Pass rate
82.5%
Around average — 3.9 pts ahead of the 78.6% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 1,127 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £29–£73
2013 BMW 518 MOT pass rate
- 2013
- typical 122,309 mi
Most common fault
Tyres
26.0% 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 →
Which year to buy
- Best 2016 89.0% pass
- Avoid 2017 80.0% pass
Across the 5 years on record, a spread of 9 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 79.6%
- Typical mileage
- 122k mi
The 2013 BMW 518 MOT pass rate is 82.5% of its MOT tests — 3.9 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Tyres is the biggest single reason it fails, at 26.0% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how BMW 518 does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Tyres: 1.3× the national share
Tyres make up 26.0% of everything recorded on the 2013 BMW 518, against 19.8% nationally — 6.2 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.
- 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 82.5% — 3.9 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 35% 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 518? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2013 BMW 518 compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 78.6%, so this figure is 3.9 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 79.6%. The median 2013 BMW 518 in this dataset had covered 122,309 mi.
Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 82.3% of the time, April–September 82.9%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Coil spring fractured or broken", noted on 4.26% of tests.
- 1,127 recorded tests behind this page.
- 82.5% overall pass rate, 79.6% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the BMW 518, the average is 86.0% — best year 2016 (89.0%), worst 2017 (80.0%).
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
- 1,127
- Typical mileage (median)
- 122,309 mi
- Make and model
- BMW 518
- Updated
- 2026-11-05
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 518 MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 69% so small gaps stay visible.
Regional pass rates for the 518
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 310 | 81.3% |
| West Midlands | 147 | 87.1% |
| London | 144 | 87.5% |
| North West | 119 | 79.8% |
| East of England | 98 | 87.8% |
| Yorkshire | 74 | 83.8% |
| East Midlands | 70 | 80.0% |
| South West | 65 | 76.9% |
| North East | 40 | 80.0% |
| Wales | 33 | 69.7% |
| Scotland | 27 | 74.1% |
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 518
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 518
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 4.3% 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.
-
Check the lights 2.4% 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.
-
Check the windscreen 2.3% 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.
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 518 through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £29–£73 — and 35% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £29–£73
- Cheapest common item: washers provides insufficient washer liquid
- £5–£15
- Dearest common item: windscreen damaged
- £80–£200
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 90%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 35%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 1,127 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 518, side by side
5 model years on record, from 2013 to 2017. Across them the pass rate runs from 80.0% to 89.0% — a spread of 9 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2013 82.5%coil spring fractured or broken
- 2014 85.8% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2015 87.2% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2016 89.0% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2017 80.0% 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 2013 BMW 518 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%
- Smart Mcc Fortwo 82.6%
- Volvo XC70 82.7%
- MINI COOPER Sd 82.3%
- Land Rover Range Rover Evoque 82.8%
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 518 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 1,427 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 | 380 | 26.00% | 19.76% | +6.24 |
| Brakes | 325 | 22.30% | 20.89% | +1.41 |
| Suspension | 183 | 12.50% | 20.98% | −8.48 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 138 | 9.50% | 12.21% | −2.71 |
| Visibility | 91 | 6.20% | 4.97% | +1.23 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 85 | 5.80% | 5.52% | +0.28 |
| Non-component advisories | 77 | 5.30% | 4.18% | +1.12 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 60 | 4.10% | 5.57% | −1.47 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 59 | 4.00% | 1.76% | +2.24 |
| Road Wheels | 29 | 2.00% | 0.75% | +1.25 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coil spring fractured or broken Suspension | Major | 4.3% | £25–65 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 2.4% | £5–25 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 2.3% | £80–200 |
| Headlamp lens slightly defective Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 1.5% | £5–25 |
| Has ply or cords exposed Tyres | Major | 1.4% | £45–95 |
| Wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively Visibility | Major | 1.3% | £8–22 |
| Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords Tyres | Major | 1.2% | £45–95 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Major | 1.2% | £45–95 |
| Fixing missing Road Wheels | Major | 1.1% | £20–55 |
| Washers provides insufficient washer liquid Visibility | Major | 1.1% | £5–15 |
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 | 19.2% | £45–95 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 9.9% | £45–110 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 9.1% | £18–45 |
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 5.1% | £200–700 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 4.4% | £40–150 |
| Registration plates inscription illegible Identification of the vehicle | Advisory | 4.4% | £20–80 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30-60k | 45 | 77.8% | 50,206 mi |
| 60-90k | 169 | 86.4% | 77,334 mi |
| 90-120k | 328 | 82.9% | 105,413 mi |
| 120k+ | 583 | 81.5% | 159,935 mi |
Source: 1,127 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 518 MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2013 BMW 518?
82.5% of the 1,127 2013 BMW 518 tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 78.6% for cars first used in 2013. First-attempt pass rate: 79.6%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2013 BMW 518?
The three most recorded items are coil spring fractured or broken (4.26%), position lamp not working (2.40%), windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view (2.31%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2013 BMW 518 MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 77.8% of the time, falling to 81.5% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2013 BMW 518 in this dataset had covered 122,309 mi.
Does the season affect the 2013 BMW 518 MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 82.3% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 82.9%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.