BMW 3 Series 2012: MOT failure rate for its age

27.5% of 212,613 MOT tests of the BMW 3 Series first registered in 2012 failed at the first attempt (2019–2024; retests excluded). Against this model's own normal rate at the same ages the index is 109.5 (95% CI 108.6–110.4; 100 = normal for this model at that age): the 2012 BMW 3 Series fails more often than other build years of the same model at the same age.

BMW 3 Series built in 2012 at a glance
Measure	Value	Unit	Compared with	Years	Tests
Failed first time	27.5	%	all ages tested	2019–2024	212613
Index against this model at the same age (95% CI 108.6–110.4)	109.5	index	100 = normal for this model at that age	2019–2024	212613
Rank among this model's 23 build years	22	of 23	1 = fails least for its age	2019–2024	212613
Tested in 2024	32791	tests	median 108,459 miles	2024	32791

Built 2012 against BMW 3 Series normal for the age: first-time MOT failure share at each age, age 7: 24% vs 20.4%; age 8: 25.1% vs 21.5%; age 9: 26.8% vs 24.5%; age 10: 29% vs 26.4%; age 11: 29.5% vs 28.8%; age 12: 31.2% vs 30.1%. Axis from 0% to 40%. DVSA MOT bulk data, 2019–2024.

Check a 2012 BMW 3 Series by registration · All BMW 3 Series MOT statistics · Download the build-year table (CSV)

Data release dvsa-2024-v2 (24 Sep 2026) · page updated 30 Sep 2026 · full dataset (v5).

How does the 2012 BMW 3 Series fail at each age?

Cars built in 2012 were tested at ages 7 to 12 between 2019 and 2024. Each row compares their first-time failure share with what this model normally shows at that age, after allowing for the overall failure level of each test year.

BMW 3 Series built 2012: first-time MOT failure by age, against the model's normal rate at that age (2019–2024)
Age	Tests	Failed, %	95% interval	Normal for this model at that age, %	Index (100 = normal)
7	38,407	24	23.6–24.5	20.4	117.9
8	35,399	25.1	24.7–25.6	21.5	116.8
9	36,095	26.8	26.4–27.3	24.5	109.6
10	35,454	29	28.6–29.5	26.4	110.2
11	34,467	29.5	29–30	28.8	102.4
12	32,791	31.2	30.7–31.7	30.1	103.7

Source: DVSA MOT bulk data · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 212,613 (initial tests) · Method: normal rate = this model's first-time failure share at that age across its build years (cells of 400+ tests), adjusted for each test year's overall level; cells of 30+ tests, under 500 marked rough · Updated: 30 Sep 2026 · Release: dvsa-2024-v2 · CSV

What fails most on the 2012 BMW 3 Series?

The most common failure group on cars built in 2012 is lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment: 15.3 items per 100 first tests, against 12.6 across all build years of the BMW 3 Series. These counts are not age-adjusted: cars built in 2012 were tested at ages 7 to 12.

Failure items per 100 first tests, BMW 3 Series built 2012 against the BMW 3 Series in all build years (2019–2024, not age-adjusted)
Failure group	Built 2012, per 100	All build years, per 100	Items
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment	15.3	12.6	32,626
Tyres	11.7	10.8	24,866
Suspension	9.1	11.7	19,434
Brakes	7.4	12.8	15,735
Visibility	7.1	7.8	15,007

Source: DVSA MOT bulk data · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 212,613 (initial tests of this build year) · Method: failure items grouped by DVSA's top-level defect groups, per 100 initial tests; groups with 30+ items · Updated: 30 Sep 2026 · Release: dvsa-2024-v2 · CSV

How does 2012 compare with the years around it?

Among the 23 published build years of the BMW 3 Series, 2012 ranks 22 (1 = fails least for its age). 2011: index 103.5. 2013: index 100.7.

BMW 3 Series build years: index against the model at the same age (2019–2024)
Build year	Index (100 = normal)	95% interval	Verdict	Tests
1998	103.6	99.9–107.3	no different	7,363
1999	107.9	105.4–110.5	worse	16,191
2000	105.6	103.5–107.7	worse	23,772
2001	105.9	104.4–107.4	worse	46,509
2002	102.6	101.4–103.7	worse	76,299
2003	102.7	101.7–103.7	worse	98,778
2004	105.8	104.7–106.8	worse	94,649
2005	100.7	99.7–101.7	no different	112,280
2006	94.7	93.9–95.5	better	161,180
2007	94.2	93.4–94.9	better	208,408
2008	98.1	97.3–98.9	better	174,203
2009	102.8	102.0–103.7	worse	162,273
2010	103.6	102.8–104.5	worse	181,892
2011	103.5	102.7–104.4	worse	191,518
2012	109.5	108.6–110.4	worse	212,613
2013	100.7	99.8–101.6	no different	216,834
2014	100.2	99.2–101.1	no different	200,145
2015	90.6	89.6–91.6	better	195,919
2016	87.0	86.0–88.1	better	197,463
2017	85.5	84.3–86.7	better	168,528
2018	92.5	90.9–94.1	better	102,875
2019	106.6	104.5–108.6	worse	79,084
2020	122.4	119.5–125.4	worse	45,081

Source: DVSA MOT bulk data · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 2,973,857 (initial tests) · Method: observed failures against those expected for the same model at the same ages, test-year level adjusted; verdict follows the printed one-decimal bound · Updated: 30 Sep 2026 · Release: dvsa-2024-v2 · CSV

How to cite this page

MOT Risk Index (2026). BMW 3 Series 2012 MOT statistics (data release dvsa-2024-v2; full dataset motriskindex-families-2024-v5, DOI 10.5281/zenodo.22975051), updated 30 September 2026. motriskindex.co.uk/cars/bmw-3-series/2012/

How every figure is calculated: methodology. Age, test year and build year are tied together (age = test year − build year), so the test-year level is taken as observed, not estimated.

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