Pass rate
82.7%
Around average — 10.1 pts ahead of the 72.6% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 485 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £24–£62
2003 BMW 730 MOT pass rate
- 2003
- typical 142,909 mi
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Suspension
23.4% of faults · 21.0% nationally
mostly worn arm bushes, split ball-joint boots and broken coil springs.
Which year to buy
- Best 2021 95.2% pass
- Avoid 2006 79.0% pass
Across the 19 years on record, a spread of 16.2 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 79.9%
- Typical mileage
- 143k mi
The 2003 BMW 730 MOT pass rate is 82.7% of its MOT tests — 10.1 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Suspension is the biggest single reason it fails, at 23.4% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
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 72.6% and this one manages 82.7% — 10.1 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
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 730? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2003 BMW 730 compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 72.6%, 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 79.9%. The median 2003 BMW 730 in this dataset had covered 142,909 mi.
79% of the tests on this vehicle ran on Diesel, which passed 82.0% of the time. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 81.0% of the time, April–September 85.3%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view", noted on 6.39% of tests.
- 485 recorded tests behind this page.
- 82.7% overall pass rate, 79.9% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the BMW 730, the average is 87.0% — best year 2021 (95.2%), worst 2006 (79.0%).
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
- 485
- Typical mileage (median)
- 142,909 mi
- Make and model
- BMW 730
- 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 730 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 (79% of tests).
Where the BMW 730 is most common
Across all 730 model years on record (2003–2021): 15,156 BMW 730 cars tested in a recordable postcode area, across 30,754 tests. Birmingham (B) has the most, with 713 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) | 713 | 91.9% |
| 2 | Peterborough (PE) | 443 | 88.3% |
| 3 | Coventry (CV) | 318 | 89.4% |
| 4 | Manchester (M) | 301 | 89.6% |
| 5 | Romford (RM) | 301 | 93.7% |
| 6 | Sheffield (S) | 299 | 87.2% |
| 7 | London (E) | 298 | 96.1% |
| 8 | Leicester (LE) | 292 | 89.5% |
| 9 | Northampton (NN) | 282 | 90.0% |
| 10 | Glasgow (G) | 281 | 87.2% |
| 11 | Luton (LU) | 256 | 92.6% |
| 12 | Doncaster (DN) | 249 | 87.2% |
| 13 | Milton Keynes (MK) | 244 | 84.8% |
| 14 | London (NW) | 240 | 93.9% |
| 15 | Wembley (HA) | 236 | 93.5% |
| 16 | Ilford (IG) | 235 | 93.4% |
| 17 | London (N) | 233 | 98.1% |
| 18 | Nottingham (NG) | 230 | 86.7% |
| 19 | Reading (RG) | 219 | 86.8% |
| 20 | Ipswich (IP) | 213 | 84.8% |
The twenty areas with the most BMW 730 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 730
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 116 | 82.8% |
| East of England | 70 | 82.9% |
| North West | 56 | 87.5% |
| West Midlands | 56 | 83.9% |
| London | 55 | 85.5% |
| South West | 37 | 70.3% |
| East Midlands | 30 | 80.0% |
| Scotland | 28 | 82.1% |
| Yorkshire | 26 | 76.9% |
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 2003 730
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 2003 730
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 6.4% 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 5.2% 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.
-
Check the suspension joints 3.9% 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.
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 2003 730 through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £24–£62 — and 42% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £24–£62
- 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
- 42%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 485 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 730, side by side
19 model years on record, from 2003 to 2021. Across them the pass rate runs from 79.0% to 95.2% — a spread of 16.2 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2003 82.7%windscreen damaged but not…
- 2004 81.6% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2005 80.0% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2006 79.0% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2007 82.5% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2008 80.9% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2009 85.7% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2010 86.3% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2011 84.8% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2012 87.2% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2013 85.4% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2014 86.6% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2015 87.7% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2016 91.1% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2017 91.1% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2018 92.7% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2019 93.8% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2020 93.9% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2021 95.2% 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 2003 BMW 730 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 2003 cars with a similar record
- Honda S2000 83.5%
- Mercedes-Benz S-Class 81.7%
- Porsche Boxster 80.4%
- Mercedes-Benz Sl 85.2%
- Subaru Impreza 80.0%
- Porsche 911 85.5%
Closest pass rates among 2003 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 2003 BMW 730 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 1,161 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 | 276 | 23.40% | 20.98% | +2.42 |
| Brakes | 227 | 19.30% | 20.89% | −1.59 |
| Tyres | 190 | 16.10% | 19.76% | −3.66 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 159 | 13.50% | 12.21% | +1.29 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 107 | 9.10% | 5.52% | +3.58 |
| Visibility | 72 | 6.10% | 4.97% | +1.13 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 39 | 3.30% | 5.57% | −2.27 |
| Non-component advisories | 33 | 2.80% | 4.18% | −1.38 |
| Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | 32 | 2.70% | 0.82% | +1.88 |
| Steering | 26 | 2.20% | 2.57% | −0.37 |
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 | 6.4% | £80–200 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 5.2% | £5–20 |
| Srs malfunction indicator lamp warning lamp indicates a fault Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | Major | 4.7% | £3–12 |
| Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 3.9% | £18–45 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 3.5% | £18–45 |
| Coil spring fractured or broken Suspension | Major | 3.5% | £25–65 |
| Headlamp lens slightly defective Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 3.5% | £5–25 |
| Linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 2.7% | £18–45 |
| Wipers blade defective Visibility | Minor | 2.3% | £8–22 |
| Linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Suspension | Major | 2.1% | £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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 21.9% | £45–95 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 16.3% | £40–150 |
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 16.1% | £200–700 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Advisory | 13.2% | £80–180 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 11.1% | £18–45 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 6.8% | £45–95 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30-60k | 9 | 77.8% | 50,064 mi |
| 60-90k | 62 | 80.6% | 78,764 mi |
| 90-120k | 86 | 87.2% | 106,563 mi |
| 120k+ | 327 | 82.0% | 169,697 mi |
Source: 485 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.
2003 730 MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2003 BMW 730?
82.7% of the 485 2003 BMW 730 tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 72.6% for cars first used in 2003. First-attempt pass rate: 79.9%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2003 BMW 730?
The three most recorded items are windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view (6.39%), registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources (5.15%), srs malfunction indicator lamp warning lamp indicates a fault (4.74%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2003 BMW 730 MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 77.8% of the time, falling to 82.0% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2003 BMW 730 in this dataset had covered 142,909 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2003 BMW 730?
Diesel: 82.0% pass rate across 383 tests. Petrol: 84.5% pass rate across 97 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2003 BMW 730 MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 81.0% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 85.3%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.