2018 BMW 218i Se Auto: MOT pass rate and reliability

88.6% of 2018 BMW 218i Se Autos pass the MOT first time, measured across 263 DVSA tests on that model year alone. The average one had covered 52,559 miles.

How the 2018 compares

  • Against all BMW 218i Se Autos (90.9%, 1,137 tests): -2.3 points
  • Against all 2018 cars (85.9%): +2.7 points
  • National first-time pass rate, all cars and years: 77%

Every BMW 218i Se Auto 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 218i Se Auto:

Year Pass rate Tests Avg mileage
2018 88.6% 263 52,559
2019 90.4% 521 46,607
2020 93.3% 299 42,329

What this means if you are buying a 2018 218i Se Auto

The 2018 is a weaker year for this model, passing 2.3 points less often than the BMW 218i Se Auto average. Some of that is simply age, so compare it against the 2018 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 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 around average, so condition and service history will tell you more than the odometer does. On a 2018 BMW 218i Se Auto the average at test was 52,559 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 2020 at 93.3%, and the weakest in our data is 2018 at 88.6%. That 4.7 point spread across the model's life is why comparing a 2018 car against a newer one tells you very little.

Nearby model years

All BMW 218i Se Auto MOT data · Every model