 |
|---|---|---|
| North West | 271 | 81.5% |
| South East | 231 | 79.7% |
| West Midlands | 201 | 84.6% |
| Yorkshire | 181 | 78.5% |
| East of England | 131 | 75.6% |
| East Midlands | 126 | 81.0% |
| Scotland | 114 | 75.4% |
| North East | 110 | 79.1% |
| South West | 104 | 75.0% |
| Wales | 77 | 80.5% |
| London | 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 2012 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 2012 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 4.7% 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 3.2% of tests
“position lamp not working”
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 suspension joints 2.4% of tests
“linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated”
With the car parked on level ground, rock the top of each front wheel in and out while someone watches the suspension arm. Clunks, or rubber boots split and greasy, are what testers record here.
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 2012 316 through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £34–£91 — and 23% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £34–£91
- Cheapest common item: position lamp not working
- £5–£25
- Dearest common item: windscreen damaged
- £80–£200
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 80%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 23%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 1,564 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 2012 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 2012 cars with a similar record
- Volkswagen Cc 79.8%
- Nissan Pixo 79.8%
- Skoda Fabia 79.6%
- Audi Q3 79.9%
- Mercedes-Benz B-Class 79.5%
- Volvo XC90 79.9%
Closest pass rates among 2012 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 2012 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 2,941 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Suspension | 592 | 19.90% | 20.98% | −1.08 |
| Brakes | 583 | 19.60% | 20.89% | −1.29 |
| Tyres | 549 | 18.40% | 19.76% | −1.36 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 403 | 13.50% | 12.21% | +1.29 |
| Non-component advisories | 308 | 10.30% | 4.18% | +6.12 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 172 | 5.80% | 5.52% | +0.28 |
| Visibility | 164 | 5.50% | 4.97% | +0.53 |
| Steering | 65 | 2.20% | 2.57% | −0.37 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 53 | 1.80% | 1.76% | +0.04 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 52 | 1.70% | 5.57% | −3.87 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 4.7% | £80–200 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 3.2% | £5–25 |
| Rbt (sp) efficiency below requirements Brakes | Major | 2.5% | £45–110 |
| Linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 2.4% | £18–45 |
| Side repeaters not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 2.4% | £5–25 |
| Coil spring fractured or broken Suspension | Major | 2.2% | £25–65 |
| Linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Suspension | Major | 2.1% | £18–45 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Major | 1.9% | £45–95 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Major | 1.7% | £40–150 |
| Shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak Suspension | Major | 1.5% | £30–75 |
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 | 20.8% | £45–95 |
| Non-component advisories Play in steering rack inner joint(s) Non-component advisories | Advisory | 14.6% | £120–300 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 12.3% | £45–110 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 9.4% | £18–45 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 8.5% | £40–150 |
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 6.0% | £200–700 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 7 | 85.7% | 12,099 mi |
| 30-60k | 55 | 83.6% | 51,352 mi |
| 60-90k | 262 | 80.9% | 78,022 mi |
| 90-120k | 463 | 79.5% | 105,810 mi |
| 120k+ | 775 | 79.0% | 151,734 mi |
Source: 1,564 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.
2012 316 MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2012 BMW 316?
79.7% of the 1,564 2012 BMW 316 tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 77.2% for cars first used in 2012. First-attempt pass rate: 75.2%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2012 BMW 316?
The three most recorded items are windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view (4.67%), position lamp not working (3.20%), rbt (sp) efficiency below requirements (2.49%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2012 BMW 316 MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 85.7% of the time, falling to 79.0% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2012 BMW 316 in this dataset had covered 119,895 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2012 BMW 316?
Diesel: 79.5% pass rate across 1,535 tests. Petrol: 86.2% pass rate across 29 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2012 BMW 316 MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 78.2% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 81.3%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.