Pass rate
96.0%
Above average — 17.4 pts ahead of the 78.6% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 50 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £52–£159
2013 BMW 523 MOT pass rate
- 2013
- typical 59,879 mi
Only 50 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
36.0% 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 2013 96.0% pass · this year
- Avoid 2000 74.8% pass
Across the 10 years on record, a spread of 21.2 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 95.7%
- Typical mileage
- 60k mi
The 2013 BMW 523 MOT pass rate is 96.0% of its MOT tests — 17.4 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Tyres is the biggest single reason it fails, at 36.0% 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
Road wheels: 26.7× the national share
Road wheels make up 20.0% of everything recorded on the 2013 BMW 523, against 0.8% nationally — 19.3 points above. Tyres are still the single largest share at 36.0%, but at 19.8% nationally that one is ordinary. Check for buckled rims and missing wheel bolts; kerbing is the usual cause and it is visible.
- 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 96.0% — 17.4 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 12% 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 523? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2013 BMW 523 compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 78.6%, so this figure is 17.4 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 95.7%. The median 2013 BMW 523 in this dataset had covered 59,879 mi.
The most common fuel recorded here is Petrol — 66% of tests, with a 97.0% pass rate.
The single most recorded failure item is "Catch deteriorated so the door cannot be readily opened or closed", noted on 4.00% of tests.
- 50 recorded tests behind this page.
- 96.0% overall pass rate, 95.7% 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
- 50
- Typical mileage (median)
- 59,879 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
Body Panel Repair
Typically a garage job — get quotes before committing.
Does mileage affect the 523 MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 84% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Petrol is the most common here (66% of tests).
Regional pass rates for the 523
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 15 | 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 2013 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 2013 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 2.0% 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 2.0% of tests
“catalyst emissions emissions likely to be affected by an exhaust leak”
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 lights 2.0% of tests
“headlamp cleaning device for LED or HID headlamp inoperative”
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 2013 523 through its MOT
Across the 7 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £52–£159 — and 12% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 7 common items
- £52–£159
- Cheapest common item: headlamp cleaning device for led or hid…
- £5–£25
- Dearest common item: catch deteriorated so the door cannot be…
- £80–£250
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 57%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 12%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 50 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 2013 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 2013 cars with a similar record
- Porsche 911 94.6%
- Bentley Continental 93.9%
- Porsche Boxster 93.5%
- Porsche Cayman 92.7%
- Jaguar F-Type 91.0%
- Audi A8 91.0%
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 523 7 failure items · 5 advisories · 6 inspection categories · mileage brackets · all of it in the page, none of it above the fold
Every inspection category
Shares of the 25 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 | 9 | 36.00% | 19.76% | +16.24 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 5 | 20.00% | 5.57% | +14.43 |
| Road Wheels | 5 | 20.00% | 0.75% | +19.25 |
| Brakes | 4 | 16.00% | 20.89% | −4.89 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 1 | 4.00% | 12.21% | −8.21 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 1 | 4.00% | 5.52% | −1.52 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Catch deteriorated so the door cannot be readily opened or closed Body, chassis, structure | Minor | 4.0% | £80–250 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Major | 2.0% | £18–45 |
| Bumpers insecure Body, chassis, structure | Major | 2.0% | £80–250 |
| Catalyst emissions emissions likely to be affected by an exhaust leak Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 2.0% | £60–250 |
| Headlamp cleaning device for LED or HID headlamp inoperative Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 2.0% | £5–25 |
| Hydraulic brake callipers insecurely mounted Brakes | Major | 2.0% | £45–110 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Major | 2.0% | £45–95 |
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 | 14.0% | £45–95 |
| Badly distorted Road Wheels | Advisory | 10.0% | £20–55 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 4.0% | £18–45 |
| Other body component component insecure Body, chassis, structure | Advisory | 4.0% | £80–250 |
| Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords Tyres | Advisory | 2.0% | £45–95 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 5 | 100.0% | 25,421 mi |
| 30-60k | 20 | 100.0% | 46,650 mi |
| 60-90k | 25 | 92.0% | 68,435 mi |
Source: 50 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 523 MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2013 BMW 523?
96.0% of the 50 2013 BMW 523 tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 78.6% for cars first used in 2013. First-attempt pass rate: 95.7%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2013 BMW 523?
The three most recorded items are catch deteriorated so the door cannot be readily opened or closed (4.00%), brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick (2.00%), bumpers insecure (2.00%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2013 BMW 523 MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 100.0% of the time, falling to 92.0% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2013 BMW 523 in this dataset had covered 59,879 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2013 BMW 523?
Petrol: 97.0% pass rate across 33 tests. Diesel: 94.1% pass rate across 17 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.