Pass rate
87.0%
Above average — 3.0 pts ahead of the 84.0% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 123 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £46–£135
2016 BMW M135 MOT pass rate
- 2016
- typical 56,259 mi
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Tyres
35.4% 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 2015 90.0% pass
- Avoid 2016 87.0% pass · this year
Across the 3 years on record, a spread of 3 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 85.7%
- Typical mileage
- 56k mi
The 2016 BMW M135 MOT pass rate is 87.0% of its MOT tests — 3.0 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Tyres is the biggest single reason it fails, at 35.4% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Tyres: 1.8× the national share
Tyres make up 35.4% of everything recorded on the 2016 BMW M135, against 19.8% nationally — 15.6 points above. Check all four tyres yourself, including the inner shoulders, and look at the date stamp — a tyre can pass on tread and still be six years old.
- 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 84.0% and this one manages 87.0% — 3.0 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 13% 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 M135? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2016 BMW M135 compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 84.0%, so this figure is 3.0 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 85.7%. The median 2016 BMW M135 in this dataset had covered 56,259 mi.
Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 86.6% of the time, April–September 87.5%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view", noted on 3.25% of tests.
- 123 recorded tests behind this page.
- 87.0% overall pass rate, 85.7% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the BMW M135, the average is 88.4% — best year 2015 (90.0%), worst 2016 (87.0%).
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
- 123
- Typical mileage (median)
- 56,259 mi
- Make and model
- BMW M135
- 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 M135 MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 77% so small gaps stay visible.
Regional pass rates for the M135
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 22 | 95.5% |
| Yorkshire | 20 | 75.0% |
| East of England | 16 | 87.5% |
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 2016 M135
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 2016 M135
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 3.3% 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 2.4% 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.
-
Check the exhaust and emissions 1.6% of tests
“catalyst emissions carbon monoxide content after 2nd fast idle exceeds default limits”
Listen for a blow at idle and have someone rev it gently. Then look at the tailpipe smoke: blue is oil, white when warm is coolant, black is over-fuelling. Any of those and the emissions test is the least of it.
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 2016 M135 through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £46–£135 — and 13% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £46–£135
- 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
- 60%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 13%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 123 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 M135, side by side
3 model years on record, from 2013 to 2016. Across them the pass rate runs from 87.0% to 90.0% — a spread of 3 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2013 89.2% catalyst emissions carbon…
- 2015 90.0% fixing missing
- 2016 87.0%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 2016 BMW M135 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 2016 cars with a similar record
- Peugeot 108 87.0%
- Hyundai I10 87.1%
- Skoda Octavia 87.1%
- Toyota Avensis 87.1%
- Toyota Verso 86.9%
- Ford Mondeo 86.8%
Closest pass rates among 2016 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 2016 BMW M135 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 96 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 | 34 | 35.40% | 19.76% | +15.64 |
| Brakes | 20 | 20.80% | 20.89% | −0.09 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 11 | 11.50% | 5.52% | +5.98 |
| Visibility | 11 | 11.50% | 4.97% | +6.53 |
| Non-component advisories | 8 | 8.30% | 4.18% | +4.12 |
| Suspension | 5 | 5.20% | 20.98% | −15.78 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 3 | 3.10% | 12.21% | −9.11 |
| Road Wheels | 2 | 2.10% | 0.75% | +1.35 |
| Steering | 1 | 1.00% | 2.57% | −1.57 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 1 | 1.00% | 1.76% | −0.76 |
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 | 3.3% | £80–200 |
| Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords Tyres | Major | 2.4% | £45–95 |
| Malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 2.4% | £3–12 |
| Window excessively tinted but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 2.4% | £20–80 |
| Catalyst emissions carbon monoxide content after 2nd fast idle exceeds default limits Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 1.6% | £60–250 |
| Catalyst emissions carbon monoxide content at idle exceeds manufacturer's specified limits Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 1.6% | £60–250 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Major | 1.6% | £45–95 |
| Tyre pressure monitoring system malfunctioning or obviously inoperative Tyres | Major | 1.6% | £45–95 |
| Additional braking device mounting insecure Brakes | Minor | 0.81% | £45–110 |
| Catalyst emissions hydrocarbon content after 2nd fast idle exceeds default limits Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 0.81% | £60–250 |
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 | 14.6% | £45–95 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 8.9% | £18–45 |
| Non-component advisories Play in steering rack inner joint(s) Non-component advisories | Advisory | 4.9% | £120–300 |
| Brake discs significantly and obviously worn Brakes | Advisory | 2.4% | £45–110 |
| Badly distorted Road Wheels | Advisory | 1.6% | £20–55 |
| Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords Tyres | Advisory | 1.6% | £45–95 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 1 | 100.0% | 26,249 mi |
| 30-60k | 71 | 85.9% | 47,095 mi |
| 60-90k | 48 | 89.6% | 71,563 mi |
| 90-120k | 2 | 100.0% | 106,959 mi |
Source: 123 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.
2016 M135 MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2016 BMW M135?
87.0% of the 123 2016 BMW M135 tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 84.0% for cars first used in 2016. First-attempt pass rate: 85.7%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2016 BMW M135?
The three most recorded items are windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view (3.25%), has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords (2.44%), malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction (2.44%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2016 BMW M135 MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 100.0% of the time, falling to 100.0% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2016 BMW M135 in this dataset had covered 56,259 mi.
Does the season affect the 2016 BMW M135 MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 86.6% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 87.5%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.