Pass rate
90.1%
Above average — 2.2 pts ahead of the 87.9% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 4,169 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £42–£105
2018 BMW M2 MOT pass rate
- 2018
- typical 38,492 mi
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Tyres
46.1% 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 2017 91.0% pass
- Avoid 2016 89.4% pass
Across the 5 years on record, a spread of 1.6 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 89.1%
- Typical mileage
- 38k mi
The 2018 BMW M2 MOT pass rate is 90.1% of its MOT tests — 2.2 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Tyres is the biggest single reason it fails, at 46.1% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Tyres: 2.3× the national share
Tyres make up 46.1% of everything recorded on the 2018 BMW M2, against 19.8% nationally — 26.3 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.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 4% 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 M2? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2018 BMW M2 compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 87.9%, so this figure is 2.2 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 89.1%. The median 2018 BMW M2 in this dataset had covered 38,492 mi.
Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 90.5% of the time, April–September 89.7%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Coil spring fractured or broken", noted on 2.81% of tests.
- 4,169 recorded tests behind this page.
- 90.1% overall pass rate, 89.1% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the BMW M2, the average is 90.3% — best year 2017 (91.0%), worst 2016 (89.4%).
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
- 4,169
- Typical mileage (median)
- 38,492 mi
- Make and model
- BMW M2
- Updated
- 2026-11-07
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Coil Spring
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the M2 MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 67% so small gaps stay visible.
Where the BMW M2 is most common
Across all M2 model years on record (2016–2020): 5,763 BMW M2 cars tested in a recordable postcode area, across 10,566 tests. Birmingham (B) has the most, with 174 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) | 174 | 95.5% |
| 2 | Peterborough (PE) | 153 | 93.3% |
| 3 | Reading (RG) | 144 | 88.7% |
| 4 | Guildford (GU) | 139 | 90.2% |
| 5 | Chelmsford (CM) | 105 | 92.5% |
| 6 | Sheffield (S) | 102 | 89.2% |
| 7 | Crawley (RH) | 102 | 94.9% |
| 8 | Cardiff (CF) | 98 | 93.0% |
| 9 | Leicester (LE) | 97 | 93.1% |
| 10 | Coventry (CV) | 97 | 95.5% |
| 11 | Nottingham (NG) | 93 | 86.4% |
| 12 | High Wycombe (HP) | 93 | 93.4% |
| 13 | Glasgow (G) | 92 | 85.6% |
| 14 | Ashford (TN) | 87 | 94.4% |
| 15 | Bristol (BS) | 84 | 83.5% |
| 16 | Basildon (SS) | 81 | 93.7% |
| 17 | Gloucester (GL) | 79 | 89.8% |
| 18 | Derby (DE) | 79 | 93.3% |
| 19 | Edinburgh (EH) | 78 | 85.4% |
| 20 | Milton Keynes (MK) | 77 | 89.5% |
The twenty areas with the most BMW M2 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 M2
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 956 | 91.4% |
| East of England | 519 | 92.7% |
| North West | 473 | 89.0% |
| West Midlands | 429 | 90.4% |
| South West | 414 | 87.2% |
| Scotland | 379 | 83.1% |
| Yorkshire | 309 | 87.7% |
| East Midlands | 268 | 92.5% |
| Wales | 188 | 93.6% |
| North East | 124 | 90.3% |
| London | 109 | 98.2% |
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 2018 M2
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 2018 M2
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 coil springs 2.8% 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 windscreen 1.8% 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 tyre tread 0.6% of tests
“tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm”
Check all four tyres cold, including the inner shoulder where wear hides — 1.6mm across the central three-quarters is the legal limit, and most testers fail at 1.6mm without argument.
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 2018 M2 through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £42–£105 — and 4% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £42–£105
- Cheapest common item: horn not working
- £8–£25
- 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
- 4%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 4,169 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 M2, side by side
5 model years on record, from 2016 to 2020. Across them the pass rate runs from 89.4% to 91.0% — a spread of 1.6 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2016 89.4% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2017 91.0% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2018 90.1%coil spring fractured or broken
- 2019 90.9% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2020 90.0% catalyst emissions lambda reading…
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 2018 BMW M2 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 2018 cars with a similar record
- Toyota C-Hr 90.1%
- Toyota Auris 90.1%
- Volkswagen Up 90.1%
- Mitsubishi Eclipse 90.1%
- Jaguar E-Pace 90.0%
- Kia Stinger 90.0%
Closest pass rates among 2018 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 2018 BMW M2 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 2,043 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 | 946 | 46.10% | 19.76% | +26.34 |
| Brakes | 312 | 15.20% | 20.89% | −5.69 |
| Suspension | 225 | 11.00% | 20.98% | −9.98 |
| Non-component advisories | 147 | 7.20% | 4.18% | +3.02 |
| Visibility | 124 | 6.00% | 4.97% | +1.03 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 117 | 5.70% | 12.21% | −6.51 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 102 | 5.00% | 5.52% | −0.52 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 42 | 2.00% | 1.76% | +0.24 |
| Road Wheels | 18 | 0.90% | 0.75% | +0.15 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 10 | 0.50% | 5.57% | −5.07 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coil spring fractured or broken Suspension | Major | 2.8% | £25–65 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 1.8% | £80–200 |
| Has ply or cords exposed Tyres | Major | 1.4% | £45–95 |
| Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords Tyres | Major | 0.98% | £45–95 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Major | 0.62% | £45–95 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 0.60% | £18–45 |
| Headlamp aim too high Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 0.41% | £30–80 |
| Registration plates does not conform to the specified requirements Identification of the vehicle | Major | 0.41% | £20–80 |
| Catalyst emissions carbon monoxide content after 2nd fast idle exceeds manufacturer's specified limits Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 0.38% | £60–250 |
| Horn not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 0.36% | £8–25 |
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 | 11.9% | £45–95 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 2.8% | £45–110 |
| Non-component advisories Nail in tyre Non-component advisories | Advisory | 2.6% | £45–95 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 2.5% | £45–95 |
| Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords Tyres | Advisory | 2.0% | £45–95 |
| Tread depth tread pattern not visible over the whole tread area when minimum depth required is 1.0mm Tyres | Advisory | 1.7% | £45–95 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 1,209 | 92.3% | 22,059 mi |
| 30-60k | 2,510 | 89.9% | 43,122 mi |
| 60-90k | 425 | 85.2% | 68,251 mi |
| 90-120k | 20 | 80.0% | 98,965 mi |
| 120k+ | 4 | 75.0% | 128,533 mi |
Source: 4,169 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.
2018 M2 MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2018 BMW M2?
90.1% of the 4,169 2018 BMW M2 tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 87.9% for cars first used in 2018. First-attempt pass rate: 89.1%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2018 BMW M2?
The three most recorded items are coil spring fractured or broken (2.81%), windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view (1.80%), has ply or cords exposed (1.37%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2018 BMW M2 MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 92.3% of the time, falling to 75.0% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2018 BMW M2 in this dataset had covered 38,492 mi.
Does the season affect the 2018 BMW M2 MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 90.5% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 89.7%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.