Pass rate
86.0%
Above average — 10.1 pts ahead of the 75.9% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 1,776 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £34–£86
2011 BMW 535 MOT pass rate
- 2011
- typical 112,854 mi
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Tyres
26.8% of faults · 19.8% nationally
mostly tread below the limit, cuts and sidewall bulges.
Which year to buy
- Best 2016 89.5% pass
- Avoid 2002 80.3% pass
Across the 17 years on record, a spread of 9.2 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 84.2%
- Typical mileage
- 113k mi
The 2011 BMW 535 MOT pass rate is 86.0% of its MOT tests — 10.1 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Tyres is the biggest single reason it fails, at 26.8% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Tyres: 1.4× the national share
Tyres make up 26.8% of everything recorded on the 2011 BMW 535, against 19.8% nationally — 7.0 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 75.9% and this one manages 86.0% — 10.1 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 24% 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 535? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2011 BMW 535 compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 75.9%, so this figure is 10.1 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 84.2%. The median 2011 BMW 535 in this dataset had covered 112,854 mi.
82% of the tests on this vehicle ran on Diesel, which passed 85.7% of the time. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 86.2% of the time, April–September 85.8%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Coil spring fractured or broken", noted on 2.76% of tests.
- 1,776 recorded tests behind this page.
- 86.0% overall pass rate, 84.2% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the BMW 535, the average is 85.8% — best year 2016 (89.5%), worst 2002 (80.3%).
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
- 1,776
- Typical mileage (median)
- 112,854 mi
- Make and model
- BMW 535
- Updated
- 2026-11-07
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 535 MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 77% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Diesel is the most common here (82% of tests).
Where the BMW 535 is most common
Across all 535 model years on record (2000–2017): 12,690 BMW 535 cars tested in a recordable postcode area, across 27,000 tests. Birmingham (B) has the most, with 479 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) | 479 | 91.3% |
| 2 | Peterborough (PE) | 304 | 88.5% |
| 3 | Reading (RG) | 277 | 84.0% |
| 4 | Coventry (CV) | 243 | 88.2% |
| 5 | Sheffield (S) | 226 | 90.2% |
| 6 | Leicester (LE) | 222 | 87.1% |
| 7 | Nottingham (NG) | 217 | 84.2% |
| 8 | Guildford (GU) | 213 | 86.7% |
| 9 | Milton Keynes (MK) | 204 | 85.7% |
| 10 | High Wycombe (HP) | 197 | 87.7% |
| 11 | Manchester (M) | 187 | 87.5% |
| 12 | Bristol (BS) | 185 | 79.4% |
| 13 | Doncaster (DN) | 179 | 88.8% |
| 14 | Slough (SL) | 178 | 89.9% |
| 15 | Derby (DE) | 177 | 86.9% |
| 16 | Newcastle upon Tyne (NE) | 176 | 89.3% |
| 17 | Northampton (NN) | 172 | 84.9% |
| 18 | Southampton (SO) | 169 | 83.2% |
| 19 | Romford (RM) | 168 | 91.4% |
| 20 | Poole (BH) | 160 | 82.0% |
The twenty areas with the most BMW 535 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 535
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 414 | 85.7% |
| East of England | 208 | 87.5% |
| South West | 202 | 79.2% |
| Yorkshire | 170 | 87.1% |
| North West | 167 | 89.8% |
| West Midlands | 166 | 89.2% |
| East Midlands | 133 | 86.5% |
| Scotland | 104 | 79.8% |
| London | 92 | 90.2% |
| North East | 64 | 90.6% |
| Wales | 56 | 82.1% |
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 2011 535
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 2011 535
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 2.8% 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 2.6% 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 1.6% 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 2011 535 through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £34–£86 — and 24% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £34–£86
- Cheapest common item: individual direction indicators not working
- £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
- 24%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 1,776 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 535, side by side
17 model years on record, from 2000 to 2017. Across them the pass rate runs from 80.3% to 89.5% — a spread of 9.2 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2000 84.2% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2001 85.5% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2002 80.3% headlamp aim too low
- 2004 81.4% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2005 81.8% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2006 82.5% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2007 82.8% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2008 82.8% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2009 82.9% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2010 82.4% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2011 86.0%coil spring fractured or broken
- 2012 87.8% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2013 87.1% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2014 88.5% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2015 89.0% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2016 89.5% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2017 88.3% windscreen damaged but not…
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 2011 BMW 535 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 2011 cars with a similar record
- Lexus Ct 85.8%
- Toyota Estima 85.8%
- Jaguar Xkr 86.4%
- Audi Q7 85.5%
- Audi A7 85.3%
- Porsche Cayenne 86.8%
Closest pass rates among 2011 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 2011 BMW 535 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 1,730 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 | 470 | 26.80% | 19.76% | +7.04 |
| Suspension | 335 | 19.10% | 20.98% | −1.88 |
| Brakes | 290 | 16.50% | 20.89% | −4.39 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 210 | 12.00% | 5.52% | +6.48 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 160 | 9.10% | 12.21% | −3.11 |
| Visibility | 109 | 6.20% | 4.97% | +1.23 |
| Non-component advisories | 64 | 3.60% | 4.18% | −0.58 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 45 | 2.60% | 1.76% | +0.84 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 25 | 1.40% | 5.57% | −4.17 |
| Road Wheels | 22 | 1.30% | 0.75% | +0.55 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coil spring fractured or broken Suspension | Major | 2.8% | £25–65 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 2.6% | £80–200 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 1.6% | £18–45 |
| Has ply or cords exposed Tyres | Major | 1.3% | £45–95 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 0.90% | £5–25 |
| Side repeaters not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 0.79% | £5–25 |
| Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords Tyres | Major | 0.73% | £45–95 |
| Wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively Visibility | Major | 0.68% | £8–22 |
| Headlamp aim too low Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 0.62% | £30–80 |
| Individual direction indicators not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 0.62% | £3–12 |
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 | 15.1% | £45–95 |
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 8.6% | £200–700 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 4.8% | £18–45 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 4.6% | £45–110 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 4.5% | £18–45 |
| Tread depth tread pattern not visible over the whole tread area when minimum depth required is 1.0mm Tyres | Advisory | 2.6% | £45–95 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 26 | 88.5% | 21,812 mi |
| 30-60k | 132 | 88.6% | 48,580 mi |
| 60-90k | 333 | 87.1% | 76,402 mi |
| 90-120k | 539 | 85.7% | 106,054 mi |
| 120k+ | 744 | 85.2% | 150,496 mi |
Source: 1,776 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.
2011 535 MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2011 BMW 535?
86.0% of the 1,776 2011 BMW 535 tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 75.9% for cars first used in 2011. First-attempt pass rate: 84.2%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2011 BMW 535?
The three most recorded items are coil spring fractured or broken (2.76%), windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view (2.65%), ball joint excessively worn (1.58%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2011 BMW 535 MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 88.5% of the time, falling to 85.2% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2011 BMW 535 in this dataset had covered 112,854 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2011 BMW 535?
Diesel: 85.7% pass rate across 1,459 tests. Petrol: 87.7% pass rate across 317 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2011 BMW 535 MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 86.2% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 85.8%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.