2014 BMW 518: MOT pass rate and reliability
84.5% of 2014 BMW 518s pass the MOT first time, measured across 895 DVSA tests on that model year alone. The average one had covered 125,954 miles.
How the 2014 compares
- Against all BMW 518s (83%, 2,264 tests): +1.5 points
- Against all 2014 cars (75.4%): +9.1 points
- National first-time pass rate, all cars and years: 77%
Every BMW 518 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 518:
| Year | Pass rate | Tests | Avg mileage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 76.5% | 328 | 126,091 |
| 2014 | 84.5% | 895 | 125,954 |
| 2015 | 86.2% | 566 | 122,185 |
| 2016 | 85.9% | 311 | 113,996 |
What this means if you are buying a 2014 518
The 2014 sits close to the BMW 518 average, so there is no strong model-year signal either way. Judge the individual car on its own history. 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 high mileage, so timing belts, clutches, suspension bushes and corrosion are the items worth budgeting for rather than the MOT itself. On a 2014 BMW 518 the average at test was 125,954 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 2015 at 86.2%, and the weakest in our data is 2013 at 76.5%. That 9.7 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 518 - 76.5%
- 2015 BMW 518 - 86.2%
- 2016 BMW 518 - 85.9%