1999 BMW 528: MOT pass rate and reliability
67.5% of 1999 BMW 528s pass the MOT first time, measured across 228 DVSA tests on that model year alone. The average one had covered 140,203 miles.
How the 1999 compares
- Against all BMW 528s (78.7%, 1,930 tests): -11.2 points
- Against all 1999 cars (68.6%): -1.1 points
- National first-time pass rate, all cars and years: 77%
Every BMW 528 model year
Pass rates fall as cars age, so the only fair comparison for a 1999 car is other cars of the same age. The full run for the BMW 528:
| Year | Pass rate | Tests | Avg mileage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 67.5% | 228 | 140,203 |
| 2000 | 69.9% | 209 | 136,995 |
| 2015 | 88.9% | 243 | 66,628 |
What this means if you are buying a 1999 528
The 1999 is a weaker year for this model, passing 11.2 points less often than the BMW 528 average. Some of that is simply age, so compare it against the 1999 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 27-year-old car fails on
A 1999 car is 27 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 very high mileage. Clutches, dual-mass flywheels and head gaskets have usually been through at least one repair by this point, so ask for evidence rather than assume the car is original everywhere. On a 1999 BMW 528 the average at test was 140,203 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 88.9%, and the weakest in our data is 1999 at 67.5%. That 21.4 point spread across the model's life is why comparing a 1999 car against a newer one tells you very little.
Nearby model years
- 2000 BMW 528 - 69.9%
- 2015 BMW 528 - 88.9%