At a glance
How 5,221 first tests went in 2025.
- Passed first time
- 68 in every 100
- Did not pass first time
- 32 in every 1001,667 failed first-attempt tests
- The typical car
- 19 yearsabout 160,044 miles
- First tests counted
- 5,221
What failed most often
- Track rod end (front)13 in every 100 failed tests
- Handbrake efficiency below minimum (roller test)13 in every 100 failed tests
- Tyre tread depth (rear)8 in every 100 failed tests
How we count this. Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. Only Class 4 cars on their first MOT of the year are counted. A car that fails and is fixed at the test station still counts as a fail in the first-attempt rate. These are raw results, not adjusted for age, mileage, or peer mix. The MOT does not test engine or gearbox internals.
These are patterns across 2006 BMW 5 Series vehicles in 2025, not a prediction that any one car will have them. Faults are grouped by part of the car. A wear pattern follows age and use more than the way the car was built. They come from MOT defect codes, not manufacturer bulletins, recalls or a diagnosis of any one car.
Suspension
One fault: suspension arm ball joint (rear), 26 times as often as on similar cars.
Figures below are measured across the 1,666 of 1,667 failed first attempts (99.9%) that recorded an odometer reading in 2025. Mileage is needed to compare like with like.
We only list faults with at least 20 failures and a rate of about 2.0 times that of similar cars, which keeps one-off results out of the list.
Suspension arm ball joint (rear)
What it means
A suspension arm ball joint is failed under the general suspension pin, bush or joint wording. Excessively worn is Major, and likely to become detached is graded Dangerous.
Also noted as an advisory
Testers also noted it as an advisory, worn but not yet failing, on 42 first tests, 17 times as often as on similar cars.
Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. Compared with cars of the same age and mileage. Advisories count notes recorded on failed first tests only.
Brakes
Two faults. The strongest is the flexible brake hoses (rear): 5.6 times as often as on similar cars.
Flexible brake hoses (rear)
What it means
Testers reject a flexible brake hose for being excessively damaged or chafed only if it is severe enough to expose the reinforcement. Slight damage, chafing or twisting is graded Minor. A leak is graded Dangerous on a hydraulic braking system and Major on an air system, and a hose damaged and likely to fail is also Dangerous.
Also noted as an advisory
Testers also noted it as an advisory, worn but not yet failing, on 105 first tests, 2.0 times as often as on similar cars.
Rigid brake pipes
What it means
Chafing, corrosion or damage to a rigid brake pipe justifies rejection once its wall thickness is reduced by a set amount, although DVSA accepts this is not easy to determine. If a tester is not sure, the benefit of the doubt applies. A leaking pipe or connection is graded Dangerous on a hydraulic system and Major on an air system.
Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. Compared with cars of the same age and mileage. Advisories count notes recorded on failed first tests only.
Steering
One fault: track rod end (front), 2.7 times as often as on similar cars.
Track rod end (front)
What it means
A steering ball joint with excessive wear or free play is Major, and one worn to the extent there is a serious risk of detachment is graded Dangerous. A dust cover that is damaged but still keeps dirt out is Minor, and one missing or no longer keeping dirt out is Major. Testers must tell wear from a joint's built-in clearance or spring loading.
Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. Compared with cars of the same age and mileage.
Tyres
One wear pattern: tyre tread depth (rear), 2.6 times as often as on similar cars.
Tyre tread depth (rear)
What it means
Only primary grooves count when tread depth is assessed: those holding the wear indicators, or cut as deep as those when new. Shallower secondary grooves are ignored. Tread depth below the minimum for the vehicle is Dangerous, and so is a pattern not visible over the whole tread, but that second row applies only to vehicles that need the lower minimum.
Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. Compared with cars of the same age and mileage.
Advisories
Other things testers noted as worn or close to failing, more often than on similar cars.
An advisory is a note from the tester about something that has not failed yet. It is an early warning, not a fail. Advisories for the faults above are shown with those faults.
Anti-roll bar (front)
Suspension arm pins and bushes (rear)
Rigid brake pipes (front)
Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. Counts cover advisories recorded on failed first tests only, compared with cars of the same age and mileage.
MOT pass rates
How first tests ended, and how the pass rates are counted.
- Passed first time
- 68in every 100
- Passed on the first test.
- Fixed at the station
- 6in every 100
- Failed, then fixed at the test station the same day.
- Failed
- 26in every 100
- Did not pass, and were not fixed at the test station.
First-attempt pass 68.1% of 5,221 first tests (2025): only cars that passed first time count. Official-style pass 74.1%: cars fixed at the test station also count as a pass. The 6 fixed and the 26 not fixed make the 32 in every 100 that did not pass first time.
Petrol and diesel
Figures are in every 100 first tests. Cars with more miles usually fail more often, so the same-mileage figure gives every fuel the mileage mix of all the cars in this year.
Same model, other years
Passed first time in every 100, all tested in 2025.
Newer cars are younger, so look for a jump rather than the climb. A year earlier (2024), when these cars were a year younger, 67 in every 100 passed first time.
| Year | Passed first time | First tests |
|---|---|---|
| 1997 | 65 in every 100 | 342 |
| 1998 | 65 in every 100 | 644 |
| 1999 | 64 in every 100 | 773 |
| 2000 | 67 in every 100 | 909 |
| 2001 | 67 in every 100 | 1,344 |
| 2002 | 67 in every 100 | 1,907 |
| 2003 | 65 in every 100 | 1,975 |
| 2004 | 68 in every 100 | 2,213 |
| 2005 | 69 in every 100 | 3,566 |
| 2006 This car | 68 in every 100 | 5,221 |
| 2007 | 69 in every 100 | 6,531 |
| 2008 | 72 in every 100 | 5,692 |
| 2009 | 71 in every 100 | 6,190 |
| 2010 | 73 in every 100 | 7,321 |
| 2011 | 75 in every 100 | 10,398 |
| 2012 | 73 in every 100 | 12,639 |
| 2013 | 76 in every 100 | 13,282 |
| 2014 | 81 in every 100 | 14,992 |
| 2015 | 83 in every 100 | 15,867 |
| 2016 | 85 in every 100 | 14,582 |
| 2017 | 84 in every 100 | 14,034 |
| 2018 | 86 in every 100 | 17,248 |
| 2019 | 87 in every 100 | 14,339 |
| 2020 | 88 in every 100 | 7,890 |
| 2021 | 87 in every 100 | 5,362 |
| 2022 | 86 in every 100 | 6,182 |
If you are buying one
What this year's MOT record means for the decision in front of you.
Mileage matters most on a 2006 BMW 5 Series.
Of 2006 BMW 5 Series vehicles with under 122,000 miles, 74 in every 100 passed their 2025 MOT first time. With 198,000 miles or more, 66 in every 100 did.
Petrol or diesel?
| Typical mileage | Passed first time, as tested | Passed first time, same mileage | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diesel | 166,515 miles | 68 | 68 |
| Petrol | 124,033 miles | 69 | 66 |
Figures are in every 100 first tests. At the same mileage there is no clear difference between the two.
What to check at your mileage
How often each fault turned up on a failed first test, by the car's mileage. Read it as: what is likely to need looking at on a car like the one in front of you.
| Under 122,000 | 148,000–172,000 | 198,000 and over | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Track rod end (front) | 3.1 | 4.2 | 4.7 |
| Handbrake efficiency below minimum (roller test) | 2.0 | 4.9 | 4.7 |
| Tyre tread depth (rear) | 1.2 | 4.1 | 3.0 |
| Tyre condition (rear) | 2.4 | 2.6 | 2.6 |
| Suspension arm ball joint (front) | 0.7 | 3.3 | 3.2 |
Faults per 100 first tests, by the car's mileage at the test.
When a car fails
of failed cars had one item to fix.
of failed cars had three or more items to fix.
of all first tests had a defect the tester marked dangerous (unsafe to drive away).
Every figure here is a first-attempt MOT rate from DVSA open data for this model line, for cars of this model year tested in 2025. Each mileage band holds a fifth of the tests. MOTs do not test engine or gearbox internals, so this is a pre-purchase checklist, not a full reliability score.
FAQs
Short answers about how to read this model-year guide.
About this data
How this page is built and what it can (and can't) say.
These figures come from UK MOT open data for this model year. We surface common failure patterns against similar cars, not a full reliability score, and not a pass/fail verdict on any individual vehicle.
What we include
UK Class 4 cars only. Normal MOT tests (not retests); first test per vehicle per calendar year; results pass, PRS, or fail.
Same-day repairs
PRS means the car failed items that were fixed at the test station and then passed the same day. We count PRS as a first-attempt fail in headline rates so same-day repairs do not hide problems.
How we compare
We compare this model year with other Class 4 cars of similar age and mileage in the same test year. This model family is left out of the peer group so the car is not measured against itself.
What this does not cover
- MOTs do not cover engine internals, gearboxes, or many electronics; this is not a full reliability score.
- Common faults come from MOT defect stats, not manufacturer TSBs or recalls.
- Age and mileage matching reduces, but does not remove, differences in how cars were used and maintained.
- If the data for a car is too thin to say anything useful, we say so rather than guess.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
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