Does the BMW 5 Series fail the MOT on lamps, reflectors and electrics more than it should?

The BMW 5 Series records 10.23 lamps, reflectors and electrics failure items per 100 initial MOT tests (2019–2024), against 17.56 expected for a car of the same age mix: less than expected for its class and age (−7.33, 95% interval −7.41 to −7.26). It ranks 568 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 5 Series by registration

What exactly fails on lamps, reflectors and electrics?

The most frequent DVSA defect wording in this group on the BMW 5 Series is “The aim of a headlamp is not within limits laid down in the requirements”, recorded 20,550 times in 2019–2024.

BMW 5 Series: most frequent lamps, reflectors and electrics defect wordings, 2019–2024 (30+ items each)
DVSA defect wording	Items	Per 100 tests
The aim of a headlamp is not within limits laid down in the requirements	20,550	1.61
A lamp missing, inoperative or in the case of a multiple light source more than 1/2 not functioning	16,550	1.30
Headlamp reflector or lens slightly defective	13,273	1.04
A rear registration plate lamp or light source missing or inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources	11,854	0.93
A headlamp or light source missing, inoperative or more than ½ not functioning in the case of LED	10,367	0.81

Source: DVSA MOT bulk data (OGL v3.0) · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 1,273,419 (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 5 Series gets a lamps, reflectors and electrics advisory, how often does it fail next time?

24.8% of BMW 5 Series MOTs with a lamps, reflectors and electrics advisory were followed by a fail in the same group at the next MOT, typically 12.1 months and 5,108 miles later (11,303 advisories followed).

Source: DVSA MOT bulk data (OGL v3.0) · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 11,303 (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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Does the BMW 5 Series fail the MOT on lamps, reflectors and electrics more than it should?

What exactly fails on lamps, reflectors and electrics?

If a BMW 5 Series gets a lamps, reflectors and electrics advisory, how often does it fail next time?

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Other pages for this model