Pass rate
84.9%
Around average — 7.7 pts ahead of the 77.2% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 1,779 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £32–£79
2012 BMW 6 Series MOT pass rate
- 2012
- typical 93,852 mi
Most common fault
Tyres
30.9% of faults · 19.8% nationally
mostly tread below the limit, cuts and sidewall bulges.
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
- 82.7%
- Typical mileage
- 94k mi
The 2012 BMW 6 Series MOT pass rate is 84.9% of its MOT tests — 7.7 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Tyres is the biggest single reason it fails, at 30.9% 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
Tyres: 1.6× the national share
Tyres make up 30.9% of everything recorded on the 2012 BMW 6 Series, against 19.8% nationally — 11.1 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 77.2% and this one manages 84.9% — 7.7 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 34% 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 2012 BMW 6 Series compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 77.2%, 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 82.7%. The median 2012 BMW 6 Series in this dataset had covered 93,852 mi.
90% of the tests on this vehicle ran on Diesel, which passed 84.6% of the time. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 84.5% of the time, April–September 85.4%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Coil spring fractured or broken", noted on 3.71% of tests.
- 1,779 recorded tests behind this page.
- 84.9% overall pass rate, 82.7% 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
- 1,779
- Typical mileage (median)
- 93,852 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
Coil Spring
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 75% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Diesel is the most common here (90% of tests).
Regional pass rates for the 6 Series
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 493 | 85.2% |
| East of England | 280 | 83.2% |
| West Midlands | 179 | 88.3% |
| East Midlands | 152 | 82.2% |
| South West | 135 | 85.2% |
| North West | 127 | 84.3% |
| Yorkshire | 117 | 83.8% |
| Wales | 95 | 85.3% |
| Scotland | 84 | 85.7% |
| London | 63 | 87.3% |
| North East | 54 | 85.2% |
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 2012 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 2012 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 coil springs 3.7% 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 2.4% 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 1.5% of tests
“registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources”
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 2012 6 Series through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £32–£79 — and 34% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £32–£79
- Cheapest common item: srs malfunction indicator lamp warning lamp…
- £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
- 34%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 1,779 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 2012 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 2012 cars with a similar record
- Toyota GT86 84.9%
- Honda Insight 84.7%
- MINI COOPER 84.6%
- Audi A6 84.5%
- Honda Jazz 85.5%
- Skoda Citigo 84.3%
Closest pass rates among 2012 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 2012 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 1,511 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 | 479 | 30.90% | 19.76% | +11.14 |
| Suspension | 284 | 18.30% | 20.98% | −2.68 |
| Brakes | 269 | 17.40% | 20.89% | −3.49 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 128 | 8.30% | 12.21% | −3.91 |
| Visibility | 103 | 6.60% | 4.97% | +1.63 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 96 | 6.20% | 5.52% | +0.68 |
| Non-component advisories | 62 | 4.00% | 4.18% | −0.18 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 37 | 2.40% | 5.57% | −3.17 |
| Road Wheels | 32 | 2.10% | 0.75% | +1.35 |
| Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | 21 | 1.40% | 0.82% | +0.58 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coil spring fractured or broken Suspension | Major | 3.7% | £25–65 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 2.4% | £80–200 |
| Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords Tyres | Major | 1.5% | £45–95 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 1.5% | £5–20 |
| Has ply or cords exposed Tyres | Major | 1.2% | £45–95 |
| Has a bulge, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Major | 1.2% | £45–95 |
| Headlamp not working on dipped beam Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 1.1% | £5–25 |
| Headlamp cleaning device for LED or HID headlamp inoperative Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 0.90% | £5–25 |
| Srs malfunction indicator lamp warning lamp indicates a fault Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | Major | 0.90% | £3–12 |
| Headlamp not working on main beam Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 0.73% | £5–25 |
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 | 12.2% | £45–95 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 5.1% | £18–45 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 4.7% | £45–110 |
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 3.9% | £200–700 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 3.1% | £18–45 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 2.8% | £45–95 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 22 | 90.9% | 23,471 mi |
| 30-60k | 260 | 83.1% | 47,510 mi |
| 60-90k | 530 | 86.2% | 75,783 mi |
| 90-120k | 634 | 85.2% | 104,810 mi |
| 120k+ | 331 | 83.4% | 140,589 mi |
Source: 1,779 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.
2012 6 Series MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2012 BMW 6 Series?
84.9% of the 1,779 2012 BMW 6 Series tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 77.2% for cars first used in 2012. First-attempt pass rate: 82.7%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2012 BMW 6 Series?
The three most recorded items are coil spring fractured or broken (3.71%), windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view (2.36%), has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords (1.52%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2012 BMW 6 Series MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 90.9% of the time, falling to 83.4% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2012 BMW 6 Series in this dataset had covered 93,852 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2012 BMW 6 Series?
Diesel: 84.6% pass rate across 1,602 tests. Petrol: 87.0% pass rate across 177 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2012 BMW 6 Series MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 84.5% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 85.4%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.