2012 BMW 525: MOT pass rate and reliability
76.6% of 2012 BMW 525s pass the MOT first time, measured across 282 DVSA tests on that model year alone. The average one had covered 120,641 miles.
How the 2012 compares
- Against all BMW 525s (76.3%, 13,362 tests): +0.3 points
- Against all 2012 cars (70.8%): +5.8 points
- National first-time pass rate, all cars and years: 77%
Every BMW 525 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 525:
| Year | Pass rate | Tests | Avg mileage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 70.6% | 490 | 136,192 |
| 2002 | 72.3% | 669 | 143,345 |
| 2003 | 67.6% | 652 | 142,142 |
| 2004 | 69.4% | 963 | 146,709 |
| 2005 | 73.6% | 1,389 | 158,845 |
| 2006 | 75.3% | 1,284 | 151,466 |
| 2007 | 75% | 1,543 | 151,842 |
| 2008 | 77.9% | 1,405 | 146,360 |
| 2009 | 79% | 1,041 | 137,990 |
| 2010 | 80% | 867 | 128,818 |
| 2011 | 81.6% | 745 | 127,059 |
| 2012 | 76.6% | 282 | 120,641 |
| 2013 | 79.8% | 203 | 117,024 |
| 2014 | 86.8% | 418 | 109,654 |
| 2015 | 88.4% | 473 | 99,550 |
| 2016 | 86.5% | 237 | 95,580 |
What this means if you are buying a 2012 525
The 2012 sits close to the BMW 525 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 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 525 the average at test was 120,641 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 88.4%, and the weakest in our data is 2003 at 67.6%. That 20.8 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 525 - 79%
- 2010 BMW 525 - 80%
- 2011 BMW 525 - 81.6%
- 2013 BMW 525 - 79.8%
- 2014 BMW 525 - 86.8%
- 2015 BMW 525 - 88.4%