Pass rate
89.0%
Above average — 11.8 pts ahead of the 77.2% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 173 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £44–£112
2012 BMW Alpina MOT pass rate
- 2012
- typical 101,184 mi
Most common fault
Suspension
26.5% of faults · 21.0% nationally
mostly worn arm bushes, split ball-joint boots and broken coil springs.
Part only £40–£65 for Shock absorber leaking. What fitting it takes →
Which year to buy
- Best 2022 98.2% pass
- Avoid 2009 81.6% pass
Across the 23 years on record, a spread of 16.6 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 88.0%
- Typical mileage
- 101k mi
The 2012 BMW Alpina MOT pass rate is 89.0% of its MOT tests — 11.8 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Suspension is the biggest single reason it fails, at 26.5% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how BMW Alpina does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Suspension: 1.3× the national share
Suspension accounts for 26.5% of everything recorded on the 2012 BMW Alpina, against 21.0% nationally — 5.5 points above. Ask for the front and rear suspension to be checked on a ramp before you buy — worn bushes and broken springs are cheap to look at and expensive to discover at test time.
- 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 89.0% — 11.8 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 20% 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 Alpina? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2012 BMW Alpina compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 77.2%, so this figure is 11.8 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 88.0%. The median 2012 BMW Alpina in this dataset had covered 101,184 mi.
The most common fuel recorded here is Diesel — 88% of tests, with a 88.2% pass rate. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 91.2% of the time, April–September 85.9%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view", noted on 3.47% of tests.
- 173 recorded tests behind this page.
- 89.0% overall pass rate, 88.0% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the BMW Alpina, the average is 87.2% — best year 2022 (98.2%), worst 2009 (81.6%).
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
- 173
- Typical mileage (median)
- 101,184 mi
- Make and model
- BMW Alpina
- Updated
- 2026-11-05
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 Alpina MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 77% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Diesel is the most common here (88% of tests).
Regional pass rates for the Alpina
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 37 | 91.9% |
| West Midlands | 24 | 95.8% |
| North West | 22 | 81.8% |
| East of England | 20 | 95.0% |
| Yorkshire | 17 | 70.6% |
| East Midlands | 16 | 100.0% |
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 Alpina
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 Alpina
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 3.5% 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 shock absorbers 2.9% 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.
-
Check the coil springs 1.7% 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.
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 Alpina through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £44–£112 — and 20% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £44–£112
- Cheapest common item: malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or…
- £3–£12
- Dearest common item: hydraulic brake callipers excessively…
- £180–£450
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 60%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 20%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 173 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 Alpina, side by side
23 model years on record, from 2000 to 2022. Across them the pass rate runs from 81.6% to 98.2% — a spread of 16.6 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2000 85.1% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2001 83.5% anti-lock braking system warning…
- 2002 86.8% washers not working
- 2003 87.9% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2004 87.0% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2005 87.9% rbt (sp) efficiency below…
- 2006 87.5% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2007 83.6% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2008 87.5% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2009 81.6% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2010 87.2% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2011 87.3% shock absorbers has a serious…
- 2012 89.0%windscreen damaged but not…
- 2013 81.9% has a cut in excess of the…
- 2014 84.8% tread depth below requirements of…
- 2015 89.2% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2016 88.9% has a cut in excess of the…
- 2017 89.4% has a cut in excess of the…
- 2018 87.8% has a cut in excess of the…
- 2019 93.7% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2020 90.9% has a cut in excess of the…
- 2021 91.4% has a cut in excess of the…
- 2022 98.2% 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 2012 BMW Alpina 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
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 Alpina 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 116 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 | 31 | 26.50% | 20.98% | +5.52 |
| Brakes | 30 | 25.60% | 20.89% | +4.71 |
| Tyres | 22 | 18.80% | 19.76% | −0.96 |
| Visibility | 9 | 7.70% | 4.97% | +2.73 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 8 | 6.80% | 12.21% | −5.41 |
| Non-component advisories | 8 | 6.80% | 4.18% | +2.62 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 3 | 2.60% | 5.52% | −2.92 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 2 | 1.70% | 5.57% | −3.87 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 2 | 1.70% | 1.76% | −0.06 |
| Steering | 1 | 0.90% | 2.57% | −1.67 |
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 | 3.5% | £80–200 |
| Shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak Suspension | Major | 2.9% | £30–75 |
| Coil spring fractured or broken Suspension | Major | 1.7% | £25–65 |
| Has ply or cords exposed Tyres | Major | 1.2% | £45–95 |
| Headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 1.2% | £30–80 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 1.2% | £5–25 |
| Washers provides insufficient washer liquid Visibility | Major | 1.2% | £5–15 |
| Hydraulic brake callipers excessively weakened by corrosion Brakes | Major | 0.58% | £180–450 |
| Linkage damaged and seriously weakened Suspension | Major | 0.58% | £40–150 |
| Malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 0.58% | £3–12 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak Suspension | Advisory | 9.3% | £30–75 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 8.1% | £45–110 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 6.9% | £45–95 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 5.2% | £18–45 |
| Non-component advisories Child Seat fitted not allowing full inspection of adult belt Non-component advisories | Advisory | 2.9% | £20–80 |
| Coil spring corroded so that its cross sectional area is reduced and seriously weakened Suspension | Advisory | 1.7% | £25–65 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 4 | 100.0% | 9,705 mi |
| 30-60k | 14 | 100.0% | 49,248 mi |
| 60-90k | 50 | 90.0% | 80,865 mi |
| 90-120k | 56 | 87.5% | 105,043 mi |
| 120k+ | 49 | 85.7% | 142,674 mi |
Source: 173 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 Alpina MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2012 BMW Alpina?
89.0% of the 173 2012 BMW Alpina tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 77.2% for cars first used in 2012. First-attempt pass rate: 88.0%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2012 BMW Alpina?
The three most recorded items are windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view (3.47%), shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak (2.89%), coil spring fractured or broken (1.73%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2012 BMW Alpina MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 100.0% of the time, falling to 85.7% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2012 BMW Alpina in this dataset had covered 101,184 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2012 BMW Alpina?
Diesel: 88.2% pass rate across 153 tests. Petrol: 95.0% pass rate across 20 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2012 BMW Alpina MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 91.2% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 85.9%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.