Pass rate
84.6%
Around average — 2.5 pts ahead of the 82.1% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 2,462 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £31–£78
2015 BMW 316 MOT pass rate
- 2015
- typical 97,566 mi
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Tyres
27.6% of faults · 19.8% nationally
mostly tread below the limit, cuts and sidewall bulges.
Part only £55–£85 for Tread depth below 1.6 mm. What fitting it takes →
2.8 pts up across model years — 3.7% in 2000, 6.5% in 2018.
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
- 82.1%
- Typical mileage
- 98k mi
The 2015 BMW 316 MOT pass rate is 84.6% of its MOT tests — 2.5 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Tyres is the biggest single reason it fails, at 27.6% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Tyres: 1.4× the national share
Tyres make up 27.6% of everything recorded on the 2015 BMW 316, against 19.8% nationally — 7.8 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 316? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2015 BMW 316 compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 82.1%, 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 82.1%. The median 2015 BMW 316 in this dataset had covered 97,566 mi.
The most common fuel recorded here is Diesel — 80% of tests, with a 84.1% pass rate. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 84.1% of the time, April–September 85.3%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view", noted on 2.92% of tests.
- 2,462 recorded tests behind this page.
- 84.6% overall pass rate, 82.1% 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
- 2,462
- Typical mileage (median)
- 97,566 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 74% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Diesel is the most common here (80% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 483 | 85.5% |
| West Midlands | 351 | 84.6% |
| North West | 323 | 83.0% |
| Yorkshire | 279 | 82.4% |
| London | 217 | 92.6% |
| East of England | 170 | 84.1% |
| South West | 167 | 78.4% |
| East Midlands | 128 | 84.4% |
| Wales | 126 | 86.5% |
| Scotland | 117 | 82.1% |
| North East | 101 | 86.1% |
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 2015 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 2015 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 2.9% 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 2.1% 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 tyre tread 2.1% 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 2015 316 through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £31–£78 — and 45% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £31–£78
- 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
- 90%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 45%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 2,462 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 2015 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 2015 cars with a similar record
- Volkswagen Passat 84.6%
- Audi A5 84.6%
- Mercedes-Benz Gla 84.6%
- Subaru Outback 84.6%
- Subaru Xv 84.5%
- Citroen C1 84.7%
Closest pass rates among 2015 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 2015 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 3,066 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 | 859 | 27.60% | 19.76% | +7.84 |
| Brakes | 775 | 24.90% | 20.89% | +4.01 |
| Suspension | 389 | 12.50% | 20.98% | −8.48 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 364 | 11.70% | 12.21% | −0.51 |
| Visibility | 180 | 5.80% | 4.97% | +0.83 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 173 | 5.60% | 5.52% | +0.08 |
| Non-component advisories | 165 | 5.30% | 4.18% | +1.12 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 69 | 2.20% | 1.76% | +0.44 |
| Road Wheels | 53 | 1.70% | 0.75% | +0.95 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 39 | 1.30% | 5.57% | −4.27 |
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 | 2.9% | £80–200 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 2.1% | £5–25 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Major | 2.1% | £45–95 |
| Washers provides insufficient washer liquid Visibility | Major | 1.3% | £5–15 |
| Headlamp not working on dipped beam Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 1.2% | £5–25 |
| Shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak Suspension | Major | 1.1% | £30–75 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 1.1% | £5–25 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Major | 1.1% | £18–45 |
| Headlamp not working on dipped beam Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 0.97% | £5–25 |
| Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords Tyres | Major | 0.93% | £45–95 |
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 | 21.5% | £45–95 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 10.3% | £18–45 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 9.3% | £45–110 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 5.6% | £40–150 |
| Shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak Suspension | Advisory | 5.4% | £30–75 |
| Brake discs significantly and obviously worn Brakes | Advisory | 4.9% | £45–110 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 29 | 96.6% | 23,032 mi |
| 30-60k | 317 | 90.9% | 48,006 mi |
| 60-90k | 676 | 84.2% | 75,356 mi |
| 90-120k | 726 | 82.8% | 103,958 mi |
| 120k+ | 712 | 83.7% | 148,996 mi |
Source: 2,462 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.
2015 316 MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2015 BMW 316?
84.6% of the 2,462 2015 BMW 316 tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 82.1% for cars first used in 2015. First-attempt pass rate: 82.1%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2015 BMW 316?
The three most recorded items are windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view (2.92%), position lamp not working (2.07%), tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm (2.07%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2015 BMW 316 MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 96.6% of the time, falling to 83.7% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2015 BMW 316 in this dataset had covered 97,566 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2015 BMW 316?
Diesel: 84.1% pass rate across 1,964 tests. Petrol: 86.5% pass rate across 498 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2015 BMW 316 MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 84.1% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 85.3%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.