Pass rate
90.0%
Above average — 9.8 pts ahead of the 80.2% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 520 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £38–£89
2014 BMW 528 MOT pass rate
- 2014
- typical 64,682 mi
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Tyres
34.0% 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 2015 90.0% pass
- Avoid 2000 75.4% pass
Across the 9 years on record, a spread of 14.6 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 89.0%
- Typical mileage
- 65k mi
The 2014 BMW 528 MOT pass rate is 90.0% of its MOT tests — 9.8 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Tyres is the biggest single reason it fails, at 34.0% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Tyres: 1.7× the national share
Tyres make up 34.0% of everything recorded on the 2014 BMW 528, against 19.8% nationally — 14.2 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 80.2% and this one manages 90.0% — 9.8 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 28% 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 528? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2014 BMW 528 compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 80.2%, so this figure is 9.8 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 89.0%. The median 2014 BMW 528 in this dataset had covered 64,682 mi.
Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 89.9% of the time, April–September 90.1%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view", noted on 1.92% of tests.
- 520 recorded tests behind this page.
- 90.0% overall pass rate, 89.0% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the BMW 528, the average is 85.2% — best year 2015 (90.0%), worst 2000 (75.4%).
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
- 520
- Typical mileage (median)
- 64,682 mi
- Make and model
- BMW 528
- Updated
- 2026-11-07
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Windscreen
Typically a garage job — get quotes before committing.
Does mileage affect the 528 MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 76% so small gaps stay visible.
Where the BMW 528 is most common
Across all 528 model years on record (2000–2017): 1,988 BMW 528 cars tested in a recordable postcode area, across 4,349 tests. London (NW) has the most, with 69 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 | London (NW) | 69 | 91.0% |
| 2 | Wembley (HA) | 59 | 95.1% |
| 3 | London (E) | 58 | 88.3% |
| 4 | Birmingham (B) | 55 | 86.1% |
| 5 | London (SE) | 52 | 86.6% |
| 6 | Hounslow (TW) | 49 | 84.0% |
| 7 | Guildford (GU) | 49 | 84.8% |
| 8 | Kingston upon Thames (KT) | 47 | 84.6% |
| 9 | High Wycombe (HP) | 45 | 85.7% |
| 10 | London (N) | 45 | 87.5% |
| 11 | London (SW) | 43 | 83.3% |
| 12 | Croydon (CR) | 42 | 93.2% |
| 13 | Reading (RG) | 41 | 80.2% |
| 14 | Hayes (UB) | 38 | 85.3% |
| 15 | Romford (RM) | 38 | 92.5% |
| 16 | Bristol (BS) | 36 | 78.3% |
| 17 | Crawley (RH) | 36 | 83.5% |
| 18 | London (W) | 36 | 90.1% |
| 19 | Enfield (EN) | 36 | 93.9% |
| 20 | Chelmsford (CM) | 35 | 88.9% |
The twenty areas with the most BMW 528 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 528
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 190 | 92.1% |
| East of England | 90 | 88.9% |
| London | 69 | 88.4% |
| South West | 50 | 82.0% |
| North West | 39 | 89.7% |
| East Midlands | 20 | 100.0% |
| West Midlands | 19 | 78.9% |
| Scotland | 17 | 94.1% |
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 2014 528
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 2014 528
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 windscreen 1.9% 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 wipers and washers 1.5% of tests
“wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively”
Run the wipers with the screen wet: they should clear it in one sweep without smearing or juddering. Top the washer bottle up and check both jets hit the screen.
-
Check the coil springs 1.1% 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 2014 528 through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £38–£89 — and 28% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £38–£89
- Cheapest common item: wipers does not clear the windscreen…
- £8–£22
- Dearest common item: windscreen damaged
- £80–£200
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 90%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 28%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 520 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 528, side by side
9 model years on record, from 2000 to 2017. Across them the pass rate runs from 75.4% to 90.0% — a spread of 14.6 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2000 75.4% steering rack gaiter missing or…
- 2010 83.2% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2011 84.4% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2012 89.9% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2013 82.7% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2014 90.0%windscreen damaged but not…
- 2015 90.0% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2016 89.1% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2017 82.5% has ply or cords exposed
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 2014 BMW 528 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 2014 cars with a similar record
- Mercedes-Benz S-Class 90.1%
- Lexus Ct 90.3%
- Toyota Prius 89.6%
- Lexus Rx 90.4%
- Toyota Iq 90.5%
- Porsche Panamera 89.3%
Closest pass rates among 2014 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 2014 BMW 528 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 358 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 | 124 | 34.00% | 19.76% | +14.24 |
| Brakes | 72 | 19.70% | 20.89% | −1.19 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 46 | 12.60% | 5.52% | +7.08 |
| Suspension | 27 | 7.40% | 20.98% | −13.58 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 26 | 7.10% | 12.21% | −5.11 |
| Visibility | 26 | 7.10% | 4.97% | +2.13 |
| Non-component advisories | 12 | 3.30% | 4.18% | −0.88 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 11 | 3.00% | 1.76% | +1.24 |
| Steering | 8 | 2.20% | 2.57% | −0.37 |
| Road Wheels | 6 | 1.60% | 0.75% | +0.85 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 1.9% | £80–200 |
| Wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively Visibility | Major | 1.5% | £8–22 |
| Coil spring fractured or broken Suspension | Major | 1.1% | £25–65 |
| Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords Tyres | Major | 0.96% | £45–95 |
| Has ply or cords exposed Tyres | Major | 0.96% | £45–95 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Major | 0.96% | £45–95 |
| Has a bulge, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Major | 0.58% | £45–95 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 0.58% | £5–25 |
| Track rod end ball joint dust cover damaged or deteriorated, but preventing the ingress of dirt Steering | Minor | 0.58% | £18–45 |
| Wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively Visibility | Rectified | 0.58% | £8–22 |
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 | 13.1% | £45–95 |
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 8.3% | £200–700 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 7.5% | £18–45 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 3.3% | £45–110 |
| Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords Tyres | Advisory | 2.1% | £45–95 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 1.9% | £45–95 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 41 | 97.6% | 22,858 mi |
| 30-60k | 183 | 92.9% | 47,431 mi |
| 60-90k | 172 | 88.4% | 73,048 mi |
| 90-120k | 82 | 86.6% | 104,834 mi |
| 120k+ | 39 | 84.6% | 144,218 mi |
Source: 520 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.
2014 528 MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2014 BMW 528?
90.0% of the 520 2014 BMW 528 tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 80.2% for cars first used in 2014. First-attempt pass rate: 89.0%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2014 BMW 528?
The three most recorded items are windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view (1.92%), wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively (1.54%), coil spring fractured or broken (1.15%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2014 BMW 528 MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 97.6% of the time, falling to 84.6% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2014 BMW 528 in this dataset had covered 64,682 mi.
Does the season affect the 2014 BMW 528 MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 89.9% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 90.1%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.