Pass rate
80.8%
Around average — 7.7 pts ahead of the 73.1% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 287 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £24–£69
2008 BMW 6 Series MOT pass rate
- 2008
- typical 117,769 mi
Most common fault
Suspension
28.2% of faults · 21.0% nationally
mostly worn arm bushes, split ball-joint boots and broken coil springs.
Part only £35–£75 for Suspension pin or bush excessively worn. What fitting it takes →
Which year to buy
- Best 2019 91.2% pass
- Avoid 2006 80.0% pass
Across the 14 years on record, a spread of 11.2 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 77.5%
- Typical mileage
- 118k mi
The 2008 BMW 6 Series MOT pass rate is 80.8% of its MOT tests — 7.7 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Suspension is the biggest single reason it fails, at 28.2% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how BMW 6 Series does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Suspension: 1.3× the national share
Suspension accounts for 28.2% of everything recorded on the 2008 BMW 6 Series, against 21.0% nationally — 7.2 points above. Ask for the front and rear suspension to be checked on a ramp before you buy — worn bushes and broken springs are cheap to look at and expensive to discover at test time.
- 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 73.1% and this one manages 80.8% — 7.7 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 29% 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 6 Series? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2008 BMW 6 Series compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 73.1%, so this figure is 7.7 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 77.5%. The median 2008 BMW 6 Series in this dataset had covered 117,769 mi.
The most common fuel recorded here is Diesel — 52% of tests, with a 79.7% pass rate. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 83.0% of the time, April–September 78.4%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Ball joint excessively worn", noted on 5.57% of tests.
- 287 recorded tests behind this page.
- 80.8% overall pass rate, 77.5% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the BMW 6 Series, the average is 87.8% — best year 2019 (91.2%), worst 2006 (80.0%).
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
- 287
- Typical mileage (median)
- 117,769 mi
- Make and model
- BMW 6 Series
- Updated
- 2026-11-05
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Ball Joint
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the 6 Series MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 69% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Diesel is the most common here (52% of tests).
Regional pass rates for the 6 Series
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 63 | 81.0% |
| East of England | 44 | 75.0% |
| West Midlands | 29 | 82.8% |
| South West | 29 | 79.3% |
| North West | 25 | 76.0% |
| London | 24 | 95.8% |
| Yorkshire | 19 | 78.9% |
| Wales | 16 | 62.5% |
| East Midlands | 16 | 87.5% |
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 2008 6 Series
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 2008 6 Series
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 suspension joints 5.6% 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.
-
Check the windscreen 3.5% 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 lights 2.8% of tests
“headlamp not working on dipped beam”
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 2008 6 Series through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £24–£69 — and 29% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £24–£69
- Cheapest common item: registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the…
- £5–£20
- Dearest common item: windscreen damaged
- £80–£200
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 80%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 29%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 287 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 6 Series, side by side
14 model years on record, from 2005 to 2020. Across them the pass rate runs from 80.0% to 91.2% — a spread of 11.2 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2005 83.5% position lamp not working
- 2006 80.0% position lamp not working
- 2007 81.6% position lamp not working
- 2008 80.8%ball joint excessively worn
- 2009 84.4% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2010 83.1% track rod end ball joint has…
- 2011 83.0% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2012 84.9% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2013 83.2% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2014 85.1% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2017 87.5% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2018 90.7% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2019 91.2% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2020 90.7% has a cut in excess of the…
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 2008 BMW 6 Series 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 2008 cars with a similar record
- Volvo S80 80.7%
- Jaguar Xj 81.0%
- Audi Q7 81.2%
- Lexus IS220 80.3%
- Toyota Prius 80.2%
- Nissan Elgrand 80.2%
Closest pass rates among 2008 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 2008 BMW 6 Series 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 501 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 | 144 | 28.20% | 20.98% | +7.22 |
| Tyres | 100 | 19.60% | 19.76% | −0.16 |
| Brakes | 94 | 18.40% | 20.89% | −2.49 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 51 | 10.00% | 5.52% | +4.48 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 47 | 9.20% | 12.21% | −3.01 |
| Visibility | 25 | 4.90% | 4.97% | −0.07 |
| Steering | 14 | 2.70% | 2.57% | +0.13 |
| Non-component advisories | 13 | 2.50% | 4.18% | −1.68 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 7 | 1.40% | 5.57% | −4.17 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 6 | 1.20% | 1.76% | −0.56 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 5.6% | £18–45 |
| Linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 3.8% | £18–45 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 3.5% | £80–200 |
| Headlamp not working on dipped beam Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 2.8% | £5–25 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Major | 2.8% | £40–150 |
| Linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Suspension | Major | 2.4% | £18–45 |
| Headlamp not working on main beam Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 1.7% | £5–25 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 1.7% | £5–25 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 1.7% | £5–20 |
| Track rod end ball joint has excessive play Steering | Major | 1.7% | £18–45 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 15.0% | £40–150 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 14.6% | £45–95 |
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 12.9% | £200–700 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 9.4% | £45–110 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 9.1% | £18–45 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 7.0% | £45–95 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 3 | 100.0% | 20,822 mi |
| 30-60k | 12 | 100.0% | 43,195 mi |
| 60-90k | 44 | 81.8% | 80,751 mi |
| 90-120k | 94 | 81.9% | 105,859 mi |
| 120k+ | 133 | 77.4% | 153,598 mi |
Source: 287 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.
2008 6 Series MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2008 BMW 6 Series?
80.8% of the 287 2008 BMW 6 Series tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 73.1% for cars first used in 2008. First-attempt pass rate: 77.5%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2008 BMW 6 Series?
The three most recorded items are ball joint excessively worn (5.57%), linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated (3.83%), windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view (3.48%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2008 BMW 6 Series MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 100.0% of the time, falling to 77.4% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2008 BMW 6 Series in this dataset had covered 117,769 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2008 BMW 6 Series?
Diesel: 79.7% pass rate across 148 tests. Petrol: 82.0% pass rate across 139 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2008 BMW 6 Series MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 83.0% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 78.4%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.