Pass rate
95.4%
Above average — 18.2 pts ahead of the 77.2% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 65 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £20–£65
2012 BMW 523 MOT pass rate
- 2012
- typical 62,134 mi
Only 65 tests of this exact model and year are in the DVSA data, below the 100 we ask for before a page goes in the index. The figures are still shown, because they are the only ones there are.
Most common fault
Tyres
38.9% of faults · 19.8% nationally
mostly tread below the limit, cuts and sidewall bulges.
Which year to buy
- Best 2013 96.0% pass
- Avoid 2000 74.8% pass
Across the 10 years on record, a spread of 21.2 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 95.2%
- Typical mileage
- 62k mi
The 2012 BMW 523 MOT pass rate is 95.4% of its MOT tests — 18.2 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Tyres is the biggest single reason it fails, at 38.9% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how BMW 523 does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Tyres: 2.0× the national share
Tyres make up 38.9% of everything recorded on the 2012 BMW 523, against 19.8% nationally — 19.1 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.
- 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 95.4% — 18.2 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
- Based on a small sample. 65 tests back this page. That is enough to publish and to index, not enough to treat the decimal places as precise — read the pattern, not the second digit.
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 523? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2012 BMW 523 compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 77.2%, so this figure is 18.2 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 95.2%. The median 2012 BMW 523 in this dataset had covered 62,134 mi.
Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 94.3% of the time, April–September 96.7%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick", noted on 3.08% of tests.
- 65 recorded tests behind this page.
- 95.4% overall pass rate, 95.2% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the BMW 523, the average is 79.6% — best year 2013 (96.0%), worst 2000 (74.8%).
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
- 65
- Typical mileage (median)
- 62,134 mi
- Make and model
- BMW 523
- Updated
- 2026-11-05
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Brake Pads Set
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the 523 MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 42% so small gaps stay visible.
Regional pass rates for the 523
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 22 | 100.0% |
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 523
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 523
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 brakes 3.1% of tests
“brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick”
Look through the spokes of each wheel at the pad — less than 3mm of friction material, or a lip on the disc edge, is the usual failure. Check the handbrake holds on a slope with a few clicks, not at the top of its travel.
-
Check the exhaust and emissions 1.5% of tests
“catalyst emissions carbon monoxide content after 2nd fast idle exceeds manufacturer's specified limits”
Listen for a blow at idle and have someone rev it gently. Then look at the tailpipe smoke: blue is oil, white when warm is coolant, black is over-fuelling. Any of those and the emissions test is the least of it.
-
Check the coil springs 1.5% 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.
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 523 through its MOT
Across the 8 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £20–£65 — and 44% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 8 common items
- £20–£65
- Cheapest common item: individual direction indicators not working
- £3–£12
- Dearest common item: catalyst emissions carbon monoxide content…
- £60–£250
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 88%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 44%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 65 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 523, side by side
10 model years on record, from 2000 to 2013. Across them the pass rate runs from 74.8% to 96.0% — a spread of 21.2 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2000 74.8% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2005 76.9% srs malfunction indicator lamp…
- 2006 79.9% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2007 78.1% malfunction indicator lamp…
- 2008 81.0% linkage ball joint dust cover…
- 2009 80.9% malfunction indicator lamp…
- 2010 82.2% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2011 83.3% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2012 95.4%brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick
- 2013 96.0% catch deteriorated so the door…
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 523 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
- Porsche 911 93.4%
- Bentley Continental 93.4%
- Porsche Boxster 91.6%
- Audi A8 90.2%
- Honda Fit 89.3%
- Toyota Estima 88.3%
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 523 8 failure items · 6 advisories · 5 inspection categories · mileage brackets · all of it in the page, none of it above the fold
Every inspection category
Shares of the 36 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 | 14 | 38.90% | 19.76% | +19.14 |
| Suspension | 8 | 22.20% | 20.98% | +1.22 |
| Brakes | 7 | 19.40% | 20.89% | −1.49 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 4 | 11.10% | 12.21% | −1.11 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 3 | 8.30% | 5.52% | +2.78 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Rectified | 3.1% | £18–45 |
| Catalyst emissions carbon monoxide content after 2nd fast idle exceeds manufacturer's specified limits Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 1.5% | £60–250 |
| Coil spring fractured or broken Suspension | Major | 1.5% | £25–65 |
| Has ply or cords exposed Tyres | Major | 1.5% | £45–95 |
| Headlamp not working on main beam Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 1.5% | £5–25 |
| Individual direction indicators not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 1.5% | £3–12 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 1.5% | £5–25 |
| Position lamp with a multiple light source up to 1/2 not functioning Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 1.5% | £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 | 12.3% | £45–95 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 6.2% | £18–45 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 4.6% | £18–45 |
| Brake discs significantly and obviously worn Brakes | Advisory | 3.1% | £45–110 |
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 3.1% | £200–700 |
| Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords Tyres | Advisory | 3.1% | £45–95 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 6 | 100.0% | 21,653 mi |
| 30-60k | 26 | 100.0% | 47,565 mi |
| 60-90k | 25 | 96.0% | 71,554 mi |
| 90-120k | 4 | 50.0% | 108,034 mi |
| 120k+ | 4 | 100.0% | 144,062 mi |
Source: 65 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 523 MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2012 BMW 523?
95.4% of the 65 2012 BMW 523 tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 77.2% for cars first used in 2012. First-attempt pass rate: 95.2%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2012 BMW 523?
The three most recorded items are brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick (3.08%), catalyst emissions carbon monoxide content after 2nd fast idle exceeds manufacturer's specified limits (1.54%), coil spring fractured or broken (1.54%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2012 BMW 523 MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 100.0% of the time, falling to 100.0% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2012 BMW 523 in this dataset had covered 62,134 mi.
Does the season affect the 2012 BMW 523 MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 94.3% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 96.7%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.