Pass rate
81.7%
Around average — 4.5 pts ahead of the 77.2% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 20,960 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £33–£85
2012 BMW 5 Series MOT pass rate
- 2012
- typical 120,685 mi
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Tyres
24.6% 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 →
3.8 pts down across model years — 8.0% in 2004, 4.2% in 2022.
Which year to buy
- Best 2023 96.6% pass
- Avoid 2000 73.0% pass
Across the 24 years on record, a spread of 23.6 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 78.2%
- Typical mileage
- 121k mi
The 2012 BMW 5 Series MOT pass rate is 81.7% of its MOT tests — 4.5 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Tyres is the biggest single reason it fails, at 24.6% of what testers record.
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 77.2% and this one manages 81.7% — 4.5 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 31% 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 5 Series? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2012 BMW 5 Series compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 77.2%, so this figure is 4.5 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 78.2%. The median 2012 BMW 5 Series in this dataset had covered 120,685 mi.
The most common fuel recorded here is Diesel — 97% of tests, with a 81.5% pass rate. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 82.0% of the time, April–September 81.2%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Coil spring fractured or broken", noted on 5.00% of tests.
- 20,960 recorded tests behind this page.
- 81.7% overall pass rate, 78.2% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the BMW 5 Series, the average is 87.4% — best year 2023 (96.6%), worst 2000 (73.0%).
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
- 20,960
- Typical mileage (median)
- 120,685 mi
- Make and model
- BMW 5 Series
- Updated
- 2026-11-07
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Coil Spring
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the 5 Series MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 73% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Diesel is the most common here (97% of tests).
Where the BMW 5 Series is most common
Across all 5 Series model years on record (2000–2023): 118,857 BMW 5 Series cars tested in a recordable postcode area, across 241,596 tests. Birmingham (B) has the most, with 4,480 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) | 4,480 | 89.3% |
| 2 | Peterborough (PE) | 2,846 | 87.3% |
| 3 | London (E) | 2,604 | 95.3% |
| 4 | Leicester (LE) | 2,324 | 87.9% |
| 5 | Coventry (CV) | 2,273 | 88.7% |
| 6 | London (NW) | 2,249 | 92.9% |
| 7 | Manchester (M) | 2,207 | 89.1% |
| 8 | Glasgow (G) | 2,115 | 86.7% |
| 9 | Sheffield (S) | 2,083 | 87.7% |
| 10 | Reading (RG) | 2,065 | 86.0% |
| 11 | Romford (RM) | 2,042 | 92.0% |
| 12 | Nottingham (NG) | 2,016 | 85.5% |
| 13 | Guildford (GU) | 1,914 | 86.0% |
| 14 | Ilford (IG) | 1,877 | 91.5% |
| 15 | Slough (SL) | 1,856 | 90.1% |
| 16 | Hayes (UB) | 1,808 | 92.4% |
| 17 | Northampton (NN) | 1,749 | 86.4% |
| 18 | Wembley (HA) | 1,721 | 91.2% |
| 19 | Luton (LU) | 1,676 | 90.3% |
| 20 | London (N) | 1,648 | 94.0% |
The twenty areas with the most BMW 5 Series 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 5 Series
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 3,883 | 82.4% |
| North West | 2,875 | 80.9% |
| East of England | 2,593 | 83.1% |
| West Midlands | 2,431 | 84.9% |
| Yorkshire | 2,013 | 82.0% |
| East Midlands | 1,956 | 81.8% |
| South West | 1,920 | 75.2% |
| Scotland | 1,052 | 76.8% |
| Wales | 830 | 80.7% |
| North East | 709 | 82.9% |
| London | 698 | 88.4% |
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 2012 5 Series
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 2012 5 Series
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 coil springs 5.0% 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.
-
Check the windscreen 3.7% 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 2.9% 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.
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 2012 5 Series through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £33–£85 — and 31% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £33–£85
- 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
- 90%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 31%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 20,960 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 5 Series, side by side
24 model years on record, from 2000 to 2023. Across them the pass rate runs from 73.0% to 96.6% — a spread of 23.6 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2000 73.0% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2001 78.4% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2002 75.7% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2003 75.0% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2004 77.0% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2005 77.7% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2006 77.0% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2007 79.7% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2008 81.0% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2009 80.8% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2010 82.1% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2011 81.4% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2012 81.7%coil spring fractured or broken
- 2013 81.5% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2014 88.8% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2015 88.7% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2016 85.7% has a cut in excess of the…
- 2017 88.4% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2018 89.8% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2019 90.2% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2020 90.7% has a cut in excess of the…
- 2021 92.2% has a cut in excess of the…
- 2022 92.3% has a cut in excess of the…
- 2023 96.6% 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 2012 BMW 5 Series 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 2012 cars with a similar record
- Audi A5 81.8%
- SEAT Mii 81.6%
- Land Rover Range Rover Evoque 81.9%
- Smart Mcc Fortwo 81.9%
- MINI COOPER Sd 81.5%
- Toyota YARIS 82.0%
Closest pass rates among 2012 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 2012 BMW 5 Series 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 26,999 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 | 6,788 | 24.60% | 19.76% | +4.84 |
| Brakes | 5,352 | 19.40% | 20.89% | −1.49 |
| Suspension | 4,770 | 17.30% | 20.98% | −3.68 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 3,461 | 12.60% | 12.21% | +0.39 |
| Non-component advisories | 1,865 | 6.80% | 4.18% | +2.62 |
| Visibility | 1,584 | 5.70% | 4.97% | +0.73 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 1,525 | 5.50% | 5.52% | −0.02 |
| Steering | 707 | 2.60% | 2.57% | +0.03 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 526 | 1.90% | 1.76% | +0.14 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 421 | 1.50% | 5.57% | −4.07 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coil spring fractured or broken Suspension | Major | 5.0% | £25–65 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 3.7% | £80–200 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 2.9% | £5–25 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Major | 1.5% | £45–95 |
| Headlamp not working on dipped beam Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 1.3% | £5–25 |
| Has ply or cords exposed Tyres | Major | 1.2% | £45–95 |
| Shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak Suspension | Major | 1.1% | £30–75 |
| Side repeaters not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 0.99% | £5–25 |
| Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords Tyres | Major | 0.98% | £45–95 |
| Headlamp lens slightly defective Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 0.87% | £5–25 |
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 | 19.5% | £45–95 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 8.1% | £18–45 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 7.9% | £45–110 |
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 5.5% | £200–700 |
| Non-component advisories Play in steering rack inner joint(s) Non-component advisories | Advisory | 4.0% | £120–300 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 3.9% | £40–150 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 47 | 91.5% | 25,138 mi |
| 30-60k | 858 | 86.6% | 48,946 mi |
| 60-90k | 3,286 | 82.9% | 77,438 mi |
| 90-120k | 6,129 | 81.1% | 105,379 mi |
| 120k+ | 10,631 | 81.2% | 155,967 mi |
Source: 20,960 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.
2012 5 Series MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2012 BMW 5 Series?
81.7% of the 20,960 2012 BMW 5 Series tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 77.2% for cars first used in 2012. First-attempt pass rate: 78.2%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2012 BMW 5 Series?
The three most recorded items are coil spring fractured or broken (5.00%), windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view (3.71%), position lamp not working (2.90%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2012 BMW 5 Series MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 91.5% of the time, falling to 81.2% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2012 BMW 5 Series in this dataset had covered 120,685 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2012 BMW 5 Series?
Diesel: 81.5% pass rate across 20,235 tests. Petrol: 86.9% pass rate across 658 tests. Hybrid: 91.8% pass rate across 49 tests. Electric: 81.8% pass rate across 11 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2012 BMW 5 Series MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 82.0% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 81.2%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.