Pass rate
82.5%
Around average — 9.6 pts ahead of the 72.9% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 302 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £41–£101
2002 BMW 540 MOT pass rate
- 2002
- typical 129,854 mi
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Brakes
20.9% of faults · 20.9% nationally
mostly worn pads and discs, corroded pipes and a handbrake that will not hold.
Part only £25–£55 for Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded. What fitting it takes →
Which year to buy
- Best 2000 84.5% pass
- Avoid 2006 74.2% pass
Across the 7 years on record, a spread of 10.3 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 79.5%
- Typical mileage
- 130k mi
The 2002 BMW 540 MOT pass rate is 82.5% of its MOT tests — 9.6 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 20.9% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Emissions & leaks: 3.4× the national share
Emissions & leaks make up 18.8% of everything recorded on the 2002 BMW 540, against 5.5% nationally — 13.3 points above. Brakes are still the single largest share at 20.9%, but at 20.9% nationally that one is ordinary. A smoky diesel or a leaking joint fails on emissions more often than on wear, so ask for a recent emissions printout.
- 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 72.9% and this one manages 82.5% — 9.6 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 8% 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 540? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2002 BMW 540 compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 72.9%, so this figure is 9.6 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 79.5%. The median 2002 BMW 540 in this dataset had covered 129,854 mi.
Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 79.8% of the time, April–September 85.8%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view", noted on 6.29% of tests.
- 302 recorded tests behind this page.
- 82.5% overall pass rate, 79.5% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the BMW 540, the average is 81.9% — best year 2000 (84.5%), worst 2006 (74.2%).
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
- 302
- Typical mileage (median)
- 129,854 mi
- Make and model
- BMW 540
- 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 540 MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 67% so small gaps stay visible.
Regional pass rates for the 540
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 74 | 87.8% |
| South West | 44 | 70.5% |
| East of England | 41 | 70.7% |
| North West | 33 | 84.8% |
| London | 32 | 96.9% |
| West Midlands | 20 | 95.0% |
| East Midlands | 18 | 72.2% |
| Yorkshire | 16 | 75.0% |
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 2002 540
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 2002 540
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 6.3% 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 3.6% of tests
“ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated”
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.
-
Check the wipers and washers 2.0% of tests
“washers provides insufficient washer liquid”
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.
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 2002 540 through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £41–£101 — and 8% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £41–£101
- Cheapest common item: washers provides insufficient washer liquid
- £5–£15
- Dearest common item: windscreen damaged
- £80–£200
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 60%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 8%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 302 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 540, side by side
7 model years on record, from 2000 to 2018. Across them the pass rate runs from 74.2% to 84.5% — a spread of 10.3 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2000 84.5% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2001 81.4% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2002 82.5%windscreen damaged but not…
- 2003 78.9% rbt (sp) efficiency below…
- 2006 74.2% mirrors slightly damaged
- 2017 83.7% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2018 84.3% has a bulge, caused by separation…
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 2002 BMW 540 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 2002 cars with a similar record
- Mercedes-Benz Slk 81.2%
- Subaru Impreza 80.5%
- Honda S2000 84.6%
- Porsche Boxster 80.3%
- Mercedes-Benz Sl 85.2%
- Jaguar XK8 79.8%
Closest pass rates among 2002 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 2002 BMW 540 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 639 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brakes | 137 | 20.90% | 20.89% | +0.01 |
| Suspension | 123 | 18.80% | 20.98% | −2.18 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 123 | 18.80% | 5.52% | +13.28 |
| Tyres | 65 | 9.90% | 19.76% | −9.86 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 48 | 7.30% | 12.21% | −4.91 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 45 | 6.90% | 5.57% | +1.33 |
| Visibility | 40 | 6.10% | 4.97% | +1.13 |
| Non-component advisories | 25 | 3.80% | 4.18% | −0.38 |
| Steering | 21 | 3.20% | 2.57% | +0.63 |
| Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | 12 | 1.80% | 0.82% | +0.98 |
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 | 6.3% | £80–200 |
| Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 3.6% | £18–45 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 2.6% | £18–45 |
| Rbt (sp) efficiency below requirements Brakes | Major | 2.6% | £45–110 |
| Linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 2.0% | £18–45 |
| Washers provides insufficient washer liquid Visibility | Major | 2.0% | £5–15 |
| Headlamp aim too low Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 1.7% | £30–80 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Major | 1.7% | £80–180 |
| Ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Suspension | Major | 1.3% | £18–45 |
| Headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 1.3% | £30–80 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 36.4% | £200–700 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Advisory | 13.6% | £80–180 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 12.3% | £45–95 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 8.3% | £45–110 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 7.6% | £40–150 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 5.0% | £45–95 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 4 | 75.0% | 22,741 mi |
| 30-60k | 12 | 83.3% | 49,519 mi |
| 60-90k | 42 | 85.7% | 79,507 mi |
| 90-120k | 52 | 86.5% | 107,067 mi |
| 120k+ | 173 | 81.5% | 159,324 mi |
Source: 302 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.
2002 540 MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2002 BMW 540?
82.5% of the 302 2002 BMW 540 tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 72.9% for cars first used in 2002. First-attempt pass rate: 79.5%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2002 BMW 540?
The three most recorded items are windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view (6.29%), ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated (3.64%), ball joint excessively worn (2.65%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2002 BMW 540 MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 75.0% of the time, falling to 81.5% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2002 BMW 540 in this dataset had covered 129,854 mi.
Does the season affect the 2002 BMW 540 MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 79.8% 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.