Pass rate
82.3%
Around average — 5.1 pts ahead of the 77.2% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 96 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £23–£68
2012 BMW Active MOT pass rate
- 2012
- typical 86,434 mi
Only 96 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.
Most common fault
Tyres
27.9% of faults · 19.8% nationally
mostly tread below the limit, cuts and sidewall bulges.
Which year to buy
- Best 2012 82.3% pass · this year
- Avoid 2012 82.3% pass · this year
Across the 1 years on record, a spread of 0 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 79.5%
- Typical mileage
- 86k mi
The 2012 BMW Active MOT pass rate is 82.3% of its MOT tests — 5.1 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Tyres is the biggest single reason it fails, at 27.9% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how BMW Active does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Lamps & electrics: 1.8× the national share
Lamps & electrics make up 22.1% of everything recorded on the 2012 BMW Active, against 12.2% nationally — 9.9 points above. Tyres are still the single largest share at 27.9%, but at 19.8% nationally that one is ordinary. Walk round the car with the lights on before the test: bulbs, indicators and number-plate lamps are the cheapest failures to prevent and among the most common.
- 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 82.3% — 5.1 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
- Failures here tend to be cheap ones. 55% 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.
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 Active? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2012 BMW Active compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 77.2%, so this figure is 5.1 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 79.5%. The median 2012 BMW Active in this dataset had covered 86,434 mi.
Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 84.8% of the time, April–September 80.0%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Individual direction indicators not working", noted on 4.17% of tests.
- 96 recorded tests behind this page.
- 82.3% overall pass rate, 79.5% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the BMW Active, the average is 82.3% — best year 2012 (82.3%), worst 2012 (82.3%).
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
- 96
- Typical mileage (median)
- 86,434 mi
- Make and model
- BMW Active
- Updated
- 2026-11-05
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Indicator Bulb
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the Active MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 70% so small gaps stay visible.
Regional pass rates for the Active
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 39 | 82.1% |
| London | 25 | 88.0% |
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 2012 Active
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 Active
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 4.2% of tests
“individual direction indicators not working”
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 coil springs 2.1% 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 shock absorbers 2.1% of tests
“shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak”
Press down hard on each corner of the car and let go. It should settle in one bounce; if it keeps rocking, or you can see oil weeping down a shock absorber, that is the fault a tester will find.
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 Active through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £23–£68 — and 55% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £23–£68
- Cheapest common item: individual direction indicators not working
- £3–£12
- Dearest common item: catalytic converter missing where one was…
- £120–£400
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 80%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 55%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 96 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 →
Compare the 2012 BMW Active 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 YARIS 82.0%
- Land Rover Range Rover Evoque 81.9%
- Smart Mcc Fortwo 81.9%
- Honda Civic 82.7%
- Audi A5 81.8%
- Toyota Rav-4 82.8%
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 Active 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 103 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 | 29 | 27.90% | 19.76% | +8.14 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 23 | 22.10% | 12.21% | +9.89 |
| Suspension | 15 | 14.40% | 20.98% | −6.58 |
| Brakes | 15 | 14.40% | 20.89% | −6.49 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 12 | 11.50% | 5.52% | +5.98 |
| Visibility | 3 | 2.90% | 4.97% | −2.07 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 2 | 1.90% | 5.57% | −3.67 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 2 | 1.90% | 1.76% | +0.14 |
| Non-component advisories | 1 | 1.00% | 4.18% | −3.18 |
| Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | 1 | 1.00% | 0.82% | +0.18 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Individual direction indicators not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 4.2% | £3–12 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 3.1% | £5–25 |
| Coil spring fractured or broken Suspension | Major | 2.1% | £25–65 |
| Individual direction indicators flashing more than 120 times a minute Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 2.1% | £3–12 |
| Shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak Suspension | Major | 2.1% | £30–75 |
| Side repeaters not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 2.1% | £5–25 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 2.1% | £80–200 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 1.0% | £18–45 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Major | 1.0% | £18–45 |
| Catalytic converter missing where one was fitted as standard Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 1.0% | £120–400 |
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 | 17.7% | £45–95 |
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 6.3% | £200–700 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 5.2% | £18–45 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 4.2% | £18–45 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 3.1% | £45–110 |
| Brake discs significantly and obviously worn Brakes | Advisory | 3.1% | £45–110 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 1 | 100.0% | 29,474 mi |
| 30-60k | 13 | 92.3% | 45,475 mi |
| 60-90k | 38 | 78.9% | 75,209 mi |
| 90-120k | 27 | 81.5% | 103,951 mi |
| 120k+ | 16 | 87.5% | 135,364 mi |
Source: 96 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 Active MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2012 BMW Active?
82.3% of the 96 2012 BMW Active tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 77.2% for cars first used in 2012. First-attempt pass rate: 79.5%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2012 BMW Active?
The three most recorded items are individual direction indicators not working (4.17%), position lamp not working (3.13%), coil spring fractured or broken (2.08%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2012 BMW Active MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 100.0% of the time, falling to 87.5% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2012 BMW Active in this dataset had covered 86,434 mi.
Does the season affect the 2012 BMW Active MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 84.8% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 80.0%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.