Does the BMW 4 Series fail the MOT on lamps, reflectors and electrics more than it should?

The BMW 4 Series records 2.24 lamps, reflectors and electrics failure items per 100 initial MOT tests (2019–2024), against 5.66 expected for a car of the same age mix: less than expected for its class and age (−3.42, 95% interval −3.49 to −3.36). It ranks 472 of 729 models on lamps, reflectors and electrics (1 = most failures above expected).

Data release dvsa-2024-v2 (24 Sep 2026) · page updated 30 Sep 2026 · all models on lamps, reflectors and electrics · check a BMW 4 Series by registration

What exactly fails on lamps, reflectors and electrics?

The most frequent DVSA defect wording in this group on the BMW 4 Series is “A direction indicator lamp missing, inoperative or in the case of a multiple light source more than 1/2 not functioning”, recorded 2,176 times in 2019–2024.

BMW 4 Series: most frequent lamps, reflectors and electrics defect wordings, 2019–2024 (30+ items each)
DVSA defect wording	Items	Per 100 tests
A direction indicator lamp missing, inoperative or in the case of a multiple light source more than 1/2 not functioning	2,176	0.41
A headlamp or light source missing, inoperative or more than ½ not functioning in the case of LED	1,921	0.37
The aim of a headlamp is not within limits laid down in the requirements	1,466	0.28
Audible warning inoperative	964	0.18
A headlamp cleaning device inoperative in the case of LED or gas discharge systems (HID)	680	0.13

Source: DVSA MOT bulk data (OGL v3.0) · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 525,142 (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

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Does the BMW 4 Series fail the MOT on lamps, reflectors and electrics more than it should?

What exactly fails on lamps, reflectors and electrics?

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