Does the BMW 1 Series fail the MOT on seat belts and airbags more than it should?
The BMW 1 Series records 0.79 seat belts and airbags failure items per 100 initial MOT tests (2019–2024), against 0.85 expected for a car of the same age mix: about as expected for its class and age (the difference is within its interval or under 0.5 items per 100 tests) (−0.06, 95% interval −0.08 to −0.05). It ranks 308 of 627 models on seat belts and airbags (1 = most failures above expected).
Data release dvsa-2024-v2 (24 Sep 2026) · page updated 30 Sep 2026 · all models on seat belts and airbags · check a BMW 1 Series by registration
What exactly fails on seat belts and airbags?
The most frequent DVSA defect wording in this group on the BMW 1 Series is “An SRS malfunction indicator lamp (MIL) indicates a system malfunction”, recorded 11,261 times in 2019–2024.
| DVSA defect wording | Items | Per 100 tests |
|---|---|---|
| An SRS malfunction indicator lamp (MIL) indicates a system malfunction | 11,261 | 0.50 |
| Seat belt buckle missing, damaged or not functioning as intended | 2,463 | 0.11 |
| Seat belt not functioning as intended or of an incorrect type | 1,619 | 0.07 |
| Seat belt retractor not functioning as intended | 776 | 0.03 |
| A statutory seat belt missing | 452 | 0.02 |
Source: DVSA MOT bulk data (OGL v3.0) · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 2,252,061 (initial tests) · Method: failure items (major and minor) grouped by DVSA's defect tree; wordings with 30+ items · Updated: 30 Sep 2026 · Release: dvsa-2024-v2 · CSV
If a BMW 1 Series gets a seat belts and airbags advisory, how often does it fail next time?
4.0% of BMW 1 Series MOTs with a seat belts and airbags advisory were followed by a fail in the same group at the next MOT, typically 12 months and 6,981 miles later (3,175 advisories followed).
Source: DVSA MOT bulk data (OGL v3.0) · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 3,175 (advisories followed) · Method: the same vehicles followed to their next ordinary MOT · Updated: 30 Sep 2026 · Release: dvsa-2024-v2 · CSV
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