2006 BMW M5: MOT pass rate and reliability
86.4% of 2006 BMW M5s pass the MOT first time, measured across 242 DVSA tests on that model year alone. The average one had covered 84,759 miles.
How the 2006 compares
- Against all BMW M5s (89.3%, 3,915 tests): -2.9 points
- Against all 2006 cars (64.1%): +22.3 points
- National first-time pass rate, all cars and years: 77%
Every BMW M5 model year
Pass rates fall as cars age, so the only fair comparison for a 2006 car is other cars of the same age. The full run for the BMW M5:
| Year | Pass rate | Tests | Avg mileage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 83.4% | 223 | 124,010 |
| 2001 | 85.1% | 248 | 120,214 |
| 2005 | 88.7% | 231 | 93,655 |
| 2006 | 86.4% | 242 | 84,759 |
| 2007 | 92.4% | 237 | 86,282 |
| 2012 | 92.3% | 286 | 72,592 |
| 2013 | 88.5% | 478 | 68,469 |
| 2014 | 90.7% | 440 | 62,020 |
| 2015 | 89.2% | 369 | 60,767 |
| 2016 | 90.6% | 394 | 52,744 |
What this means if you are buying a 2006 M5
The 2006 is a weaker year for this model, passing 2.9 points less often than the BMW M5 average. Some of that is simply age, so compare it against the 2006 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 20-year-old car fails on
A 2006 car is 20 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 above average, the point where suspension bushes, drop links and exhaust corrosion start showing up as advisories before they become failures. On a 2006 BMW M5 the average at test was 84,759 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 2007 at 92.4%, and the weakest in our data is 2000 at 83.4%. That 9.0 point spread across the model's life is why comparing a 2006 car against a newer one tells you very little.
Nearby model years
- 2000 BMW M5 - 83.4%
- 2001 BMW M5 - 85.1%
- 2005 BMW M5 - 88.7%
- 2007 BMW M5 - 92.4%
- 2012 BMW M5 - 92.3%
- 2013 BMW M5 - 88.5%