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2007 BMW 335 MOT pass rate

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Pass rate

82.2%

Around average — 9.2 pts ahead of the 73.0% that cars this age and mileage manage.

Across 146 recorded tests.

Typical repair bill £29–£77

Which year to buy

  • Best 2019 91.8% pass
  • Avoid 2007 82.2% pass · this year

Across the 12 years on record, a spread of 9.6 points. See every year →

First-attempt pass
78.9%
Typical mileage
92k mi

The 2007 BMW 335 MOT pass rate is 82.2% of its MOT tests — 9.2 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 25.0% of what testers record.

MOT PASS RATES

The 2007 BMW 335 on the real record

82.2% of 2007 BMW 335 MOTs passed — 146 tests, 2023–2025

Pass rate

The answer from the DVSA's class-4 MOT records.

Expert verdict

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 73.0% and this one manages 82.2% — 9.2 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.

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 335? Get an email when these numbers change .

How does the 2007 BMW 335 compare?

Cars of this age and mileage average 73.0%, so this figure is 9.2 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 78.9%. The median 2007 BMW 335 in this dataset had covered 91,987 mi.

The most common fuel recorded here is Petrol — 66% of tests, with a 86.5% pass rate. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 75.8% of the time, April–September 86.9%.

The single most recorded failure item is "Position lamp with a multiple light source up to 1/2 not functioning", noted on 4.79% of tests.

  • 146 recorded tests behind this page.
  • 82.2% overall pass rate, 78.9% on a first attempt.
  • Across every year of the BMW 335, the average is 89.2% — best year 2019 (91.8%), worst 2007 (82.2%).

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
146
Typical mileage (median)
91,987 mi
Make and model
BMW 335
Updated
2026-11-07

Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.

Top part to budget for

Headlight Bulb

Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.

Does mileage affect the 335 MOT pass rate?

0-30k 87.5%
30-60k 100.0%
60-90k 83.7%
90-120k 79.4%
120k+ 73.8%

Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 65% so small gaps stay visible.

Fuel type and reliability

Petrol 86.5%
Diesel 74.0%

Pass rate by fuel type. Petrol is the most common here (66% of tests).

Where the BMW 335 is most common

Across all 335 model years on record (2007–2019): 7,808 BMW 335 cars tested in a recordable postcode area, across 15,783 tests. Birmingham (B) has the most, with 266 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 Share of all Tests Pass rate
1 Birmingham (B) 266 3.4% 514 91.4%
2 Sheffield (S) 211 2.7% 429 92.5%
3 Newcastle upon Tyne (NE) 178 2.3% 369 92.1%
4 Glasgow (G) 178 2.3% 350 90.9%
5 Nottingham (NG) 177 2.3% 368 83.7%
6 Peterborough (PE) 167 2.1% 311 90.4%
7 Leicester (LE) 158 2% 323 92.0%
8 Edinburgh (EH) 145 1.9% 318 86.8%
9 Coventry (CV) 135 1.7% 237 92.4%
10 Aberdeen (AB) 133 1.7% 351 86.3%
11 Leeds (LS) 128 1.6% 245 93.1%
12 Reading (RG) 125 1.6% 272 83.1%
13 Middlesbrough (TS) 124 1.6% 257 89.9%
14 Doncaster (DN) 120 1.5% 235 91.5%
15 High Wycombe (HP) 116 1.5% 207 92.8%
16 Derby (DE) 112 1.4% 210 90.0%
17 Manchester (M) 110 1.4% 210 90.5%
18 Warrington (WA) 110 1.4% 203 91.6%
19 Blackburn (BB) 109 1.4% 174 93.7%
20 Bradford (BD) 107 1.4% 192 94.3%

The twenty areas with the most BMW 335 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 335

Region Tests Pass rate
South East 29 82.8%
West Midlands 29 75.9%
South West 22 63.6%
Yorkshire 21 90.5%

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 2007 335

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.

Brakes 25.0%
+4.1 pts vs national national 20.9% Price brakes parts
Tyres 24.1%
+4.3 pts vs national national 19.8% Compare tyre prices
Suspension 21.1%
in line with the national share national 21.0% Price suspension parts
Lamps & electrics 12.5%
in line with the national share national 12.2% Order bulbs & wipers
Show the other 6 fault categories
  • Emissions & leaks 5.6%
  • Body & chassis 4.3%
  • Visibility 2.6%
  • Advisories 2.2%
  • Steering 1.3%
  • Identification 0.9%

Shares are of every item recorded on 2007 BMW 335 tests — a composition, so they add to 100% across all sections, not per test.

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 2007 335

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.

  1. Check the lights 4.8% of tests

    “position lamp with a multiple light source up to 1/2 not functioning”

    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.

  2. Check the tyre tread 2.7% 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.

  3. Check the suspension joints 2.0% of tests

    “pins and bushes pin or bush 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.

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 2007 335 through its MOT

Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £29–£77 — and 44% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.

Average repair across the 10 common items
£29–£77
Cheapest common item: position lamp with a multiple light source up…
£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
44%

Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 146 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 335, side by side

12 model years on record, from 2007 to 2019. Across them the pass rate runs from 82.2% to 91.8% — a spread of 9.6 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.

  1. 2007 82.2%
    position lamp with a multiple…
  2. 2008 90.5% has ply or cords exposed
  3. 2009 86.2% has ply or cords exposed
  4. 2010 90.0% ball joint excessively worn
  5. 2011 88.6% headlamp not working on dipped…
  6. 2013 88.8% shock absorbers has a serious…
  7. 2014 82.9% has a cut in excess of the…
  8. 2015 90.3% windscreen damaged but not…
  9. 2016 89.5% windscreen damaged but not…
  10. 2017 88.9% windscreen damaged but not…
  11. 2018 91.1% windscreen damaged but not…
  12. 2019 91.8% windscreen damaged but not…

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 2007 BMW 335 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.

Compare 2007 with another year →

Compare two different cars instead →

Other 2007 cars with a similar record

Closest pass rates among 2007 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 2007 BMW 335 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 231 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 58 25.00% 20.89% +4.11
Tyres 56 24.10% 19.76% +4.34
Suspension 49 21.10% 20.98% +0.12
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 29 12.50% 12.21% +0.29
Noise, emissions and leaks 13 5.60% 5.52% +0.08
Body, chassis, structure 10 4.30% 5.57% −1.27
Visibility 6 2.60% 4.97% −2.37
Non-component advisories 5 2.20% 4.18% −1.98
Steering 3 1.30% 2.57% −1.27
Identification of the vehicle 2 0.90% 1.76% −0.86

The exact failure items, in the tester's words

Share of the 146 tests on this vehicle that recorded each item
Recorded item Severity Tests Est. cost Part
Position lamp with a multiple light source up to 1/2 not functioning Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment Minor 4.8% £5–25 Headlight Bulb →
Headlamp lens slightly defective Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment Minor 4.1% £5–25 Headlight Bulb →
Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres Major 2.7% £45–95 Tyres →
Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords Tyres Major 2.0% £45–95 Tyres →
Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension Major 2.0% £40–150 Suspension Component →
Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility Minor 2.0% £80–200 Windscreen →
Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres Major 1.4% £45–95 Tyres →
Has ply or cords exposed Tyres Major 1.4% £45–95 Tyres →
Position lamp light intensity obviously reduced Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment Minor 1.4% £5–25 Headlight Bulb →
Shock absorbers has negligible damping effect Suspension Major 1.4% £30–75 Shock Absorber →

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.

Items recorded as advisory on this vehicle
Recorded item Severity Tests Est. cost
Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres Advisory 18.5% £45–95
Flexible brake hoses excessively deteriorated Brakes Advisory 15.8% £25–70
Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension Advisory 8.9% £40–150
Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes Advisory 8.2% £80–180
Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks Advisory 7.5% £200–700
Sub-frame corroded and seriously weakened Suspension Advisory 6.8% £180–450

Pass rate by mileage

Mileage Tests Pass rate Median odometer
0-30k 8 87.5% 17,318 mi
30-60k 19 100.0% 47,070 mi
60-90k 43 83.7% 73,077 mi
90-120k 34 79.4% 100,572 mi
120k+ 42 73.8% 163,498 mi

Source: 146 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.

2007 335 MOT questions

What is the MOT pass rate for a 2007 BMW 335?

82.2% of the 146 2007 BMW 335 tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 73.0% for cars first used in 2007. First-attempt pass rate: 78.9%.

What are the most common MOT failures on a 2007 BMW 335?

The three most recorded items are position lamp with a multiple light source up to 1/2 not functioning (4.79%), headlamp lens slightly defective (4.11%), tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm (2.74%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.

Does mileage affect the 2007 BMW 335 MOT pass rate?

Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 87.5% of the time, falling to 73.8% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2007 BMW 335 in this dataset had covered 91,987 mi.

Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2007 BMW 335?

Petrol: 86.5% pass rate across 96 tests. Diesel: 74.0% pass rate across 50 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.

Does the season affect the 2007 BMW 335 MOT pass rate?

Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 75.8% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 86.9%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.