Pass rate
85.0%
Above average — 4.8 pts ahead of the 80.2% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 60 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £33–£99
2014 BMW M235I MOT pass rate
- 2014
- typical 66,403 mi
Only 60 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
37.3% of faults · 19.8% nationally
mostly tread below the limit, cuts and sidewall bulges.
Which year to buy
- Best 2022 92.3% pass
- Avoid 2016 83.0% pass
Across the 6 years on record, a spread of 9.3 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 83.0%
- Typical mileage
- 66k mi
The 2014 BMW M235I MOT pass rate is 85.0% of its MOT tests — 4.8 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Tyres is the biggest single reason it fails, at 37.3% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how BMW M235I does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Tyres: 1.9× the national share
Tyres make up 37.3% of everything recorded on the 2014 BMW M235i, against 19.8% nationally — 17.5 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 80.2% and this one manages 85.0% — 4.8 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 23% 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 M235I? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2014 BMW M235I compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 80.2%, so this figure is 4.8 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 83.0%. The median 2014 BMW M235I in this dataset had covered 66,403 mi.
The single most recorded failure item is "Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords", noted on 3.33% of tests.
- 60 recorded tests behind this page.
- 85.0% overall pass rate, 83.0% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the BMW M235I, the average is 91.3% — best year 2022 (92.3%), worst 2016 (83.0%).
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
- 60
- Typical mileage (median)
- 66,403 mi
- Make and model
- BMW M235I
- Updated
- 2026-11-05
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Tyres
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the M235I MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 67% so small gaps stay visible.
Regional pass rates for the M235I
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| East of England | 15 | 86.7% |
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 2014 M235I
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 2014 M235I
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 3.3% of tests
“headlamp aim too low”
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 3.3% of tests
“pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn”
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 brakes 1.7% of tests
“brake discs significantly and obviously worn”
Look through the spokes of each wheel at the pad — less than 3mm of friction material, or a lip on the disc edge, is the usual failure. Check the handbrake holds on a slope with a few clicks, not at the top of its travel.
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 2014 M235I through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £33–£99 — and 23% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £33–£99
- Cheapest common item: individual direction indicators not working
- £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
- 23%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 60 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 M235I, side by side
6 model years on record, from 2014 to 2022. Across them the pass rate runs from 83.0% to 92.3% — a spread of 9.3 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2014 85.0%has a cut in excess of the…
- 2015 86.1% catalyst emissions carbon…
- 2016 83.0% tread depth below requirements of…
- 2020 91.0% has a cut in excess of the…
- 2021 92.1% has a bulge, caused by separation…
- 2022 92.3% tread depth below requirements of…
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 2014 BMW M235I 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 2014 cars with a similar record
- Land Rover Range Rover Evoque 85.0%
- Land Rover Defender 85.0%
- Audi A3 84.8%
- Maserati Ghibli 85.2%
- Land Rover Freelander 85.3%
- SEAT Mii 84.7%
Closest pass rates among 2014 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 2014 BMW M235I 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 59 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 | 22 | 37.30% | 19.76% | +17.54 |
| Brakes | 12 | 20.30% | 20.89% | −0.59 |
| Suspension | 8 | 13.60% | 20.98% | −7.38 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 7 | 11.90% | 12.21% | −0.31 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 3 | 5.10% | 5.52% | −0.42 |
| Visibility | 2 | 3.40% | 4.97% | −1.57 |
| Non-component advisories | 2 | 3.40% | 4.18% | −0.78 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 1 | 1.70% | 5.57% | −3.87 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 1 | 1.70% | 1.76% | −0.06 |
| Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | 1 | 1.70% | 0.82% | +0.88 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords Tyres | Major | 3.3% | £45–95 |
| Headlamp aim too low Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 3.3% | £30–80 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Major | 3.3% | £40–150 |
| Brake discs significantly and obviously worn Brakes | Major | 1.7% | £45–110 |
| Catalyst emissions carbon monoxide content after 2nd fast idle exceeds default limits Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 1.7% | £60–250 |
| Individual direction indicators not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 1.7% | £3–12 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 1.7% | £5–25 |
| Rbt (sp) efficiency below requirements Brakes | Major | 1.7% | £45–110 |
| Rear fog lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 1.7% | £3–15 |
| Retracting mechanism defective Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | Major | 1.7% | £40–120 |
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 | 15.0% | £45–95 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 8.3% | £18–45 |
| Tread depth tread pattern not visible over the whole tread area when minimum depth required is 1.0mm Tyres | Advisory | 8.3% | £45–95 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 6.7% | £45–110 |
| Has a bulge, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 6.7% | £45–95 |
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 3.3% | £200–700 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 1 | 100.0% | 25,681 mi |
| 30-60k | 17 | 82.4% | 52,718 mi |
| 60-90k | 36 | 86.1% | 72,836 mi |
| 90-120k | 4 | 75.0% | 101,229 mi |
| 120k+ | 1 | 100.0% | 120,688 mi |
Source: 60 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.
2014 M235I MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2014 BMW M235I?
85.0% of the 60 2014 BMW M235I tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 80.2% for cars first used in 2014. First-attempt pass rate: 83.0%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2014 BMW M235I?
The three most recorded items are has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords (3.33%), headlamp aim too low (3.33%), pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn (3.33%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2014 BMW M235I 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 2014 BMW M235I in this dataset had covered 66,403 mi.