Pass rate
76.8%
Around average — 4.6 pts ahead of the 72.2% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 895 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £26–£74
2004 BMW 520 MOT pass rate
- 2004
- typical 125,426 mi
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Suspension
23.0% of faults · 21.0% nationally
mostly worn arm bushes, split ball-joint boots and broken coil springs.
Part only £35–£75 for Suspension pin or bush excessively worn. What fitting it takes →
6.0 pts down across model years — 7.0% in 2002, 1.0% in 2017.
Which year to buy
- Best 2019 91.7% pass
- Avoid 2005 74.1% pass
Across the 21 years on record, a spread of 17.6 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 71.4%
- Typical mileage
- 125k mi
The 2004 BMW 520 MOT pass rate is 76.8% of its MOT tests — 4.6 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Suspension is the biggest single reason it fails, at 23.0% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Emissions & leaks: 2.6× the national share
Emissions & leaks make up 14.1% of everything recorded on the 2004 BMW 520, against 5.5% nationally — 8.6 points above. Suspension is still the single largest share at 23.0%, but at 21.0% nationally that one is ordinary. A smoky diesel or a leaking joint fails on emissions more often than on wear, so ask for a recent emissions printout.
- 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 72.2% and this one manages 76.8% — 4.6 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 520? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2004 BMW 520 compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 72.2%, so this figure is 4.6 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 71.4%. The median 2004 BMW 520 in this dataset had covered 125,426 mi.
93% of the tests on this vehicle ran on Petrol, which passed 77.3% of the time. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 77.3% of the time, April–September 76.1%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Headlamp lens slightly defective", noted on 7.04% of tests.
- 895 recorded tests behind this page.
- 76.8% overall pass rate, 71.4% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the BMW 520, the average is 83.5% — best year 2019 (91.7%), worst 2005 (74.1%).
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
- 895
- Typical mileage (median)
- 125,426 mi
- Make and model
- BMW 520
- 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 520 MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 65% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Petrol is the most common here (93% of tests).
Where the BMW 520 is most common
Across all 520 model years on record (2000–2020): 117,227 BMW 520 cars tested in a recordable postcode area, across 266,372 tests. Birmingham (B) has the most, with 5,397 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) | 5,397 | 88.5% |
| 2 | Peterborough (PE) | 2,783 | 83.3% |
| 3 | Manchester (M) | 2,641 | 85.6% |
| 4 | Leicester (LE) | 2,445 | 86.7% |
| 5 | Coventry (CV) | 2,262 | 85.7% |
| 6 | London (E) | 2,243 | 93.3% |
| 7 | Sheffield (S) | 2,142 | 85.4% |
| 8 | Nottingham (NG) | 1,935 | 81.0% |
| 9 | Reading (RG) | 1,924 | 80.6% |
| 10 | Romford (RM) | 1,896 | 90.1% |
| 11 | Luton (LU) | 1,891 | 88.9% |
| 12 | Northampton (NN) | 1,855 | 83.8% |
| 13 | Glasgow (G) | 1,849 | 83.1% |
| 14 | Hayes (UB) | 1,692 | 91.3% |
| 15 | Newcastle upon Tyne (NE) | 1,629 | 82.9% |
| 16 | Doncaster (DN) | 1,592 | 82.8% |
| 17 | Bristol (BS) | 1,554 | 78.2% |
| 18 | Slough (SL) | 1,508 | 87.5% |
| 19 | Derby (DE) | 1,503 | 85.2% |
| 20 | London (N) | 1,494 | 91.9% |
The twenty areas with the most BMW 520 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 520
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 283 | 75.3% |
| London | 135 | 85.9% |
| West Midlands | 76 | 82.9% |
| East of England | 71 | 78.9% |
| North West | 68 | 72.1% |
| Scotland | 65 | 67.7% |
| East Midlands | 61 | 78.7% |
| South West | 48 | 66.7% |
| Yorkshire | 39 | 76.9% |
| North East | 25 | 80.0% |
| Wales | 24 | 66.7% |
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 2004 520
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 2004 520
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 7.0% of tests
“headlamp lens slightly defective”
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 5.1% 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 suspension joints 3.9% 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 2004 520 through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £26–£74 — and 36% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £26–£74
- Cheapest common item: srs malfunction indicator lamp warning lamp…
- £3–£12
- Dearest common item: windscreen damaged
- £80–£200
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 80%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 36%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 895 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 520, side by side
21 model years on record, from 2000 to 2020. Across them the pass rate runs from 74.1% to 91.7% — a spread of 17.6 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2000 74.3% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2001 76.3% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2002 75.0% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2003 74.7% rbt (sp) efficiency below…
- 2004 76.8%headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2005 74.1% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2006 75.5% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2007 76.5% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2008 79.5% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2009 78.9% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2010 80.0% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2011 80.6% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2012 80.5% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2013 83.5% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2014 86.1% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2015 87.6% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2016 88.7% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2017 88.3% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2018 89.6% has a cut in excess of the…
- 2019 91.7% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2020 91.0% has a cut in excess of the…
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 2004 BMW 520 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 2004 cars with a similar record
- Toyota Landcruiser 76.6%
- Toyota RAV4 76.5%
- Chrysler Crossfire 76.5%
- Toyota MR2 76.4%
- Volkswagen Touareg 76.4%
- Toyota Avensis 76.3%
Closest pass rates among 2004 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 2004 BMW 520 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 2,722 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Suspension | 643 | 23.00% | 20.98% | +2.02 |
| Brakes | 527 | 18.90% | 20.89% | −1.99 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 393 | 14.10% | 5.52% | +8.58 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 384 | 13.70% | 12.21% | +1.49 |
| Tyres | 352 | 12.60% | 19.76% | −7.16 |
| Non-component advisories | 121 | 4.30% | 4.18% | +0.12 |
| Visibility | 105 | 3.80% | 4.97% | −1.17 |
| Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | 68 | 2.40% | 0.82% | +1.58 |
| Steering | 66 | 2.40% | 2.57% | −0.17 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 63 | 2.30% | 5.57% | −3.27 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Headlamp lens slightly defective Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 7.0% | £5–25 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 5.1% | £80–200 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Major | 3.9% | £40–150 |
| Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 3.8% | £18–45 |
| Srs malfunction indicator lamp warning lamp indicates a fault Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | Major | 3.8% | £3–12 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 3.5% | £18–45 |
| Linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 2.7% | £18–45 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 2.6% | £5–20 |
| Rbt (sp) efficiency below requirements Brakes | Major | 2.5% | £45–110 |
| Coil spring fractured or broken Suspension | Major | 2.4% | £25–65 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 34.5% | £200–700 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 21.3% | £40–150 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 20.0% | £45–95 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Advisory | 14.5% | £80–180 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 11.1% | £45–110 |
| Headlamp has a product on the lens so that the light output is severely reduced Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Advisory | 9.6% | £5–25 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 6 | 83.3% | 22,766 mi |
| 30-60k | 30 | 83.3% | 50,513 mi |
| 60-90k | 139 | 82.7% | 76,920 mi |
| 90-120k | 229 | 78.6% | 103,921 mi |
| 120k+ | 491 | 73.7% | 153,085 mi |
Source: 895 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.
2004 520 MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2004 BMW 520?
76.8% of the 895 2004 BMW 520 tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 72.2% for cars first used in 2004. First-attempt pass rate: 71.4%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2004 BMW 520?
The three most recorded items are headlamp lens slightly defective (7.04%), windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view (5.14%), pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn (3.91%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2004 BMW 520 MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 83.3% of the time, falling to 73.7% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2004 BMW 520 in this dataset had covered 125,426 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2004 BMW 520?
Petrol: 77.3% pass rate across 836 tests. Diesel: 69.1% pass rate across 55 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2004 BMW 520 MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 77.3% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 76.1%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.