Pass rate
81.7%
Around average — 7.0 pts ahead of the 74.7% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 7,373 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £38–£93
2010 BMW 530 MOT pass rate
- 2010
- typical 126,920 mi
Most common fault
Suspension
23.8% of faults · 21.0% nationally
mostly worn arm bushes, split ball-joint boots and broken coil springs.
Part only £40–£65 for Shock absorber leaking. What fitting it takes →
1.2 pts down across model years — 1.8% in 2000, 0.6% in 2016.
Which year to buy
- Best 2020 93.8% pass
- Avoid 2000 76.1% pass
Across the 21 years on record, a spread of 17.7 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 78.3%
- Typical mileage
- 127k mi
The 2010 BMW 530 MOT pass rate is 81.7% of its MOT tests — 7.0 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Suspension is the biggest single reason it fails, at 23.8% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how BMW 530 does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
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 74.7% and this one manages 81.7% — 7.0 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 530? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2010 BMW 530 compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 74.7%, so this figure is 7.0 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 78.3%. The median 2010 BMW 530 in this dataset had covered 126,920 mi.
99% of the tests on this vehicle ran on Diesel, which passed 81.7% of the time. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 82.1% of the time, April–September 81.1%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Coil spring fractured or broken", noted on 4.57% of tests.
- 7,373 recorded tests behind this page.
- 81.7% overall pass rate, 78.3% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the BMW 530, the average is 82.5% — best year 2020 (93.8%), worst 2000 (76.1%).
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
- 7,373
- Typical mileage (median)
- 126,920 mi
- Make and model
- BMW 530
- 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 530 MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 73% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Diesel is the most common here (99% of tests).
Regional pass rates for the 530
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 1,553 | 82.4% |
| East of England | 1,003 | 82.1% |
| North West | 835 | 81.4% |
| East Midlands | 760 | 80.1% |
| South West | 719 | 77.5% |
| West Midlands | 713 | 87.1% |
| Yorkshire | 703 | 80.7% |
| Scotland | 377 | 80.6% |
| Wales | 251 | 79.7% |
| North East | 250 | 79.2% |
| London | 209 | 88.5% |
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 2010 530
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 2010 530
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 4.6% 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 windscreen 4.5% 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 2.1% of tests
“ball joint 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 2010 530 through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £38–£93 — and 12% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £38–£93
- Cheapest common item: malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or…
- £3–£12
- Dearest common item: windscreen damaged
- £80–£200
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 90%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 12%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 7,373 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 530, side by side
21 model years on record, from 2000 to 2020. Across them the pass rate runs from 76.1% to 93.8% — a spread of 17.7 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2000 76.1% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2001 76.9% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2002 77.2% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2003 77.1% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2004 78.1% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2005 78.3% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2006 79.4% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2007 80.8% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2008 82.4% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2009 82.6% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2010 81.7%coil spring fractured or broken
- 2011 82.8% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2012 83.5% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2013 86.3% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2014 87.8% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2015 88.7% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2016 89.5% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2017 89.3% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2018 91.0% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2019 84.2% has ply or cords exposed
- 2020 93.8% fixing missing
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 2010 BMW 530 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 2010 cars with a similar record
- Jaguar Xj 81.7%
- Honda Cr-V 81.8%
- Mazda Mx-5 81.9%
- Nissan Elgrand 81.9%
- Volvo S60 81.5%
- Subaru Impreza 81.4%
Closest pass rates among 2010 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 2010 BMW 530 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 9,775 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 | 2,366 | 23.80% | 20.98% | +2.82 |
| Tyres | 2,347 | 23.60% | 19.76% | +3.84 |
| Brakes | 1,737 | 17.40% | 20.89% | −3.49 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 941 | 9.40% | 5.52% | +3.88 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 862 | 8.70% | 12.21% | −3.51 |
| Visibility | 610 | 6.10% | 4.97% | +1.13 |
| Non-component advisories | 428 | 4.30% | 4.18% | +0.12 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 211 | 2.10% | 1.76% | +0.34 |
| Steering | 137 | 1.40% | 2.57% | −1.17 |
| Road Wheels | 136 | 1.40% | 0.75% | +0.65 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coil spring fractured or broken Suspension | Major | 4.6% | £25–65 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 4.5% | £80–200 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 2.1% | £18–45 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 1.4% | £5–25 |
| Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 1.4% | £18–45 |
| Has ply or cords exposed Tyres | Major | 1.4% | £45–95 |
| Shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak Suspension | Major | 1.2% | £30–75 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Major | 1.2% | £45–95 |
| Malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 0.99% | £3–12 |
| Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords Tyres | Major | 0.94% | £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 | 18.9% | £45–95 |
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 9.2% | £200–700 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 7.3% | £18–45 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 7.1% | £45–110 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 6.0% | £18–45 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 5.2% | £40–150 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 15 | 93.3% | 22,036 mi |
| 30-60k | 233 | 83.7% | 48,907 mi |
| 60-90k | 892 | 81.6% | 78,164 mi |
| 90-120k | 2,007 | 82.3% | 105,740 mi |
| 120k+ | 4,216 | 81.2% | 156,128 mi |
Source: 7,373 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.
2010 530 MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2010 BMW 530?
81.7% of the 7,373 2010 BMW 530 tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 74.7% for cars first used in 2010. First-attempt pass rate: 78.3%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2010 BMW 530?
The three most recorded items are coil spring fractured or broken (4.57%), windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view (4.49%), ball joint excessively worn (2.12%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2010 BMW 530 MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 93.3% of the time, falling to 81.2% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2010 BMW 530 in this dataset had covered 126,920 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2010 BMW 530?
Diesel: 81.7% pass rate across 7,307 tests. Petrol: 78.8% pass rate across 66 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2010 BMW 530 MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 82.1% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 81.1%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.