2017 BMW 7 Series: MOT pass rate and reliability

88.8% of 2017 BMW 7 Series pass the MOT first time, measured across 448 DVSA tests on that model year alone. The average one had covered 71,742 miles.

How the 2017 compares

  • Against all BMW 7 Series (88.4%, 3,728 tests): +0.4 points
  • Against all 2017 cars (83.5%): +5.3 points
  • National first-time pass rate, all cars and years: 77%

Every BMW 7 Series model year

Pass rates fall as cars age, so the only fair comparison for a 2017 car is other cars of the same age. The full run for the BMW 7 Series:

Year Pass rate Tests Avg mileage
2012 83.3% 282 111,171
2013 78% 287 106,960
2017 88.8% 448 71,742
2018 91% 411 66,028
2019 92.3% 481 53,652
2020 94.6% 353 43,988
2021 91.6% 537 41,134

What this means if you are buying a 2017 7 Series

The 2017 sits close to the BMW 7 Series 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 9-year-old car fails on

A 2017 car is 9 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 a shade above the middle of the range, still ordinary wear rather than a red flag, but worth checking against the service book for the car's age. On a 2017 BMW 7 Series the average at test was 71,742 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 2020 at 94.6%, and the weakest in our data is 2013 at 78%. That 16.6 point spread across the model's life is why comparing a 2017 car against a newer one tells you very little.

Nearby model years

All BMW 7 Series MOT data · Every model