2009 BMW 125: MOT pass rate and reliability

77.9% of 2009 BMW 125s pass the MOT first time, measured across 330 DVSA tests on that model year alone. The average one had covered 83,072 miles.

How the 2009 compares

  • Against all BMW 125s (83.2%, 4,502 tests): -5.3 points
  • Against all 2009 cars (66.1%): +11.8 points
  • National first-time pass rate, all cars and years: 77%

Every BMW 125 model year

Pass rates fall as cars age, so the only fair comparison for a 2009 car is other cars of the same age. The full run for the BMW 125:

Year Pass rate Tests Avg mileage
2008 80% 540 94,871
2009 77.9% 330 83,072
2010 82.3% 265 84,876
2012 80.1% 206 95,762
2013 79.4% 428 93,925
2014 81.5% 659 89,827
2015 85.3% 905 79,967
2016 86.1% 497 69,120
2017 89.7% 419 63,548

What this means if you are buying a 2009 125

The 2009 is a weaker year for this model, passing 5.3 points less often than the BMW 125 average. Some of that is simply age, so compare it against the 2009 figure for all cars above rather than against newer examples. 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 a 17-year-old car fails on

A 2009 car is 17 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 above average, the point where suspension bushes, drop links and exhaust corrosion start showing up as advisories before they become failures. On a 2009 BMW 125 the average at test was 83,072 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 2017 at 89.7%, and the weakest in our data is 2009 at 77.9%. That 11.8 point spread across the model's life is why comparing a 2009 car against a newer one tells you very little.

Nearby model years

All BMW 125 MOT data · Every model