2008 BMW 635: MOT pass rate and reliability

78.2% of 2008 BMW 635s pass the MOT first time, measured across 510 DVSA tests on that model year alone. The average one had covered 130,076 miles.

How the 2008 compares

  • Against all BMW 635s (79.2%, 1,910 tests): -1 points
  • Against all 2008 cars (64.7%): +13.5 points
  • National first-time pass rate, all cars and years: 77%

Every BMW 635 model year

Pass rates fall as cars age, so the only fair comparison for a 2008 car is other cars of the same age. The full run for the BMW 635:

Year Pass rate Tests Avg mileage
2008 78.2% 510 130,076
2009 77.5% 404 122,799
2010 79.7% 429 118,111

What this means if you are buying a 2008 635

The 2008 sits close to the BMW 635 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 an 18-year-old car fails on

A 2008 car is 18 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 2008 BMW 635 the average at test was 130,076 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 2010 at 79.7%, and the weakest in our data is 2009 at 77.5%. That 2.2 point spread across the model's life is why comparing a 2008 car against a newer one tells you very little.

Nearby model years

All BMW 635 MOT data · Every model