Pass rate
83.5%
Around average — 9.5 pts ahead of the 74.0% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 139 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £25–£63
2009 BMW 7 Series MOT pass rate
- 2009
- typical 133,056 mi
Most common fault
Tyres
26.9% of faults · 19.8% nationally
mostly tread below the limit, cuts and sidewall bulges.
Part only £55–£85 for Tread depth below 1.6 mm. What fitting it takes →
Which year to buy
- Best 2022 95.5% pass
- Avoid 2005 80.6% pass
Across the 18 years on record, a spread of 14.9 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 80.7%
- Typical mileage
- 133k mi
The 2009 BMW 7 Series MOT pass rate is 83.5% of its MOT tests — 9.5 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Tyres is the biggest single reason it fails, at 26.9% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how BMW 7 Series does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Emissions & leaks: 2.9× the national share
Emissions & leaks make up 16.2% of everything recorded on the 2009 BMW 7 Series, against 5.5% nationally — 10.7 points above. Tyres are still the single largest share at 26.9%, but at 19.8% 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 74.0% and this one manages 83.5% — 9.5 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 22% 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 7 Series? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2009 BMW 7 Series compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 74.0%, so this figure is 9.5 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 80.7%. The median 2009 BMW 7 Series in this dataset had covered 133,056 mi.
The most common fuel recorded here is Diesel — 91% of tests, with a 84.3% pass rate. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 83.7% of the time, April–September 82.9%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Coil spring fractured or broken", noted on 4.32% of tests.
- 139 recorded tests behind this page.
- 83.5% overall pass rate, 80.7% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the BMW 7 Series, the average is 90.4% — best year 2022 (95.5%), worst 2005 (80.6%).
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
- 139
- Typical mileage (median)
- 133,056 mi
- Make and model
- BMW 7 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 7 Series MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 68% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Diesel is the most common here (91% of tests).
Regional pass rates for the 7 Series
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| North West | 36 | 83.3% |
| South East | 22 | 90.9% |
| West Midlands | 19 | 89.5% |
| Yorkshire | 18 | 72.2% |
| East of England | 15 | 80.0% |
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 2009 7 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 2009 7 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 4.3% 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 suspension joints 2.9% 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 lights 1.4% of tests
“malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction”
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 2009 7 Series through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £25–£63 — and 22% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £25–£63
- 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
- 22%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 139 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 7 Series, side by side
18 model years on record, from 2005 to 2022. Across them the pass rate runs from 80.6% to 95.5% — a spread of 14.9 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2005 80.6% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2006 85.0% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2007 86.3% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2008 81.3% position lamp not working
- 2009 83.5%coil spring fractured or broken
- 2010 87.6% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2011 83.5% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2012 85.9% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2013 84.9% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2014 87.7% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2015 81.2% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2016 91.6% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2017 91.1% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2018 92.4% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2019 93.4% has a cut in excess of the…
- 2020 93.6% has a cut in excess of the…
- 2021 93.5% has a cut in excess of the…
- 2022 95.5% 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 2009 BMW 7 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 2009 cars with a similar record
- Lexus RX450H 83.6%
- Lexus IS250 83.7%
- Jaguar Xkr 83.2%
- Jaguar Xk 83.8%
- Toyota Iq 82.9%
- Lexus RX400H 82.9%
Closest pass rates among 2009 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 2009 BMW 7 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 166 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 | 45 | 26.90% | 19.76% | +7.14 |
| Suspension | 40 | 24.00% | 20.98% | +3.02 |
| Brakes | 28 | 16.80% | 20.89% | −4.09 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 27 | 16.20% | 5.52% | +10.68 |
| Visibility | 5 | 3.00% | 4.97% | −1.97 |
| Non-component advisories | 5 | 3.00% | 4.18% | −1.18 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 5 | 3.00% | 1.76% | +1.24 |
| Road Wheels | 5 | 3.00% | 0.75% | +2.25 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 4 | 2.40% | 12.21% | −9.81 |
| Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | 2 | 1.20% | 0.82% | +0.38 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coil spring fractured or broken Suspension | Major | 4.3% | £25–65 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 2.9% | £18–45 |
| Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 2.2% | £18–45 |
| Fractured Road Wheels | Major | 1.4% | £20–55 |
| Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords Tyres | Major | 1.4% | £45–95 |
| Malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 1.4% | £3–12 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 1.4% | £5–25 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Major | 1.4% | £45–95 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 1.4% | £80–200 |
| Wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively Visibility | Major | 1.4% | £8–22 |
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 | 20.9% | £45–95 |
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 13.7% | £200–700 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 9.3% | £45–110 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 7.2% | £18–45 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 5.8% | £45–95 |
| Shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak Suspension | Advisory | 5.0% | £30–75 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30-60k | 12 | 83.3% | 51,645 mi |
| 60-90k | 15 | 86.7% | 78,520 mi |
| 90-120k | 30 | 76.7% | 106,753 mi |
| 120k+ | 82 | 85.4% | 159,060 mi |
Source: 139 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.
2009 7 Series MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2009 BMW 7 Series?
83.5% of the 139 2009 BMW 7 Series tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 74.0% for cars first used in 2009. First-attempt pass rate: 80.7%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2009 BMW 7 Series?
The three most recorded items are coil spring fractured or broken (4.32%), ball joint excessively worn (2.88%), ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated (2.16%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2009 BMW 7 Series MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 83.3% of the time, falling to 85.4% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2009 BMW 7 Series in this dataset had covered 133,056 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2009 BMW 7 Series?
Diesel: 84.3% pass rate across 127 tests. Petrol: 75.0% pass rate across 12 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2009 BMW 7 Series MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 83.7% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 82.9%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.