Pass rate
73.2%
Below average — 1.0 pts ahead of the 72.2% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 82 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £17–£57
2004 BMW 760 MOT pass rate
- 2004
- typical 107,760 mi
Only 82 tests of this exact model and year are in the DVSA data, below the 100 we ask for before a page goes in the index. The figures are still shown, because they are the only ones there are.
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Brakes
24.5% of faults · 20.9% nationally
mostly worn pads and discs, corroded pipes and a handbrake that will not hold.
Which year to buy
- Best 2010 89.5% pass
- Avoid 2004 73.2% pass · this year
Across the 7 years on record, a spread of 16.3 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 66.7%
- Typical mileage
- 108k mi
The 2004 BMW 760 MOT pass rate is 73.2% of its MOT tests — 1.0 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 24.5% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Emissions & leaks: 3.3× the national share
Emissions & leaks make up 18.0% of everything recorded on the 2004 BMW 760, against 5.5% nationally — 12.5 points above. Brakes are still the single largest share at 24.5%, 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.
- Failures here tend to be cheap ones. 57% of the repairs this model fails on cost under £30 in parts. The pass rate matters less than what a bad afternoon at the test centre actually costs you.
- Based on a small sample. 82 tests back this page. That is enough to publish and to index, not enough to treat the decimal places as precise — read the pattern, not the second digit.
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 760? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2004 BMW 760 compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 72.2%, so this figure is 1.0 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 66.7%. The median 2004 BMW 760 in this dataset had covered 107,760 mi.
The single most recorded failure item is "Headlamp lens slightly defective", noted on 8.54% of tests.
- 82 recorded tests behind this page.
- 73.2% overall pass rate, 66.7% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the BMW 760, the average is 81.4% — best year 2010 (89.5%), worst 2004 (73.2%).
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
- 82
- Typical mileage (median)
- 107,760 mi
- Make and model
- BMW 760
- Updated
- 2026-11-07
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Headlight Bulb
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the 760 MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 58% so small gaps stay visible.
Regional pass rates for the 760
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 16 | 87.5% |
| Yorkshire | 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 2004 760
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 2004 760
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 lights 8.5% of tests
“headlamp lens slightly defective”
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 3.7% of tests
“linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt”
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 3.7% of tests
“washers not working”
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 2004 760 through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £17–£57 — and 57% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £17–£57
- Cheapest common item: malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or…
- £3–£12
- Dearest common item: catalyst emissions carbon monoxide content…
- £60–£250
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 70%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 57%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 82 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 760, side by side
7 model years on record, from 2003 to 2014. Across them the pass rate runs from 73.2% to 89.5% — a spread of 16.3 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2003 80.6% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2004 73.2%headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2005 78.9% rbt (sp) efficiency below…
- 2006 83.3% wipers does not clear the…
- 2007 88.2% ball joint dust cover no longer…
- 2010 89.5% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2014 81.3% coil spring fractured or broken
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 2004 BMW 760 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 2004 cars with a similar record
- Suzuki Wagon-R+ 73.2%
- Audi Tt 73.1%
- Mercedes-Benz A-Class 73.1%
- Nissan Almera 73.5%
- Saab 9-3 73.5%
- Mercedes-Benz Ml 72.9%
Closest pass rates among 2004 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 2004 BMW 760 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 197 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 | 49 | 24.50% | 20.89% | +3.61 |
| Tyres | 37 | 18.50% | 19.76% | −1.26 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 36 | 18.00% | 5.52% | +12.48 |
| Suspension | 25 | 12.50% | 20.98% | −8.48 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 22 | 11.00% | 12.21% | −1.21 |
| Non-component advisories | 9 | 4.50% | 4.18% | +0.32 |
| Road Wheels | 8 | 4.00% | 0.75% | +3.25 |
| Visibility | 5 | 2.50% | 4.97% | −2.47 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 4 | 2.00% | 1.76% | +0.24 |
| Steering | 2 | 1.00% | 2.57% | −1.57 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Headlamp lens slightly defective Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 8.5% | £5–25 |
| Malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 4.9% | £3–12 |
| Headlamp not working on dipped beam Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 3.7% | £5–25 |
| Linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Suspension | Major | 3.7% | £18–45 |
| Washers not working Visibility | Major | 3.7% | £5–15 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 2.4% | £18–45 |
| Catalyst emissions carbon monoxide content after 2nd fast idle exceeds default limits Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 2.4% | £60–250 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Major | 2.4% | £45–95 |
| Headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 2.4% | £30–80 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Major | 2.4% | £40–150 |
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 | 28.1% | £200–700 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 18.3% | £45–95 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Advisory | 17.1% | £80–180 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 15.8% | £45–95 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 11.0% | £45–110 |
| Flexible brake hoses excessively deteriorated Brakes | Advisory | 9.8% | £25–70 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30-60k | 8 | 87.5% | 43,041 mi |
| 60-90k | 25 | 68.0% | 71,623 mi |
| 90-120k | 18 | 66.7% | 107,446 mi |
| 120k+ | 31 | 77.4% | 159,291 mi |
Source: 82 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.
2004 760 MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2004 BMW 760?
73.2% of the 82 2004 BMW 760 tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 72.2% for cars first used in 2004. First-attempt pass rate: 66.7%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2004 BMW 760?
The three most recorded items are headlamp lens slightly defective (8.54%), malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction (4.88%), headlamp not working on dipped beam (3.66%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2004 BMW 760 MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 87.5% of the time, falling to 77.4% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2004 BMW 760 in this dataset had covered 107,760 mi.