2020 BMW 430 MOT pass rate

Pass rate

89.9%

Above average — 0.8 pts behind the 90.7% that cars this age and mileage manage.

Across 1,480 recorded tests.

Typical repair bill £46–£104

Which year to buy

  • Best 2021 91.8% pass
  • Avoid 2013 85.6% pass

Across the 9 years on record, a spread of 6.2 points. See every year →

First-attempt pass
88.9%
Typical mileage
26k mi

The 2020 BMW 430 MOT pass rate is 89.9% of its MOT tests — about what its age and mileage predict. Tyres is the biggest single reason it fails, at 50.9% of what testers record.

MOT PASS RATES

The 2020 BMW 430 on the real record

89.9% of 2020 BMW 430 MOTs passed — 1,480 tests, 2023–2025

Pass rate

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

Check your postcode

MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how BMW 430 does in your corner of the country.

How one model's pass rate varies by postcode →

Expert verdict

Tyres: 2.6× the national share

Tyres make up 50.9% of everything recorded on the 2020 BMW 430, against 19.8% nationally — 31.1 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 430? Get an email when these numbers change .

How does the 2020 BMW 430 compare?

Cars of this age and mileage average 90.7%, so this figure is 0.8 points behind what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 88.9%. The median 2020 BMW 430 in this dataset had covered 26,113 mi.

64% of the tests on this vehicle ran on Petrol, which passed 90.0% of the time. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 90.4% of the time, April–September 89.3%.

The single most recorded failure item is "Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords", noted on 4.12% of tests.

  • 1,480 recorded tests behind this page.
  • 89.9% overall pass rate, 88.9% on a first attempt.
  • Across every year of the BMW 430, the average is 87.8% — best year 2021 (91.8%), worst 2013 (85.6%).

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
1,480
Typical mileage (median)
26,113 mi
Make and model
BMW 430
Updated
2026-11-05

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

Top part to budget for

Tyres

Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.

Does mileage affect the 430 MOT pass rate?

0-30k 90.9%
30-60k 88.4%
60-90k 86.9%
90-120k 100.0%
120k+ 100.0%

Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 78% so small gaps stay visible.

Fuel type and reliability

Petrol 90.0%
Diesel 89.6%

Pass rate by fuel type. Petrol is the most common here (64% of tests).

Regional pass rates for the 430

Region Tests Pass rate
South East 476 87.2%
North West 177 89.8%
East of England 176 90.3%
South West 129 86.8%
West Midlands 127 91.3%
East Midlands 88 90.9%
London 83 94.0%
Scotland 76 94.7%
Yorkshire 76 92.1%
Wales 40 95.0%
North East 32 96.9%

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 2020 430

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.

Tyres 50.9%
+31.1 pts vs national national 19.8% Compare tyre prices
Brakes 22.5%
+1.6 pts vs national national 20.9% Price brakes parts
Visibility 6.7%
+1.7 pts vs national national 5.0% Order bulbs & wipers
Advisories 6.7%
+2.5 pts vs national national 4.2% Price advisories parts
Show the other 6 fault categories
  • Lamps & electrics 3.9%
  • Suspension 3.5%
  • Emissions & leaks 2.2%
  • Road wheels 1.9%
  • Identification 1.3%
  • Steering 0.1%

Shares are of every item recorded on 2020 BMW 430 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 2020 430

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 windscreen 1.9% 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.

  2. Check the tyre tread 0.9% 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 lights 0.6% of tests

    “headlamp aim too high”

    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 2020 430 through its MOT

Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £46–£104 — and 8% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.

Average repair across the 10 common items
£46–£104
Cheapest common item: malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or…
£3–£12
Dearest common item: windscreen damaged
£80–£200
Common items a careful owner can do at home
70%
Repairs that still cost under £30
8%

Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 1,480 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 430, side by side

9 model years on record, from 2013 to 2021. Across them the pass rate runs from 85.6% to 91.8% — a spread of 6.2 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.

  1. 2013 85.6% windscreen damaged but not…
  2. 2014 86.0% shock absorbers has a serious…
  3. 2015 86.4% windscreen damaged but not…
  4. 2016 87.5% windscreen damaged but not…
  5. 2017 88.3% windscreen damaged but not…
  6. 2018 89.1% has a cut in excess of the…
  7. 2019 88.6% has a cut in excess of the…
  8. 2020 89.9%
    has a cut in excess of the…
  9. 2021 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 2020 BMW 430 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 2020 with another year →

Compare two different cars instead →

Other 2020 cars with a similar record

Closest pass rates among 2020 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 2020 BMW 430 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 684 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 349 50.90% 19.76% +31.14
Brakes 154 22.50% 20.89% +1.61
Visibility 46 6.70% 4.97% +1.73
Non-component advisories 46 6.70% 4.18% +2.52
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 27 3.90% 12.21% −8.31
Suspension 24 3.50% 20.98% −17.48
Noise, emissions and leaks 15 2.20% 5.52% −3.32
Road Wheels 13 1.90% 0.75% +1.15
Identification of the vehicle 9 1.30% 1.76% −0.46
Steering 1 0.10% 2.57% −2.47

The exact failure items, in the tester's words

Share of the 1,480 tests on this vehicle that recorded each item
Recorded item Severity Tests Est. cost Part
Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords Tyres Major 4.1% £45–95 Tyres →
Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility Minor 1.9% £80–200 Windscreen →
Has ply or cords exposed Tyres Major 1.0% £45–95 Tyres →
Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres Major 0.88% £45–95 Tyres →
Has a bulge, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres Major 0.68% £45–95 Tyres →
Headlamp aim too high Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment Rectified 0.61% £30–80 Headlight Alignment →
Wipers blade defective Visibility Minor 0.47% £8–22 Wiper Blade →
Headlamp aim too low Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment Rectified 0.41% £30–80 Headlight Alignment →
Malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction Noise, emissions and leaks Major 0.41% £3–12 Indicator Bulb →
Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes Major 0.27% £18–45 Brake Pads Set →

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 7.6% £45–95
Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes Advisory 4.7% £18–45
Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes Advisory 4.0% £45–110
Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords Tyres Advisory 3.6% £45–95
Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres Advisory 2.2% £45–95
Non-component advisories Nail in tyre Non-component advisories Advisory 1.9% £45–95

Pass rate by mileage

Mileage Tests Pass rate Median odometer
0-30k 877 90.9% 19,003 mi
30-60k 534 88.4% 40,783 mi
60-90k 61 86.9% 71,007 mi
90-120k 7 100.0% 102,717 mi
120k+ 1 100.0% 142,065 mi

Source: 1,480 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.

2020 430 MOT questions

What is the MOT pass rate for a 2020 BMW 430?

89.9% of the 1,480 2020 BMW 430 tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 90.7% for cars first used in 2020. First-attempt pass rate: 88.9%.

What are the most common MOT failures on a 2020 BMW 430?

The three most recorded items are has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords (4.12%), windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view (1.89%), has ply or cords exposed (1.01%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.

Does mileage affect the 2020 BMW 430 MOT pass rate?

Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 90.9% of the time, falling to 100.0% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2020 BMW 430 in this dataset had covered 26,113 mi.

Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2020 BMW 430?

Petrol: 90.0% pass rate across 940 tests. Diesel: 89.6% pass rate across 540 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.

Does the season affect the 2020 BMW 430 MOT pass rate?

Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 90.4% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 89.3%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.