Pass rate
80.0%
Around average — 7.4 pts ahead of the 72.6% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 60 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £48–£120
2003 BMW 320 MOT pass rate
- 2003
- typical 113,491 mi
Only 60 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.
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Brakes
32.5% 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 →
Which year to buy
- Best 2023 95.0% pass
- Avoid 2005 75.0% pass
Across the 21 years on record, a spread of 20 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 76.5%
- Typical mileage
- 113k mi
The 2003 BMW 320 MOT pass rate is 80.0% of its MOT tests — 7.4 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 32.5% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Brakes: 1.6× the national share
Brakes make up 32.5% of everything recorded on the 2003 BMW 320, against 20.9% nationally — 11.6 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 72.6% and this one manages 80.0% — 7.4 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 24% 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 320? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2003 BMW 320 compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 72.6%, so this figure is 7.4 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 76.5%. The median 2003 BMW 320 in this dataset had covered 113,491 mi.
The most common fuel recorded here is Petrol — 73% of tests, with a 79.5% pass rate.
The single most recorded failure item is "Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources", noted on 8.33% of tests.
- 60 recorded tests behind this page.
- 80.0% overall pass rate, 76.5% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the BMW 320, the average is 89.4% — best year 2023 (95.0%), worst 2005 (75.0%).
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
- 60
- Typical mileage (median)
- 113,491 mi
- Make and model
- BMW 320
- Updated
- 2026-11-07
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Number Plate Lamp
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the 320 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. Petrol is the most common here (73% of tests).
Where the BMW 320 is most common
Across all 320 model years on record (2003–2023): 63,489 BMW 320 cars tested in a recordable postcode area, across 129,146 tests. Birmingham (B) has the most, with 2,243 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) | 2,243 | 90.2% |
| 2 | Glasgow (G) | 1,331 | 88.0% |
| 3 | Peterborough (PE) | 1,303 | 89.6% |
| 4 | Manchester (M) | 1,230 | 88.5% |
| 5 | Sheffield (S) | 1,207 | 90.6% |
| 6 | Nottingham (NG) | 1,178 | 88.7% |
| 7 | Newcastle upon Tyne (NE) | 1,067 | 91.3% |
| 8 | Bristol (BS) | 997 | 85.8% |
| 9 | Coventry (CV) | 988 | 90.8% |
| 10 | Reading (RG) | 974 | 87.7% |
| 11 | Leicester (LE) | 955 | 90.3% |
| 12 | Guildford (GU) | 949 | 86.3% |
| 13 | Warrington (WA) | 918 | 89.5% |
| 14 | Liverpool (L) | 860 | 89.1% |
| 15 | Stockport (SK) | 829 | 89.6% |
| 16 | Derby (DE) | 827 | 90.4% |
| 17 | Northampton (NN) | 817 | 86.7% |
| 18 | Doncaster (DN) | 812 | 91.5% |
| 19 | Edinburgh (EH) | 801 | 86.8% |
| 20 | London (NW) | 790 | 93.2% |
The twenty areas with the most BMW 320 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 →
What fails a 2003 320
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 320
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 lights 8.3% 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 suspension joints 3.3% of tests
“ball joint excessively worn”
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 coil springs 3.3% of tests
“coil spring fractured or broken”
Look up inside each wheel arch with a torch, all the way round the spring. A snapped spring usually breaks at the very bottom coil, where a quick glance will not reach.
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 320 through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £48–£120 — and 24% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £48–£120
- Cheapest common item: registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the…
- £5–£20
- Dearest common item: attachment bracket
- £180–£450
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 50%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 24%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 60 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 320, side by side
21 model years on record, from 2003 to 2023. Across them the pass rate runs from 75.0% to 95.0% — a spread of 20 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2003 80.0%registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2004 78.1% ball joint excessively worn
- 2005 75.0% rbt (sp) efficiency below…
- 2006 77.9% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2007 77.5% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2008 78.0% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2009 81.3% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2010 79.8% shock absorbers has a serious…
- 2011 81.9% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2012 83.3% shock absorbers has a serious…
- 2013 86.3% shock absorbers has a serious…
- 2014 83.5% shock absorbers has a serious…
- 2015 86.1% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2016 88.7% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2017 89.1% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2018 90.0% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2019 90.3% has a cut in excess of the…
- 2020 89.6% has a cut in excess of the…
- 2021 91.4% has a cut in excess of the…
- 2022 91.3% has a cut in excess of the…
- 2023 95.0% tread depth below requirements of…
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 320 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
- Subaru Impreza 80.0%
- Porsche Boxster 80.4%
- Jaguar Xj 78.8%
- Mercedes-Benz Slk 78.3%
- Mercedes-Benz S-Class 81.7%
- Lexus IS200 78.0%
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 320 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 121 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 | 40 | 32.50% | 20.89% | +11.61 |
| Suspension | 24 | 19.50% | 20.98% | −1.48 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 15 | 12.20% | 12.21% | −0.01 |
| Tyres | 13 | 10.60% | 19.76% | −9.16 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 13 | 10.60% | 5.52% | +5.08 |
| Visibility | 4 | 3.30% | 4.97% | −1.67 |
| Steering | 4 | 3.30% | 2.57% | +0.73 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 4 | 3.30% | 1.76% | +1.54 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 3 | 2.40% | 5.57% | −3.17 |
| Non-component advisories | 1 | 0.80% | 4.18% | −3.38 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 8.3% | £5–20 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 3.3% | £18–45 |
| Coil spring fractured or broken Suspension | Major | 3.3% | £25–65 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Major | 3.3% | £80–180 |
| Shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak Suspension | Major | 3.3% | £30–75 |
| Steering rack gaiter missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Steering | Major | 3.3% | £120–300 |
| Track rod end ball joint has excessive play Steering | Major | 3.3% | £18–45 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 3.3% | £80–200 |
| Attachment bracket and mounting attachment bracket/mounting corroded and seriously weakened Suspension | Major | 1.7% | £180–450 |
| Brake performance not tested unable to be tested Brakes | Major | 1.7% | £60–150 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Advisory | 25.0% | £80–180 |
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 21.7% | £200–700 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 10.0% | £45–95 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 8.3% | £45–110 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 8.3% | £40–150 |
| Registration plates inscription illegible Identification of the vehicle | Advisory | 6.7% | £20–80 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30-60k | 10 | 100.0% | 47,414 mi |
| 60-90k | 8 | 87.5% | 72,655 mi |
| 90-120k | 15 | 66.7% | 105,136 mi |
| 120k+ | 26 | 76.9% | 152,303 mi |
Source: 60 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 320 MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2003 BMW 320?
80.0% of the 60 2003 BMW 320 tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 72.6% for cars first used in 2003. First-attempt pass rate: 76.5%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2003 BMW 320?
The three most recorded items are registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources (8.33%), ball joint excessively worn (3.33%), coil spring fractured or broken (3.33%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2003 BMW 320 MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 100.0% of the time, falling to 76.9% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2003 BMW 320 in this dataset had covered 113,491 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2003 BMW 320?
Petrol: 79.5% pass rate across 44 tests. Diesel: 81.3% pass rate across 16 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.