2018 BMW 118: MOT pass rate and reliability
86.7% of 2018 BMW 118s pass the MOT first time, measured across 11,105 DVSA tests on that model year alone. The average one had covered 47,238 miles.
How the 2018 compares
- Against all BMW 118s (82.3%, 148,641 tests): +4.4 points
- Against all 2018 cars (85.9%): +0.8 points
- National first-time pass rate, all cars and years: 77%
Every BMW 118 model year
Pass rates fall as cars age, so the only fair comparison for a 2018 car is other cars of the same age. The full run for the BMW 118:
| Year | Pass rate | Tests | Avg mileage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | 61.3% | 261 | 147,263 |
| 2005 | 68.8% | 1,623 | 136,193 |
| 2006 | 67.7% | 2,660 | 135,377 |
| 2007 | 71.4% | 3,341 | 122,767 |
| 2008 | 70.7% | 5,555 | 122,113 |
| 2009 | 70.8% | 7,501 | 117,715 |
| 2010 | 72.7% | 10,041 | 112,969 |
| 2011 | 73.1% | 9,212 | 107,345 |
| 2012 | 73.2% | 5,713 | 101,828 |
| 2013 | 77.9% | 5,517 | 91,524 |
| 2014 | 80.3% | 4,377 | 90,948 |
| 2015 | 84.5% | 10,998 | 73,455 |
| 2016 | 84.8% | 13,780 | 64,685 |
| 2017 | 86.3% | 14,711 | 56,088 |
| 2018 | 86.7% | 11,105 | 47,238 |
| 2019 | 88.4% | 10,288 | 38,742 |
| 2020 | 91.2% | 18,041 | 32,366 |
| 2021 | 92% | 13,164 | 26,028 |
| 2022 | 96.1% | 726 | 20,867 |
What this means if you are buying a 2018 118
The 2018 is one of the stronger years for this model, passing 4.4 points more often than the BMW 118 average. That is a point in its favour, though condition and service history still matter more than the model year. Check the exact car with the free MOT history checker before you buy, and run its VIN and mileage through our free VIN decoder and clocking check.
What an 8-year-old car fails on
A 2018 car is 8 years old now, and age drives the failure mix more than the badge does. Across all cars tested, these are the categories that actually cause failures:
- Lights and electrical: 10.36% of all cars tested
- Suspension: 8.65% of all cars tested
- Tyres: 6.23% of all cars tested
- Brakes: 6.1% of all cars tested
- Visibility: wipers, washers, glass: 4.65% of all cars tested
- Body, chassis and structure: 3.18% of all cars tested
That is below average for a car this age, worth a mileage-consistency check since an unusually low reading is sometimes clocking rather than luck. On a 2018 BMW 118 the average at test was 47,238 miles, so treat anything far above that as a car that has worked harder than its peers, and anything far below as one worth checking for the faults that come from standing still.
The strongest year for this model is 2022 at 96.1%, and the weakest in our data is 2004 at 61.3%. That 34.8 point spread across the model's life is why comparing a 2018 car against a newer one tells you very little.
Nearby model years
- 2015 BMW 118 - 84.5%
- 2016 BMW 118 - 84.8%
- 2017 BMW 118 - 86.3%
- 2019 BMW 118 - 88.4%
- 2020 BMW 118 - 91.2%
- 2021 BMW 118 - 92%