Pass rate
80.5%
Around average — 7.4 pts ahead of the 73.1% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 11,288 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £28–£83
2008 BMW X5 MOT pass rate
- 2008
- 2 trims combined
- typical 132,515 mi
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Suspension
24.2% of faults · 21.0% nationally
mostly worn arm bushes, split ball-joint boots and broken coil springs.
Which year to buy
- Best 2022 93.1% pass
- Avoid 2006 73.6% pass
Across the 23 years on record, a spread of 19.5 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 76.5%
- Typical mileage
- 133k mi
The 2008 BMW X5 MOT pass rate is 80.5% of its MOT tests — 7.4 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Suspension is the biggest single reason it fails, at 24.2% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Emissions & leaks: 2.1× the national share
Emissions & leaks make up 11.8% of everything recorded on the 2008 BMW X5, against 5.5% nationally — 6.3 points above. Suspension is still the single largest share at 24.2%, but at 21.0% nationally that one is ordinary. A smoky diesel or a leaking joint fails on emissions more often than on wear, so ask for a recent emissions printout.
- 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 73.1% and this one manages 80.5% — 7.4 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
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 X5? Get an email when these numbers change .
Every BMW X5 first registered in 2008 is combined here — 2 trim and body variants in total — so the sample is as large as the DVSA data allows.
How does the 2008 BMW X5 compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 73.1%, so this figure is 7.4 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 76.5%. The median 2008 BMW X5 in this dataset had covered 132,515 mi.
96% of the tests on this vehicle ran on Diesel, which passed 80.3% of the time. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 81.0% of the time, April–September 79.8%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Headlamp lens slightly defective", noted on 4.59% of tests.
- 11,288 recorded tests behind this page.
- 80.5% overall pass rate, 76.5% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the BMW X5, the average is 84.2% — best year 2022 (93.1%), worst 2006 (73.6%).
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
- 11,288
- Typical mileage (median)
- 132,515 mi
- Make and model
- BMW X5
- Updated
- 2026-11-07
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Headlight Bulb
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the X5 MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 71% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Diesel is the most common here (96% of tests).
Where the BMW X5 is most common
Across all X5 model years on record (2000–2022): 134,555 BMW X5 cars tested in a recordable postcode area, across 283,019 tests. Birmingham (B) has the most, with 4,766 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) | 4,766 | 89.6% |
| 2 | Peterborough (PE) | 2,739 | 84.0% |
| 3 | Sheffield (S) | 2,410 | 86.0% |
| 4 | Reading (RG) | 2,293 | 83.4% |
| 5 | Nottingham (NG) | 2,277 | 83.3% |
| 6 | Manchester (M) | 2,265 | 86.5% |
| 7 | Guildford (GU) | 2,160 | 81.7% |
| 8 | Romford (RM) | 2,138 | 90.7% |
| 9 | Leicester (LE) | 2,114 | 85.8% |
| 10 | Glasgow (G) | 2,089 | 86.1% |
| 11 | Coventry (CV) | 1,981 | 86.5% |
| 12 | High Wycombe (HP) | 1,918 | 85.0% |
| 13 | Newcastle upon Tyne (NE) | 1,848 | 86.2% |
| 14 | London (E) | 1,842 | 93.3% |
| 15 | Chelmsford (CM) | 1,792 | 84.6% |
| 16 | Luton (LU) | 1,784 | 89.7% |
| 17 | Slough (SL) | 1,747 | 87.6% |
| 18 | Ashford (TN) | 1,733 | 81.5% |
| 19 | Blackburn (BB) | 1,712 | 88.6% |
| 20 | Derby (DE) | 1,689 | 85.6% |
The twenty areas with the most BMW X5 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 X5
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 2,260 | 79.6% |
| East of England | 1,432 | 81.7% |
| North West | 1,292 | 80.9% |
| South West | 1,170 | 74.6% |
| West Midlands | 1,162 | 86.1% |
| Yorkshire | 999 | 81.0% |
| Scotland | 933 | 74.9% |
| East Midlands | 785 | 81.9% |
| Wales | 490 | 79.0% |
| London | 441 | 90.7% |
| North East | 324 | 79.3% |
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 2008 X5
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 2008 X5
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 4.6% of tests
“headlamp lens slightly defective”
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 windscreen 4.0% 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 suspension joints 2.6% of tests
“ball joint 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.
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 2008 X5 through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £28–£83 — and 44% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £28–£83
- Cheapest common item: registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the…
- £5–£20
- Dearest common item: joints constant velocity boot severely…
- £80–£250
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 80%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 44%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 11,288 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 X5, side by side
23 model years on record, from 2000 to 2022. Across them the pass rate runs from 73.6% to 93.1% — a spread of 19.5 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2000 78.1% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2001 74.4% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2002 74.6% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2003 74.3% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2004 74.5% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2005 74.1% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2006 73.6% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2007 79.1% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2008 80.5%headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2009 80.8% position lamp with a multiple…
- 2010 82.5% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2011 82.7% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2012 82.7% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2013 84.1% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2014 88.9% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2015 89.0% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2016 89.9% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2017 89.7% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2018 89.1% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2019 89.6% has a cut in excess of the…
- 2020 90.4% has a cut in excess of the…
- 2021 90.8% has a cut in excess of the…
- 2022 93.1% has a cut in excess of the…
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 2008 BMW X5 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 2008 cars with a similar record
- Lexus IS220 80.3%
- Volvo S80 80.7%
- Toyota Prius 80.2%
- Nissan Elgrand 80.2%
- Jaguar Xj 81.0%
- Audi Q7 81.2%
Closest pass rates among 2008 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 2008 BMW X5 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 23,279 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 | 5,708 | 24.20% | 20.98% | +3.22 |
| Tyres | 4,000 | 16.90% | 19.76% | −2.86 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 3,944 | 16.70% | 12.21% | +4.49 |
| Brakes | 3,560 | 15.10% | 20.89% | −5.79 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 2,797 | 11.80% | 5.52% | +6.28 |
| Visibility | 1,193 | 5.10% | 4.97% | +0.13 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 893 | 3.80% | 5.57% | −1.77 |
| Non-component advisories | 669 | 2.80% | 4.18% | −1.38 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 328 | 1.40% | 1.76% | −0.36 |
| Steering | 187 | 0.80% | 2.57% | −1.77 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Headlamp lens slightly defective Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 4.6% | £5–25 |
| Position lamp with a multiple light source up to 1/2 not functioning Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 4.4% | £5–25 |
| Joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated Body, chassis, structure | Minor | 4.2% | £80–250 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 4.0% | £80–200 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 2.9% | £5–20 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 2.6% | £18–45 |
| Coil spring fractured or broken Suspension | Major | 2.6% | £25–65 |
| Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 2.4% | £18–45 |
| Linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 2.4% | £18–45 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 2.4% | £5–25 |
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 | 21.8% | £45–95 |
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 19.8% | £200–700 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 10.0% | £40–150 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 8.6% | £18–45 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 7.0% | £45–110 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 7.0% | £18–45 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 18 | 83.3% | 16,097 mi |
| 30-60k | 169 | 84.6% | 48,092 mi |
| 60-90k | 817 | 81.5% | 78,743 mi |
| 90-120k | 2,843 | 79.0% | 107,093 mi |
| 120k+ | 7,436 | 80.8% | 151,826 mi |
Source: 11,288 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.
2008 X5 MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2008 BMW X5?
80.5% of the 11,288 2008 BMW X5 tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 73.1% for cars first used in 2008. First-attempt pass rate: 76.5%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2008 BMW X5?
The three most recorded items are headlamp lens slightly defective (4.59%), position lamp with a multiple light source up to 1/2 not functioning (4.40%), joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated (4.15%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2008 BMW X5 MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 83.3% of the time, falling to 80.8% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2008 BMW X5 in this dataset had covered 132,515 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2008 BMW X5?
Diesel: 80.3% pass rate across 10,839 tests. Petrol: 83.7% pass rate across 449 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2008 BMW X5 MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 81.0% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 79.8%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.