2012 BMW 520: MOT pass rate and reliability
76.6% of 2012 BMW 520s pass the MOT first time, measured across 6,338 DVSA tests on that model year alone. The average one had covered 126,581 miles.
How the 2012 compares
- Against all BMW 520s (80.7%, 76,919 tests): -4.1 points
- Against all 2012 cars (70.8%): +5.8 points
- National first-time pass rate, all cars and years: 77%
Every BMW 520 model year
Pass rates fall as cars age, so the only fair comparison for a 2012 car is other cars of the same age. The full run for the BMW 520:
| Year | Pass rate | Tests | Avg mileage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 72.4% | 239 | 116,317 |
| 2002 | 65.7% | 300 | 120,219 |
| 2003 | 65.8% | 360 | 113,126 |
| 2004 | 74% | 242 | 124,117 |
| 2005 | 66.3% | 526 | 170,725 |
| 2006 | 68.9% | 1,995 | 170,350 |
| 2007 | 71.1% | 3,041 | 162,057 |
| 2008 | 74% | 2,711 | 153,747 |
| 2009 | 74.2% | 3,955 | 144,447 |
| 2010 | 75.6% | 4,076 | 138,202 |
| 2011 | 76.2% | 7,598 | 136,231 |
| 2012 | 76.6% | 6,338 | 126,581 |
| 2013 | 81.5% | 6,634 | 117,620 |
| 2014 | 84.1% | 11,743 | 112,543 |
| 2015 | 86.4% | 12,343 | 100,979 |
| 2016 | 87.6% | 12,156 | 88,382 |
| 2017 | 86.8% | 1,485 | 78,803 |
What this means if you are buying a 2012 520
The 2012 is a weaker year for this model, passing 4.1 points less often than the BMW 520 average. Some of that is simply age, so compare it against the 2012 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 14-year-old car fails on
A 2012 car is 14 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 2012 BMW 520 the average at test was 126,581 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 2016 at 87.6%, and the weakest in our data is 2002 at 65.7%. That 21.9 point spread across the model's life is why comparing a 2012 car against a newer one tells you very little.
Nearby model years
- 2009 BMW 520 - 74.2%
- 2010 BMW 520 - 75.6%
- 2011 BMW 520 - 76.2%
- 2013 BMW 520 - 81.5%
- 2014 BMW 520 - 84.1%
- 2015 BMW 520 - 86.4%