2014 BMW 420: MOT pass rate and reliability
80.1% of 2014 BMW 420s pass the MOT first time, measured across 7,766 DVSA tests on that model year alone. The average one had covered 89,165 miles.
How the 2014 compares
- Against all BMW 420s (85.3%, 62,870 tests): -5.2 points
- Against all 2014 cars (75.4%): +4.7 points
- National first-time pass rate, all cars and years: 77%
Every BMW 420 model year
Pass rates fall as cars age, so the only fair comparison for a 2014 car is other cars of the same age. The full run for the BMW 420:
| Year | Pass rate | Tests | Avg mileage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 79.4% | 562 | 98,351 |
| 2014 | 80.1% | 7,766 | 89,165 |
| 2015 | 83.1% | 10,255 | 83,410 |
| 2016 | 85.6% | 11,422 | 75,767 |
| 2017 | 86.4% | 11,360 | 64,289 |
| 2018 | 87.2% | 10,319 | 51,287 |
| 2019 | 87.5% | 7,667 | 42,543 |
| 2020 | 88.9% | 3,170 | 32,988 |
| 2021 | 90.8% | 348 | 27,860 |
What this means if you are buying a 2014 420
The 2014 is a weaker year for this model, passing 5.2 points less often than the BMW 420 average. Some of that is simply age, so compare it against the 2014 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 12-year-old car fails on
A 2014 car is 12 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 2014 BMW 420 the average at test was 89,165 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 2021 at 90.8%, and the weakest in our data is 2013 at 79.4%. That 11.4 point spread across the model's life is why comparing a 2014 car against a newer one tells you very little.
Nearby model years
- 2013 BMW 420 - 79.4%
- 2015 BMW 420 - 83.1%
- 2016 BMW 420 - 85.6%
- 2017 BMW 420 - 86.4%