Does the BMW i3 fail the MOT on body, chassis and structure more than it should?

The BMW i3 records 0.23 body, chassis and structure failure items per 100 initial MOT tests (2019–2024), against 0.95 expected for a car of the same age mix: less than expected for its class and age (−0.72, 95% interval −0.78 to −0.65). It ranks 364 of 663 models on body, chassis and structure (1 = most failures above expected).

Data release dvsa-2024-v2 (24 Sep 2026) · page updated 30 Sep 2026 · all models on body, chassis and structure · check a BMW i3 by registration

What exactly fails on body, chassis and structure?

The most frequent DVSA defect wording in this group on the BMW i3 is “A door will not open using the relevant control or close properly”, recorded 64 times in 2019–2024.

BMW i3: most frequent body, chassis and structure defect wordings, 2019–2024 (30+ items each)
DVSA defect wording	Items	Per 100 tests
A door will not open using the relevant control or close properly	64	0.07
An engine mounting/bracket severely damaged or deteriorated resulting in excessive movement	39	0.04

Source: DVSA MOT bulk data (OGL v3.0) · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 87,422 (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

Does the BMW i3 fail the MOT on body, chassis and structure more than it should?

What exactly fails on body, chassis and structure?

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