Pass rate
82.4%
Around average — 3.8 pts ahead of the 78.6% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 91 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £31–£76
2013 BMW 318 MOT pass rate
- 2013
- typical 97,316 mi
Only 91 tests of this exact model and year are in the DVSA data, below the 100 we ask for before a page goes in the index. The figures are still shown, because they are the only ones there are.
Most common fault
Brakes
27.7% of faults · 20.9% nationally
mostly worn pads and discs, corroded pipes and a handbrake that will not hold.
Part only £25–£40 for Brake pads under 1.5 mm. What fitting it takes →
Which year to buy
- Best 2019 89.4% pass
- Avoid 2004 74.0% pass
Across the 17 years on record, a spread of 15.4 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 78.9%
- Typical mileage
- 97k mi
The 2013 BMW 318 MOT pass rate is 82.4% of its MOT tests — 3.8 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 27.7% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how BMW 318 does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Brakes: 1.3× the national share
Brakes make up 27.7% of everything recorded on the 2013 BMW 318, against 20.9% nationally — 6.8 points above. Have the discs and pads measured rather than glanced at, and ask whether the handbrake holds on a slope.
- 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 78.6% and this one manages 82.4% — 3.8 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 10% 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 318? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2013 BMW 318 compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 78.6%, so this figure is 3.8 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 78.9%. The median 2013 BMW 318 in this dataset had covered 97,316 mi.
The most common fuel recorded here is Diesel — 89% of tests, with a 84.0% pass rate.
The single most recorded failure item is "Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated", noted on 3.30% of tests.
- 91 recorded tests behind this page.
- 82.4% overall pass rate, 78.9% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the BMW 318, the average is 87.9% — best year 2019 (89.4%), worst 2004 (74.0%).
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
- 91
- Typical mileage (median)
- 97,316 mi
- Make and model
- BMW 318
- Updated
- 2026-11-05
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Ball Joint
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the 318 MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 58% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Diesel is the most common here (89% of tests).
Regional pass rates for the 318
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 22 | 81.8% |
| Scotland | 18 | 77.8% |
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 2013 318
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 2013 318
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 suspension joints 3.3% of tests
“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.
-
Check the tyre tread 3.3% 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.
-
Check the lights 2.2% of tests
“headlamp aim too low”
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.
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 2013 318 through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £31–£76 — and 10% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £31–£76
- 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
- 10%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 91 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 318, side by side
17 model years on record, from 2004 to 2021. Across them the pass rate runs from 74.0% to 89.4% — a spread of 15.4 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2004 74.0% malfunction indicator lamp…
- 2006 85.1% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2007 80.4% ball joint dust cover no longer…
- 2008 77.4% pins and bushes pin or bush…
- 2009 74.6% position lamp not working
- 2010 77.9% shock absorbers has a serious…
- 2011 82.4% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2012 81.0% shock absorbers has a serious…
- 2013 82.4%ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2014 83.5% headlamp not working on dipped…
- 2015 83.3% brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick
- 2016 86.5% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2017 87.3% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2018 89.1% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2019 89.4% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2020 88.2% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2021 86.8% has a cut in excess of the…
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 2013 BMW 318 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 2013 cars with a similar record
- Toyota YARIS 82.4%
- SEAT Mii 82.4%
- MINI COOPER Sd 82.3%
- Smart Mcc Fortwo 82.6%
- Toyota Verso 82.2%
- Skoda Roomster 82.2%
Closest pass rates among 2013 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 2013 BMW 318 10 failure items · 6 advisories · 9 inspection categories · mileage brackets · all of it in the page, none of it above the fold
Every inspection category
Shares of the 130 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 | 36 | 27.70% | 20.89% | +6.81 |
| Suspension | 28 | 21.50% | 20.98% | +0.52 |
| Tyres | 24 | 18.50% | 19.76% | −1.26 |
| Non-component advisories | 14 | 10.80% | 4.18% | +6.62 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 13 | 10.00% | 12.21% | −2.21 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 5 | 3.80% | 5.52% | −1.72 |
| Visibility | 5 | 3.80% | 4.97% | −1.17 |
| Steering | 4 | 3.10% | 2.57% | +0.53 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 1 | 0.80% | 5.57% | −4.77 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 3.3% | £18–45 |
| Linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Suspension | Major | 3.3% | £18–45 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Major | 3.3% | £45–95 |
| Headlamp aim too low Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 2.2% | £30–80 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 2.2% | £5–25 |
| Shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak Suspension | Major | 2.2% | £30–75 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 2.2% | £80–200 |
| Ball joint has excessive play Steering | Major | 1.1% | £18–45 |
| Brake discs significantly and obviously worn Brakes | Major | 1.1% | £45–110 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Major | 1.1% | £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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 14.3% | £45–95 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 12.1% | £45–110 |
| Non-component advisories Play in steering rack inner joint(s) Non-component advisories | Advisory | 12.1% | £120–300 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 8.8% | £18–45 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 7.7% | £40–150 |
| Shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak Suspension | Advisory | 6.6% | £30–75 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 3 | 66.7% | 27,830 mi |
| 30-60k | 8 | 87.5% | 45,697 mi |
| 60-90k | 22 | 77.3% | 77,155 mi |
| 90-120k | 36 | 83.3% | 101,450 mi |
| 120k+ | 21 | 85.7% | 149,983 mi |
Source: 91 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.
2013 318 MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2013 BMW 318?
82.4% of the 91 2013 BMW 318 tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 78.6% for cars first used in 2013. First-attempt pass rate: 78.9%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2013 BMW 318?
The three most recorded items are ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated (3.30%), linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt (3.30%), tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm (3.30%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2013 BMW 318 MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 66.7% of the time, falling to 85.7% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2013 BMW 318 in this dataset had covered 97,316 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2013 BMW 318?
Diesel: 84.0% pass rate across 81 tests. Petrol: 70.0% pass rate across 10 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.