BMW X4 — MOT statistics 2024
The BMW X4 failed 14.97% of 17,419 first MOT attempts in 2024 ("first-time", excluding retests). Adjusted for the age of the fleet, its initial-failure ratio is 79.7 (100 = expected for its age profile). This car fails its MOT about 20% less often than expected for its age.
Age-adjusted peer: Suzuki Vitara (index 79.9) — the two published results are 0.2 index points apart.
BMW X4 common problems: what actually fails the MOT
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment are well below the reference at 2.2 per 100 tests, against 4.7 per 100 tests across UK vehicles of the same ages.
higher bar = fails more oftenrate per 100 tests
family vs national — matched to UK vehicles of the same ages — top component groups, per 100 tests. Legend: This family · National avg. Combined labels: family / national average. A gap here reflects how these vehicles are driven, used and maintained as well as how they were built — an MOT defect is a test outcome, not a breakdown.
Component-group comparison table
Each ratio carries a 95% interval. With 6 groups compared here, roughly one apparent difference in twenty is chance alone.
| Group | This family | Cases behind it | UK, same ages | Family / national |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tyres | 8.1 | 5,840 | 7.0 | 1.15×1.12–1.18 |
| Visibility | 4.9 | 3,554 | 5.3 | 0.92×0.89–0.95 |
| Brakes | 2.9 | 2,083 | 4.4 | 0.65×0.62–0.68 |
| Suspension | 2.5 | 1,813 | 3.7 | 0.68×0.65–0.72 |
| Lamps & electrical | 2.2 | 1,606 | 4.7 | 0.47×0.45–0.50 |
| Identification | 0.8 | 548 | 0.3 | 3.08×2.68–3.18 |
| What failed | per 100 tests (this family) | per 100 tests (UK average) | ratio family / UK | What to check |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tyre seriously damagedA tyre seriously damaged | 3.03 | 2.54 | 1.19× | Check tyre tread depth across the full width |
| Number plate does not conform to the specified…Number plate does not conform to the specified requirements | 0.68 | 0.20 | 3.38× | Ask the seller about: Number plate does not conform to the specified requirements |
| Tyre cords visible or damagedA tyre cords visible or damaged | 1.71 | 1.63 | 1.05× | Check tyre tread depth across the full width |
| Wiper blade defectiveWiper blade defective | 0.85 | 1.26 | 0.67× | Check wipers, washers and windscreen chips in the driver's view |
| Brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mma brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm | 1.71 | 2.15 | 0.79× | Feel for brake judder and pulling on the test drive |
| Windscreen or window damaged or seriously…Windscreen or window damaged or seriously discoloured but not adversely affecting driver's view | 1.90 | 2.36 | 0.81× | Check wipers, washers and windscreen chips in the driver's view |
| Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the…Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements | 2.85 | 3.59 | 0.79× | Check tyre tread depth across the full width |
| Windscreen washers not working or not providing…Windscreen washers not working or not providing sufficient fluid to clear the windscreen | 0.79 | 1.62 | 0.49× | Check wipers, washers and windscreen chips in the driver's view |
| Spring or spring component fractured or seriously…A spring or spring component fractured or seriously weakened | 1.87 | 2.86 | 0.65× | Ask the seller about: A spring or spring component fractured or seriously weakened |
| Wiper blade missing or obviously not clearing the…Wiper blade missing or obviously not clearing the windscreen | 1.11 | 2.22 | 0.50× | Check wipers, washers and windscreen chips in the driver's view |
Named defects ranked by how much more often they appear than the national average — not by raw rate.
BMW X4 MOT advisories: what gets flagged
Tyres are highest at 34.7 per 100 tests; Steering is lowest at 0.7 per 100 tests — the gap is 34.0 per 100 tests.
higher bar = flagged more oftenadvisory items per 100 initial tests
Advisory rates table
| Group | Advisories per 100 |
|---|---|
| Tyres | 34.7 |
| Brakes | 16.5 |
| Non-component advisories | 9.3 |
| Suspension | 3.5 |
| Emissions & leaks | 1.1 |
| Steering | 0.7 |
Advisories are wear the tester noted but didn't fail — what will need money soon.
Tyres, brakes and suspension: BMW X4 against cars of the same age
| Age | Part | BMW X4 | Same age, petrol and diesel | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 years | Tyres | 5.62 | 4.17 | 1.45 |
| 3 years | Brakes | 1.37 | 1.77 | -0.40 |
| 3 years | Suspension | 0.23 | 0.63 | -0.40 |
| 4 years | Tyres | 5.26 | 4.54 | 0.72 |
| 4 years | Brakes | 1.92 | 2.43 | -0.51 |
| 4 years | Suspension | 0.88 | 1.21 | -0.33 |
| 5 years | Tyres | 5.31 | 5.06 | 0.25 |
| 5 years | Brakes | 2.28 | 3.09 | -0.81 |
| 5 years | Suspension | 1.67 | 2.19 | -0.52 |
| 6 years | Tyres | 6.32 | 5.54 | 0.78 |
| 6 years | Brakes | 2.72 | 3.81 | -1.09 |
| 6 years | Suspension | 3.23 | 3.72 | -0.49 |
| 7 years | Tyres | 6.72 | 5.95 | 0.77 |
| 7 years | Brakes | 2.86 | 4.55 | -1.69 |
| 7 years | Suspension | 4.53 | 5.68 | -1.15 |
| 8 years | Tyres | 5.8 | 6.31 | -0.51 |
| 8 years | Brakes | 2.9 | 5.38 | -2.48 |
| 8 years | Suspension | 5.62 | 7.78 | -2.16 |
Failing items per 100 initial tests, 2019-2024. The comparison group is every petrol or diesel car tested at the same age, so weight and drivetrain show up rather than fleet age.
If a car like this fails, does it fail again?
A failure rate does not say whether a failure is a one-off or the start of something. This follows the same vehicles into their next ordinary MOT a year later — retests after a repair are excluded, because they follow a failure by definition. 2019-2024.
| After this year's test | Fails next year | Vehicles followed |
|---|---|---|
| It failed | 17.6% | 1,774 |
| It passed | 14.2% | 45,030 |
A failed test raises next year's chance of failing again by 3.4 percentage points. The failure most likely to come back is lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment — 22.2% of those vehicles fail again next year. Some of this is the vehicle and some is the owner: a car that was let go once tends to be let go again. One caveat: a car that fails may be sold or scrapped rather than tested again, so these figures describe the vehicles that came back.
Adjusted for how much these are actually driven
The headline index adjusts for the fleet's age. Wear, though, follows mileage: a three-year-old taxi and a three-year-old garage queen sit in the same age band. These two rows compare every car with vehicles of the same age, and then with vehicles of the same age and the same annual mileage, 2019-2024, on 71,486 tests. Both stand on the six-year corpus so they are measured on identical data — compare them with each other, not with the headline index above, which is measured on 2024 alone.
| Standardised for | Index | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| Age only | 80.1 | fails less often than expected |
| Age and annual mileage | 75.3 | fails less often than vehicles driven as much |
| Share doing under 3,000 miles a year | 1.5% | a normal spread of use |
Mileage matters here: matching on how much these are driven moves the figure by 4.8 points — this fleet works harder than the vehicles it is measured against, so the age-only view penalises it — but it does not change which side of normal the car sits on. One limit to keep in mind: mileage is partly a result of how often a car breaks down — one that spends weeks in the workshop covers fewer miles — so the mileage-matched figure can understate a real weakness. Tests with no usable odometer reading are left out of it.
How the BMW X4 compares with cars of its own age and size
Not against the whole fleet — against cars of the same size class tested at the same age, 2019-2024.
| Age | BMW X4 | Same class, same age | Difference | Tests |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 years | 10.87% | 11.7% | -0.83 pp | 15,684 |
| 4 years | 11.95% | 13.3% | -1.35 pp | 15,237 |
| 5 years | 13.65% | 15.07% | -1.42 pp | 13,860 |
| 6 years | 16.3% | 17.34% | -1.04 pp | 9,774 |
| 7 years | 18.84% | 20.15% | -1.31 pp | 7,754 |
| 8 years | 19.91% | 23.22% | -3.31 pp | 5,549 |
| 9 years | 20.11% | 26.74% | -6.63 pp | 2,819 |
| 10 years | 18.03% | 30.03% | -12 pp | 743 |
Raw first-time failure rates within each age, so fleet age cannot flatter either side. A positive difference means this model fails more often than its own class at that age.
How does the BMW X4 perform as it gets older?
The X4 at age 10 is well below the reference at 18.0%, against 30.1% for all vehicles of the same age.
higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points
Chart axes: car age, years · failure-rate scale 0–36%.
Takeaway: a 10-year-old X4 has roughly a 18% chance of failing its MOT.
Data table
| Age | BMW X4 | All vehicles | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 10.2% | 12.4% | -2.2 pp |
| 4 | 11.0% | 13.1% | -2.1 pp |
| 5 | 12.6% | 15.1% | -2.5 pp |
| 6 | 12.7% | 17.5% | -4.8 pp |
| 7 | 18.6% | 20.2% | -1.6 pp |
| 8 | 18.7% | 23.3% | -4.6 pp |
| 9 | 20.1% | 26.5% | -6.4 pp |
| 10 | 18.0% | 30.1% | -12.1 pp |
Is a BMW X4 ULEZ compliant?
The share of classifiable 2024 BMW X4 MOT tests likely ULEZ compliant by first-registration date is 89.5%.
Based on 17,410 classifiable initial MOT tests. This describes the tested fleet, not a specific car. MOT data do not record Euro class, so likely compliance is inferred from fuel and first-registration date. For the only authoritative answer, check the registration with TfL's official ULEZ checker.
higher = larger share likely compliantinferred from fuel and first-registration date; not a recorded Euro class
| Vehicle age at test | Likely ULEZ-compliant share | Tests |
|---|---|---|
| Under 3 years | Suppressed — sample below publication threshold Check a registration with TfL | n = 101 |
| 3–5 years | 100.0% Check a registration with TfL | n = 7,630 |
| 6–7 years | 100.0% Check a registration with TfL | n = 4,175 |
| 8 years | 100.0% Check a registration with TfL | n = 2,695 |
| 9 years | 47.4% Check a registration with TfL | n = 2,065 |
| 10–14 years | 0.4% Check a registration with TfL | n = 743 |
| 15–17 years | Suppressed — sample below publication threshold Check a registration with TfL | n = 0 |
| 18 years | Suppressed — sample below publication threshold Check a registration with TfL | n = 0 |
| 19 years | Suppressed — sample below publication threshold Check a registration with TfL | n = 0 |
| 20+ years | Suppressed — sample below publication threshold Check a registration with TfL | n = 1 |
BMW X4 petrol vs diesel: which ages best
Diesel is highest at 16.2%; Petrol is lowest at 10.3% — the gap is 5.9 percentage points.
higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points
Fuel split table
| Fuel | Tests | % failing | Gap vs best |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diesel | 13,639 | 16.2% | +5.9 pp |
| Electric-diesel | 1,926 | 10.5% | +0.2 pp |
| Petrol | 1,808 | 10.3% | +0.0 pp |
Chart sample sizes: n=14k · n=1,926 · n=1,808.
How dangerous are BMW X4 MOT failures?
Major defects are well below the reference at 12.0 per 100 tests, against 52.8 per 100 tests nationally.
higher bar = fails more oftenrate per 100 tests
Severity table
| Severity | This family /100 | National /100 | Family / national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minor | 3.58 | 14.22 | 0.25× |
| Major | 12.00 | 52.75 | 0.23× |
| Dangerous | 7.47 | 11.15 | 0.67× |
Chart values: Minor 3.6 · Major 12.0 · Dangerous 7.5.
Per 100 tests on this family. National average: Minor 14.2 · Major 52.8 · Dangerous 11.2 per 100.
Does the month of a BMW X4 MOT matter?
Apr is highest at 15.1%; Dec is lowest at 13.5% — the gap is 1.6 percentage points.
higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points
Chart scale: 12%–33%.
bars: BMW X4 · dashed: all class-4 cars
Month-by-month table
| Month | BMW X4 | All vehicles | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 14.35% | 31.12% | -16.8 pp |
| Feb | 14.83% | 29.99% | -15.2 pp |
| Mar | 13.56% | 28.26% | -14.7 pp |
| Apr | 15.13% | 29.78% | -14.7 pp |
| May | 14.46% | 28.79% | -14.3 pp |
| Jun | 13.96% | 28.15% | -14.2 pp |
| Jul | 14.67% | 29.33% | -14.7 pp |
| Aug | 14.72% | 29.2% | -14.5 pp |
| Sep | 14.54% | 28.19% | -13.7 pp |
| Oct | 13.7% | 30.34% | -16.6 pp |
| Nov | 14.71% | 30.58% | -15.9 pp |
| Dec | 13.52% | 29.33% | -15.8 pp |
Takeaway: the spread between best and worst month is 1.6 percentage points — booking month barely matters for this family. Seasonality partly reflects registration-date clustering, not weather.
Before reading the shape: most of it is not about cars. Britain changes its registration plates twice a year, and 18.9% of these cars were first registered in March with another17.1% in September — 36% in two months against the 17% an even spread would give. An MOT falls due three years after first registration, so the buying calendar becomes the testing calendar. That shapes how many cars are tested each month — not how often they fail: the busiest months here are not the worst ones, so read the failure line on its own and the volume behind it separately.
BMW X4 average mileage by age
At age 8, the middle half of X4s runs from 55,924 miles to 86,195 miles, against 70,369 miles as the median.
further right = more milesmedian is the typical car; band is p25–p75
Chart axes: car age, years · odometer scale 0–107k mi.
Does high mileage mean more BMW X4 MOT failures at the same age?
Within the same age group, split by odometer (2024 MOTs), so this separates wear from age: at ages 6–9, 10.7% of those with under 40,000 miles failed first time versus 25.7% of those with over 140,000 miles.Inside this age group, higher mileage goes with more failures.
| Age | Odometer | % failing | 95% interval | Tests |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3–5 | <40k miles | 10.6% | 9.7–11.5% | 4,535 |
| 3–5 | 40-70k miles | 12.8% | 11.5–14.1% | 2,615 |
| 3–5 | 70-100k miles | 13.3% | 10.2–17.1% | 377 (rough estimate) |
| 6–9 | <40k miles | 10.7% | 9–12.8% | 1,033 |
| 6–9 | 40-70k miles | 16.7% | 15.6–17.9% | 4,029 |
| 6–9 | 70-100k miles | 19.3% | 17.9–20.7% | 2,909 |
| 6–9 | 100-140k miles | 23.6% | 20.9–26.6% | 839 |
| 6–9 | 140k+ miles | 25.7% | 18.4–34.6% | 109 (rough estimate) |
| 10–14 | 40-70k miles | 12.3% | 8.2–18% | 171 (rough estimate) |
| 10–14 | 70-100k miles | 21.8% | 17.8–26.5% | 344 (rough estimate) |
| 10–14 | 100-140k miles | 17.7% | 12.8–23.9% | 181 (rough estimate) |
line: median · band: middle half of the fleet (p25–p75)
Mileage by age (p25 / median / p75)
| Age | p25 | Median | p75 | Tests |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 20,349 | 27,242 | 35,353 | 1,678 |
| 4 | 25,476 | 33,640 | 43,264 | 1,903 |
| 5 | 32,049 | 41,724 | 53,328 | 4,049 |
| 6 | 40,991 | 53,006 | 66,441 | 2,028 |
| 7 | 47,298 | 60,191 | 75,331 | 2,147 |
| 8 | 55,924 | 70,369 | 86,195 | 2,695 |
| 9 | 64,003 | 79,495 | 96,446 | 2,065 |
| 10 | 69,075 | 83,645 | 101,891 | 743 |
A typical 8-year-old X4 has ~70,369 miles on the clock. Much more — ask why; much less — check for gaps in the MOT history.
Where in Britain the BMW X4 fails its MOT most
St Albans area is highest at 20.4%; Dumfries area is lowest at 5.6% — the gap is 14.8 percentage points.
higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points
| Toughest areas | % failing | vs model overall |
|---|---|---|
| St Albans (AL) | 20.35% | +6.0 pp |
| Kilmarnock (KA) | 20% | +5.7 pp |
| Aberdeen (AB) | 19.84% | +5.5 pp |
| Walsall (WS) | 19.52% | +5.2 pp |
| Watford (WD) | 19.03% | +4.7 pp |
| Easiest areas | % failing | vs model overall |
|---|---|---|
| Dumfries (DG) | 5.6% | -8.7 pp |
| Enfield (EN) | 8.24% | -6.1 pp |
| Llandudno (LL) | 10.14% | -4.2 pp |
| London E (E) | 10.65% | -3.7 pp |
| Twickenham (TW) | 10.76% | -3.6 pp |
Why do areas differ?
For each external factor we correlate the area fail rate with the factor across postcode areas that have ≥800 tests of this family, then compare the bottom vs top fifth (quintile) of the factor. Correlation, not causation — factors travel together (the north is colder and often poorer; urban areas are denser and less salted). Road surface condition is joined now, for the 91 English areas the DfT publishes, and it explains nothing: the correlation with suspension failures is −0.01 and with body and structure failures 0.07. Potholes wreck wheels and tyres between tests, but by the time a car reaches the bay the road it drives on leaves no measurable trace.
In areas with the highest frost days this model fails 0.9 pp more often than in the lowest fifth (r=0.45, n=30 areas with ≥800 tests).
In areas with the highest road-salt proxy this model fails 1.0 pp more often than in the lowest fifth (r=0.43, n=30 areas with ≥800 tests).
In areas with the highest terrain gradient this model fails 2.6 pp more often than in the lowest fifth (r=0.28, n=21 areas with ≥800 tests).
| Factor | Low Q | High Q | Gap | Correlation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frost days | 14.6% | 15.5% | +0.9 pp | r=0.45 |
| Road-salt proxy | 14.5% | 15.5% | +1.0 pp | r=0.43 |
| Terrain gradient | 12.4% | 15.0% | +2.6 pp | r=0.28 |
Factors that only mean something combined
Some conditions are useless on their own and informative multiplied together. Frost days alone say little — Britain barely freezes. Salt tonnage alone says little — it tracks frost. Distance to the sea alone says little. Multiply the first two and divide by the third and you get an index of how hard an area attacks a car's underside, and it lines up with the corrosion defects we actually record. We built five such combinations and tested each against our own data. Three survived; two did not, and the failures are listed here on purpose — a proxy that was never checked is decoration. One survivor only survived on the second attempt: built from a crude stand-in for street parking it failed outright, and rebuilt from the census — terraced streets carrying more cars than they have driveways — it works, and carries information the salt index does not.
| Composite | Built from | Tested against | r | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Underbody corrosion | frost days × salt load ÷ (distance to coast + 1) | share of tests with a corrosion defect | +0.42 | holds (116 areas) |
| Tyre wear | rain days × annual miles ÷ age at first tyre advisory | share of tests failing on tyres | +0.45 | holds (116 areas) |
| Overnight corrosion | terraced housing × cars per household × frost days | share with a corrosion defect | +0.41 | holds (102 areas) — and adds signal beyond the first index |
| Deferred maintenance | deprivation × advisory-to-failure conversion ÷ labour rate | cars repeating the same advisory | −0.26 | fails (118 areas) |
| Powertrain stress | engine capacity ÷ kerb weight | suspension, brake and emissions failures | −0.16 | fails (22 models) |
The deprivation result is the one worth dwelling on. The intuition that poorer areas defer repairs is strong enough that most people treat it as established. We tested it twice — once on raw failure rates (r = 0.04) and again, more fairly, on whether an advisory turns into a failure — and it did not hold any of the three times we tried it — on raw failure rates, on advisory-to-failure conversion, and again with deprivation measured properly inside each nation rather than England alone. We are closing it. What does predict local failure rates is the density of test centres, which is a statement about testing, not about cars.
All external-factor correlations (machine-readable)
| Factor | r | n areas | Low-Q fail % | High-Q fail % | Gap pp | Low-Q factor | High-Q factor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frost days (days/year) | 0.450 | 30 | 14.6 | 15.5 | +0.9 | 14.7 | 33.2 |
| Road-salt proxy (g/m²-yr) | 0.428 | 30 | 14.5 | 15.5 | +1.0 | 263 | 596.7 |
| Terrain gradient (% grade) | 0.281 | 21 | 12.4 | 15.0 | +2.6 | 0.5 | 2.7 |
| Income deprivation (score) | -0.204 | 26 | 15.5 | 14.2 | -1.3 | 0.1 | 0.2 |
| MOT centre density (per 10k vehicles) | 0.197 | 30 | 13.6 | 13.7 | +0.1 | 5 | 7.4 |
| Urban share (0–1) | -0.188 | 30 | 14.8 | 13.1 | -1.7 | 0.6 | 1 |
| Distance to coast (km) | -0.067 | 30 | 13.6 | 14.2 | +0.5 | 11.1 | 91.9 |
Deprivation uses England IMD 2019 income score only (Scotland SIMD is a different scale). Salt proxy is a simplified NWSRG-style dry-salt sum from air Tmin; coastalness is distance from the area centroid to the nearest coastline.
Every dot is a postcode area — size = how many were tested there, colour = share failing. These figures are not age-adjusted: coastal and rural areas often run older fleets and salted roads, so higher raw fail rates do not automatically mean a worse local stock of this model.
Map labels: Scotland · N. England · Wales · London · S. West. Colour scale: 11%–18% failing.
BMW X4 survival: which cars are still on the road
By age 10 is well below the reference at 5.7%, against 100.0% at the ages 4–6 reference level.
higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points
Chart axes: car age, years · survival vs ages 4–6 · scale 0–105%.
Survival vs fail rate by age
| Age | Tests | Survival vs ages 4–6 | Fail % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 15,684 | 100% | 10.87% |
| 4 | 15,237 | 100% | 11.95% |
| 5 | 13,860 | 100% | 13.65% |
| 6 | 9,774 | 75.4% | 16.3% |
| 7 | 7,754 | 59.8% | 18.84% |
| 8 | 5,549 | 42.8% | 19.91% |
| 9 | 2,819 | 21.8% | 20.11% |
| 10 | 743 | 5.7% | 18.03% |
By age 10, only about 6% as many cars of this family present for MOT as at ages 4–6 (reference n≈12,957); survivors still fail at 18.0% vs 11.9% at age 4. Older cars that still appear are a selected subset — weaker ones have already left.
How many miles does a BMW X4 last?
100,000+ miles stands out at 3.6%.
higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points
| Odometer | Tests ≥ threshold | Share of sample |
|---|---|---|
| 100,000+ miles | 2,542 | 3.56% |
Of 71,497 tests of this family with a usable odometer in 2024, 3.6% had reached 100k miles. This is a cross-section of cars still presenting for MOT, not a full birth cohort.
How many years is a BMW X4 likely to last?
Bought at age 5 is highest at 2.6 years; Bought at age 10 is lowest at 0.5 years — the gap is 2.1 years.
bigger number = longer remaining lifeyears on the observed survival curve
| Age now | Typical mileage (p50) | Expected years left |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | — | 2.6 |
| 8 | — | at least 1.1 |
| 10 | — | at least 0.5 |
estimateEstimate only — not a warranty: a typical 10-year-old example of this family has at least 0.5 expected years of further MOT-present life. The curve is observed only until age 10, so the true figure is likely higher.
BMW X4 faults that come together
Steering + Suspension stand out at 7.81×, against 1.00× if the faults were independent.
above 1.0× = more than expectedbelow 1.0× = less
| Group A | Group B | Together | Lift |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steering | Suspension | 22 | 7.81× (rough estimate) |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Road Wheels | 30 | 6.85× (rough estimate) |
| Road Wheels | Suspension | 28 | 5.21× (rough estimate) |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Noise, emissions and leaks | 32 | 4.9× (rough estimate) |
| Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | Visibility | 27 | 4.89× (rough estimate) |
| Identification of the vehicle | Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 27 | 4.62× (rough estimate) |
| Brakes | Road Wheels | 24 | 4.48× (rough estimate) |
| Brakes | Noise, emissions and leaks | 35 | 4.38× (rough estimate) |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Suspension | 119 | 4.18× (rough estimate) |
| Road Wheels | Visibility | 42 | 4.08× (rough estimate) |
| Road Wheels | Tyres | 55 | 3.95× (rough estimate) |
| Brakes | Tyres | 342 | 3.78× (rough estimate) |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Visibility | 201 | 3.68× (rough estimate) |
| Brakes | Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 103 | 3.62× (rough estimate) |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | Suspension | 29 | 3.62× (rough estimate) |
| Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | Tyres | 26 | 3.48× (rough estimate) |
| Steering | Tyres | 25 | 3.42× (rough estimate) |
| Brakes | Suspension | 114 | 3.27× (rough estimate) |
| Body, chassis, structure | Visibility | 20 | 3.27× (rough estimate) |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Tyres | 239 | 3.24× (rough estimate) |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | Tyres | 65 | 3.13× (rough estimate) |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | Visibility | 48 | 3.13× (rough estimate) |
| Identification of the vehicle | Tyres | 58 | 3.12× (rough estimate) |
| Brakes | Identification of the vehicle | 22 | 3.07× (rough estimate) |
| Identification of the vehicle | Visibility | 42 | 3.06× (rough estimate) |
| Brakes | Visibility | 199 | 2.98× (rough estimate) |
| Suspension | Visibility | 188 | 2.81× (rough estimate) |
| Tyres | Visibility | 438 | 2.52× (rough estimate) |
| Suspension | Tyres | 213 | 2.35× (rough estimate) |
| Body, chassis, structure | Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 18 | too few (rough estimate) |
| Identification of the vehicle | Suspension | 16 | too few (rough estimate) |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Steering | 14 | too few (rough estimate) |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | 14 | too few (rough estimate) |
| Brakes | Steering | 14 | too few (rough estimate) |
| Body, chassis, structure | Tyres | 14 | too few (rough estimate) |
| Brakes | Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | 13 | too few (rough estimate) |
| Body, chassis, structure | Suspension | 13 | too few (rough estimate) |
| Steering | Visibility | 12 | too few (rough estimate) |
| Body, chassis, structure | Brakes | 9 | too few (rough estimate) |
| Identification of the vehicle | Noise, emissions and leaks | 8 | too few (rough estimate) |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | Road Wheels | 7 | too few (rough estimate) |
| Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | Suspension | 7 | too few (rough estimate) |
| Body, chassis, structure | Noise, emissions and leaks | 6 | too few (rough estimate) |
Defects in «Steering» and «Suspension» appear together 7.81× more often than chance (22 co-occurrences in the same test; 78 pairs compared).
Lift = how many times more often both groups appear on the same test than if independent. A pair is listed from 5 tests with both faults; the lift is shown from 20, and called above chance only when its 95% interval excludes 1 (see rough estimates).
Is low mileage better for a BMW X4?
Cars driven under 5,000 miles a year is well below the reference at 10.4%, against 16.1% for cars driven 8,000–12,000 miles a year.
higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points
| Band | Fail % | Tests |
|---|---|---|
| <5k miles/year | 10.42% | 2,650 |
| 8–12k miles/year | 16.08% | 13,035 |
| Gap (low − normal) | -5.67 pp | — |
By fuel and age
Diesel
| Age | Low-use fail % | n | Normal fail % | n | Gap pp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 10.16 | 1,092 | 13.8 | 5,225 | -3.63 pp |
| 6 | 9.7 | 804 | 16.94 | 4,139 | -7.23 pp |
| 7 | 13.18 | 569 | 20.27 | 3,404 | -7.09 pp |
| 8 | 12.17 | 378 | 20.94 | 2,584 | -8.77 pp |
| 9 | 15.38 | 182 | 20.06 | 1,356 | -4.67 pp |
| 10 | 9.43 | 53 | 19.33 | 357 | -9.89 pp |
Petrol
| Age | Low-use fail % | n | Normal fail % | n | Gap pp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 5.65 | 177 | 10.81 | 259 | -5.16 pp |
At matched ages 5–14, cars averaging under 5k miles/year fail at 10.4% vs 16.1% for 8–12k miles/year — 5.7 pp lower (n_low=2,650, n_normal=13,035). In this family low annual use is associated with fewer MOT fails, not more — the ‘garage queen’ penalty is not visible in overall fail rates. Diesel alone: 10.7% low-use vs 16.3% normal (-5.6 pp).
Best year for a BMW X4, and the years to avoid
Build year 2015 is highest at 108.5; Build year 2018 is lowest at 90.9 — the gap is 17.6 points.
below 100 is betterabove 100 is worse100 = normal for this model at that age
build year vs the same model at the same age · 100 = as expected
Every build year with its confidence interval
| Build year | vs own age norm | 95% CI | Raw fail % | Tests | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 107.7 | 97.8–117.6 | 11.9% | 3,848 | no different |
| 2019 | 92.8 | 87.9–97.8 | 10.91% | 12,332 | better |
| 2018 | 90.9 | 85.2–96.5 | 11.62% | 8,486 | better |
| 2017 | 95.7 | 90.9–100.6 | 13.29% | 11,340 | no different |
| 2016 | 107.2 | 103.1–111.2 | 16.17% | 16,606 | worse |
| 2015 | 108.5 | 104.1–113 | 18.09% | 12,618 | worse |
| 2014 | 105.5 | 98.4–112.6 | 18.69% | 4,510 | no different |
The best build year here is 2018 and the weakest is 2015. Comparing build years sounds simple and is not: within a single year of testing, a car's build year and its age are the same number, so a naive comparison of years is a comparison of ages wearing a disguise. Each year below is measured against the same model at the same age in other cohorts, across six years of testing — 4 of 7 years come out distinguishable from their own model's age norm.
Two limits worth knowing before you act on this. Age, test year and build year are locked together by arithmetic, so the test-year effect is taken from the observed national failure level of each year rather than estimated — it is an adjustment, not a solution.
BMW X4 MOT repair costs
The MOT-failure repair budget per test runs from £19.22 to £36.52, against £54.85 for the test itself.
bigger number = costs morepounds per test, MOT-failing faults only
| Component | Fails per 100 tests | Typical repair | Its price | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tyres | 8.1 (nat. 8.7) | Tyre (single mid-range 16" fitted) | £90 | £7.29 |
| Suspension | 2.5 (nat. 15.36) | Suspension coil spring (single corner) | £180 | £4.50 |
| Brakes | 2.9 (nat. 11.25) | Front brake pads (parts + labour, typical hatchback) | £150 | £4.35 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 2.2 (nat. 18.09) | Battery replacement (standard 12V lead-acid) | £140 | £3.08 |
Multiply how often each component fails on this model by what that repair usually costs, and you get the amount an owner should expect to budget per test for MOT-failing faults only — roughly £19 to £37, on top of the test fee itself. It is a budgeting figure, not a quote: the spread between a set of pads and a set of discs is most of the range.
Prices are modal quotes from a hand-kept catalogue of published UK garage guides — we do not scrape the booking sites, their terms forbid it, so this list is short and updated by hand with a source and date against each line. Each line prices one typical repair in that group, not a full remedy, and only groups our catalogue actually covers are counted. The contrast worth noticing is the second card: the legal maximum for the test has been £54.85 since 2010, while the repairs it uncovers have followed inflation the whole time.
For scale from a different direction: Warrantywise, which sees used-car warranty claims rather than test failures, puts the average claim at £2,052 across the ten highest-claim models it ranks and £539 for Honda, the lowest-claim make in its index (Warrantywise index 2026, 1.6 million claims, cars aged 3–15). Those sit an order of magnitude above the figures in this table, and the gap is the point: a warranty claim is a gearbox or an engine, which almost never fails an MOT, while the faults that do fail one are corrosion, lamps and tyres, which no warranty pays for. The two numbers answer different questions and neither replaces the other.
BMW X4 running costs for a fleet
Vehicles failing at age 10 stand out at 18.0%, against 13.0% at age 5, tested in the same year.
higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points
Failure rate and typical odometer by age
| Age | Fails | Median odometer | Tests | Gap vs age 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 10.19% | 27,242 | 1,678 | -2.4 pp |
| 4 | 11.04% | 33,640 | 1,903 | -1.6 pp |
| 5 | 12.62% | 41,724 | 4,049 | +0.0 pp |
| 6 | 12.67% | 53,006 | 2,028 | +0.1 pp |
| 7 | 18.58% | 60,191 | 2,147 | +6.0 pp |
| 8 | 18.7% | 70,369 | 2,695 | +6.1 pp |
| 9 | 20.1% | 79,495 | 2,065 | +7.5 pp |
| 10 | 18.03% | 83,645 | 743 | +5.4 pp |
The number a fleet manager needs is not the failure rate, it is the year the car starts costing more. Between cars aged 6 and cars aged 7, both tested in 2024, the failure rate of this model is 5.91 percentage points higher — the steepest one-year step in this cross-section of different cars, and a natural planning point for replacement.
Repair spend uses the same modal prices as the section above, so it inherits the same limits: one typical repair per component group, not a full remedy. Downtime is the gap between the failed test and the passed re-test, which is the window a vehicle is legally off the road.
BMW X4 rust problems: where they corrode
Age-standardised corrosion susceptibility is well below the reference at <0.1×, against 1.00× for the national age-standardised rate.
above 1.0× = rusts more than averagebelow 1.0× = rusts less
This BMW X4 virtually never fails on corrosion once age is held constant, and its owners live in areas that are about typical for the models we publish. Both point the same way and reinforce each other: it resists corrosion even though its owners live in saltier areas than most.
Corrosion is the one failure mode that is as much about geography as about the car. We keep the two apart on purpose: a model can look rusty simply because it is popular in Scotland, and a model can look clean simply because it is bought in Surrey. Blending them into a single score would hide which of the two is doing the work.
Exposure is this model's tests weighted by an area corrosion index built from frost days, salt load and distance to the coast — the composite validated at r = 0.42 against corrosion defects we actually record. It is published as a rank, not a raw score, because every mainstream model skews towards low-corrosion areas for the simple reason that most of Britain's cars are in the south. Susceptibility is standardised to the national age profile, so an old fleet does not get labelled a rusty model.
Does a BMW X4 advisory become a failure?
Suspension is highest at 8.8%; Non-component advisories are lowest at 0.0% — the gap is 8.8 percentage points.
higher = more likelypercentage is the observed transition probability
chance the same component fails at the next MOT, given an advisory now
| Component | Fails next time | Typical lead time | Miles of warning | Advisories tracked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Suspension | 8.8% | 12.1 months | 9,908 | 1,076 |
| Tyres | 7.7% | 12 months | 8,035 | 10,471 |
| Brakes | 4.8% | 12 months | 7,356 | 6,246 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 1.3% | 12.2 months | 9,358 | 528 |
| Non-component advisories | 0.0% | — | — | 4,421 |
This is the question an advisory note actually raises, and it needs six years of test history to answer. We followed the same vehicles from one MOT to the next across 2019–2024 and measured how often a component that was merely advised came back as a genuine failure at the next test.
Read it as a budgeting horizon, not a prophecy: the most likely component above turns into a failure for about 9 in 100 cars, and the median gap is 12.1 months and roughly 9,908 miles. The rest were repaired, sold, scrapped, or simply held. Rows with fewer than 500 tracked advisories are not shown.
What will fail next on a BMW X4?
Visibility after a advisory at age 9-11 is highest at 8.8%; Brakes after a passed at age <3 are lowest at 1.2% — the gap is 7.6 percentage points.
higher = more likelypercentage is the observed transition probability
| Age | Last test | Most likely next failures | Cars tracked |
|---|---|---|---|
| <3 | passed | Tyres 4.7% · Visibility 2.9% · Brakes 1.2% | 7,098 |
| <3 | advisory | Tyres 5.7% · Visibility 4.0% · Brakes 2.1% | 2,192 |
| <3 | failure | Tyres 6.5% · Visibility 3.9% · Brakes 2.5% | 1,084 |
| 3-5 | passed | Tyres 4.9% · Visibility 3.7% · Suspension 1.9% | 19,790 |
| 3-5 | advisory | Tyres 6.8% · Visibility 5.9% · Brakes 3.2% | 7,836 |
| 3-5 | failure | Tyres 7.0% · Visibility 5.5% · Brakes 3.1% | 4,207 |
| 6-8 | passed | Visibility 5.0% · Tyres 4.7% · Suspension 4.6% | 6,380 |
| 6-8 | advisory | Tyres 7.9% · Visibility 7.0% · Suspension 6.3% | 3,546 |
| 6-8 | failure | Visibility 7.9% · Tyres 7.0% · Suspension 6.6% | 2,442 |
| 9-11 | passed | Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 4.5% · Tyres 4.5% | 112 (rough estimate) |
| 9-11 | advisory | Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 8.8% · Tyres 8.8% · Visibility 8.8% | 57 (rough estimate) |
The same chains, cut differently: given a car's age and how its last test went, which component most often causes trouble at the following one.
The pattern that repeats across every family: a failure at one test roughly doubles the chance of a failure on the same component at the next one, and an advisory sits about half-way between a clean pass and a failure. Age bands in years; probabilities are per car, not per defect item.
BMW X4 ownership: what six years of MOTs show
The ten-day re-test pass rate is highest at 61.5%; The later re-test pass rate is lowest at 2.5% — the gap is 59.0 percentage points.
higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points
Failing is usually a same-week event, not a disaster. Of 7,995 failures followed through to their re-test, 36.05% were repaired and passed the same day and 61.49% within ten days; the median gap is 1 day. 12,850 defect items were cleared in the process.
Per mile driven, not per year. Dividing failures by the miles that actually went onto the odometers between consecutive tests gives 0.183 failures per 10,000 miles, on a median of 7,616 miles a year across 15,741 chains. This is the number to compare between models — an annual rate quietly rewards cars that barely leave the drive.
Two populations hide inside one model. 50.61% of these cars strung together three or more tests with nothing recorded at all, while 10.56% carried the same advisory three times or more — the same fault, noted, ignored, noted again. When you buy used you are buying one of those two histories, and the MOT record shows which.
Odometer anomalies: 0.521% of 15,749 chains show a reading lower than the previous test, with a median drop of 15,740 miles. We call this an anomaly and not fraud on purpose — instrument swaps, imports, unit mix-ups and keying errors all land in the same bucket. Obvious typos (drops under 100 miles or over 90% of the reading) are already excluded.
BMW X4 safety recalls and how to check yours
DVSA recall campaigns stand out at 24.
bigger number = more recorded casescompare like-for-like scope, not sample size alone
recall campaigns launched per year
| Reference | Launched | Vehicles | Concern |
|---|---|---|---|
R/2026/054 | 02/03/2026 | 4 | Replace the Engine Starter Motor |
R/2025/349 | 18/12/2025 | 87 | Takata Driver and/or Passenger Airbag Recall (Global VINs) |
R/2025/405 | 27/10/2025 | 3,389 | Replace the Engine Starter Motor |
R/2024/403 | 21/10/2024 | 4,728 | Check Driver’s Airbag for Conversion Takata SDI & PSDI-5 |
R/2023/355 | 20/12/2023 | 46 | On affected vehicles the three screws connecting the electric motor to the steering gear a |
All 24 campaigns
| Reference | Launched | Build dates | Vehicles | Concern |
|---|---|---|---|---|
R/2026/054 | 02/03/2026 | 26/04/2021 – 06/10/2022 | 4 | Replace the Engine Starter Motor |
R/2025/349 | 18/12/2025 | 22/05/2014 – 21/10/2017 | 87 | Takata Driver and/or Passenger Airbag Recall (Global VINs) |
R/2025/405 | 27/10/2025 | 12/12/2017 – 15/12/2020 | 3,389 | Replace the Engine Starter Motor |
R/2024/403 | 21/10/2024 | 06/03/2014 – 07/11/2017 | 4,728 | Check Driver’s Airbag for Conversion Takata SDI & PSDI-5 |
R/2023/355 | 20/12/2023 | 30/08/2023 – 25/09/2023 | 46 | On affected vehicles the three screws connecting the electric motor to the steering gear a |
R/2023/354 | 20/12/2023 | 02/03/2023 – 02/03/2023 | 26 | On affected vehicles ingress of transmission fluid may occur to the integrated transmissio |
R/2024/156 | 20/10/2023 | 11/08/2023 – 25/08/2023 | 33 | Checking potential vehicle damage |
R/2023/016 | 24/01/2023 | 31/03/2016 – 30/08/2017 | 3,122 | A possible degradation of the propellant tablets could lead to an over-aggressive combusti |
R/2022/255 | 22/08/2022 | 25/10/2017 – 28/10/2021 | 322,745 | Undetected EGR System leaks may cause thermal activity in the intake manifold |
R/2022/255 | 22/08/2022 | 31/05/2014 – 06/03/2018 | 322,745 | Undetected EGR System leaks may cause thermal activity in the intake manifold |
R/2022/206 | 01/08/2022 | 19/09/2018 – 19/09/2018 | 319,399 | THE EXHAUST GAS RECIRCULATION COOLER MAY LEAK OVER TIME AND CAUSE THERMAL INCIDENT |
R/2022/206 | 01/08/2022 | 06/03/2014 – 02/03/2018 | 319,399 | THE EXHAUST GAS RECIRCULATION COOLER MAY LEAK OVER TIME AND CAUSE THERMAL INCIDENT |
R/2022/084 | 28/03/2022 | 19/04/2018 – 26/03/2019 | 6,401 | THE OBD SOFTWARE COULD MISINTERPRET CERTAIN INPUT PARAMETERS FOR THE ENGINE MANGEMENT SYST |
R/2021/213 | 14/06/2021 | 03/04/2017 – 02/03/2018 | 18,330 | THE EXHAUST GAS RECIRCULATION MODULE COULD LEAK OVER TIME |
R/2021/037 | 09/02/2021 | 12/12/2017 – 16/10/2018 | 63,888 | THE EXHAUST GAS RECIRCULATION COOLER COULD LEAK OVER TIME |
R/2021/037 | 09/02/2021 | 31/05/2014 – 06/03/2018 | 63,888 | THE EXHAUST GAS RECIRCULATION COOLER COULD LEAK OVER TIME |
R/2021/015 | 25/01/2021 | 02/06/2020 – 11/11/2020 | 388 | THE BATTERY CABLES ON THE 48V STARTER GENERATOR MAY NOT HAVE BEEN SUFFICIENTLY SECURED DUR |
R/2020/120 | 22/04/2020 | 15/01/2020 – 17/02/2020 | 326 | THE CABLE LENGTHS FOR THE ELECTRIC CONNECTION OF THE HALL SENSOR INSIDE THE SEATBELT BUCKL |
R/2019/377 | 03/10/2019 | 26/08/2019 – 05/09/2019 | 13 | FRONT AXLE SWIVEL BEARINGS NOT PRODUCED TO SPECIFICATION |
R/2018/341 | 07/12/2018 | 05/12/2013 – 29/05/2017 | 225,449 | EXHAUST GAS RECIRCULATION MODULE COOLER COULD LEAK |
R/2018/258 | 05/11/2018 | 31/05/2015 – 30/06/2017 | 153,602 | EXHAUST GAS RECIRCULATION COOLER COULD POTENTIALLY LEAK OVER TIME |
R/2018/220 | 10/08/2018 | 16/04/2018 – 08/06/2018 | 1,032 | PISTONS IN REAR BRAKE CALIPERS MAY NOT BE COATED TO SPECIFICATIONS |
R/2018/099 | 16/04/2018 | 16/08/2017 – 21/01/2018 | 1,752 | RESTRICTED FUEL SUPPLY COULD CAUSE ENGINE TO STALL |
R/2016/179 | 06/06/2016 | 01/08/2010 – 15/04/2016 | 45,154 | ISOFIX CHILD RESTRAINT SYSTEM MAY BECOME INSECURE |
DVSA lists 24 safety recall campaigns for the BMW X4, covering roughly 1,875,946 vehicles in total. A recall is the manufacturer fixing a fault for free, so an open recall on your car costs nothing to clear.
Counter-intuitive, and measured on our own data: across the 25 families published here, more recalls go with a lower MOT Risk Index (r = −0.52). Heavily recalled models are not worse cars in the test bay — an active manufacturer removes the fault before it becomes an MOT failure.
Check whether a specific car has an outstanding recall — free, by registration — at DVSA's recall service. Source: DVSA vehicle safety recalls (check-vehicle-recalls.service.gov.uk), OGL.
BMW X4 technical service bulletins: what dealers are told
US market, BMW X4 and its variants, model years 2015–2022 only. A count of bulletins, not a UK failure rate.
NHTSA manufacturer communications are 505.
bigger number = more recorded dealer communicationsnot affected vehicles or confirmed faults
These are the issues the manufacturer fixes quietly: service communications sent to dealers without a public recall campaign. They show what the service network has been told even when the issue never became news.
United States · NHTSA manufacturer communications
| Communication year | Bulletins | Leading subjects across all years |
|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 10 |
|
| 2015 | 33 | |
| 2016 | 44 | |
| 2017 | 32 | |
| 2018 | 48 | |
| 2019 | 67 | |
| 2020 | 75 | |
| 2021 | 66 | |
| 2022 | 50 | |
| 2023 | 37 | |
| 2024 | 20 | |
| 2025 | 10 | |
| 2026 | 13 |
Caveat worth stating plainly: this is NHTSA data about US-specification cars. British cars sold under the same name often use different gearboxes, engines and equipment, so a bulletin may describe a component that was never fitted here. The file counts dealer communications, not affected vehicles or confirmed failures, and it cannot tell you whether an individual UK car has the issue. A communication can carry more than one subject tag, so topic counts do not have to add up to the total. Source: NHTSA Manufacturer Communications API (US-market vehicles; queried model years 2015-2022). Licence: U.S. Government work / public domain · retrieved 2026-09-25.
BMW X4 owner complaints: what goes wrong
US market, BMW X4 and its variants, model years 2015–2022 only. A count of owner complaints, not a UK failure rate; NHTSA has no UK denominator.
Lamps & electrical are highest at 28; Suspension is lowest at 6 — the gap is 22.
bigger number = more recorded casescompare like-for-like scope, not sample size alone
| Component | Complaints | Share | MOT fail items per 100 | MOT rank | Agreement |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lamps & electrical | 28 | 36.4% | 2.2 | #5 | complained about, fails occasionally |
| Engine (not MOT-tested) | 26 | 33.8% | not in top 6 | — | complained about, rarely an MOT failure |
| Brakes | 12 | 15.6% | 2.9 | #3 | complained about and fails often |
| Transmission (not MOT-tested) | 11 | 14.3% | not in top 6 | — | complained about, rarely an MOT failure |
| Restraints | 10 | 13.0% | not in top 6 | — | complained about, rarely an MOT failure |
| Suspension | 6 | 7.8% | 2.5 | #4 | complained about, fails occasionally |
Two different populations answering two different questions: the MOT records what an inspector can measure once a year, the complaint file records what annoyed or frightened an owner on the road. A component high in one column and absent from the other is the interesting case — driver-assistance and electronics dominate complaints while almost never appearing as an MOT failure item.
What the reports actually say
Vehicle was involved in a collision with right/ passenger front and side of vehicle. whole bumper knocked off. left front tire broke off during collision. Passenger side curtain air bag deployed. Stirring air bag did not deploy nor did the curtain airbag on driver side. Passenger injured with broken nose and face injury during collision.
VEHICLE WAS SET WITH INCORRECT REAR CAMBER/ALIGNMENT/TOE-IN LEADING TO VERY PREMATURE INSIDE EDGE REAR TIRE WEAR WITH BOTH REAR TIRES. THIS CREATES UNSAFE HANDLING CONDITIONS, PREMATURE TIRE WEAR, AND A SAFETY CONCERNS WHEN TIRES FAIL.
US owners have filed 77 complaints about the equivalent BMW X4 to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, including 6 that mention a crash, 3 a fire and 1 an injury. These are owner reports, not verified findings — but they are the only large public record of what drivers themselves notice, and they cover the years between MOT tests.
Caveat worth stating plainly: US-specification cars, self-selected reporters, no denominator — complaint counts scale with how many cars were sold there and how motivated owners are to file. The mechanical gap matters as much as the statistical one: American cars of the same name often carry different gearboxes, engines and equipment — automatics where Britain buys manuals — so a drivetrain complaint filed in Ohio may describe a part that was never fitted here. Read the ranking inside a model, not between models, and treat drivetrain entries with particular caution. Source: NHTSA ODI consumer complaints (US market, public domain) — US-spec vehicles, indicative only.
BMW X4 inspection results in other countries
Netherlands APK is well below the reference at 25.3%, against 50.8% nationally.
higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points
| Country | Test | This model fails | National average | Position | Sample |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | MOT (class 4) | 14.97% | 26.01% | -11 pp | 17,419 |
| Netherlands | APK | 25.3% | 50.8% | -25.5 pp | 1,844 |
| Finland | Katsastus | 19.4% | 26.3% | -6.9 pp | 793 |
| Norway | PKK | 28.4% | 33.7% | -5.3 pp | 701 |
The verdict is consistent across every regime where the difference is clear, which is the strongest form this comparison takes: independent inspectorates, different rulebooks, same direction of travel.
| Code | Fault | Recorded | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
210 | Tyre pressure not at the correct value | 235 | failure |
205 | Tyre with insufficient tread | 139 | failure |
516 | Dipped headlight incorrectly aimed | 103 | failure |
AC1 | Tyre down to 1.6–2.5 mm of tread | 99 | advisory |
AC5 | Mechanical brake parts showing wear | 54 | advisory |
391 | Wipers leave insufficient visibility | 37 | failure |
203 | Tyre damaged | 27 | failure |
224 | Spring broken or cracked | 15 | failure |
Worth dwelling on how mundane the top of that list is: tyre pressure, tread depth, headlight aim. The Dutch APK records 0.482 defects per inspection against a much higher national failure rate than Britain's, and the reason is not that Dutch cars are worse — it is that the two regimes draw the line between "note it" and "fail it" in different places. Codes are the RDW's own; the English wording here is our translation of the Dutch original.
Britain is not the only country that inspects every car every year, and the BMW X4 is on the road in all of them. Each national regime writes its own rules, so the pass rates below are not comparable to each other — what does travel across a border is whether a model sits above or below its own country's average.
Rows with fewer than 500 inspections are not published. Sources: RDW open data — Meldingen Keuringsinstantie + Geconstateerde Gebreken + Gekentekende voertuigen (2024), CC0. Not an RDW endorsement.; Traficom — Periodic inspections of cars by model / by model and fault object 2024, CC BY 4.0; Statens vegvesen — Periodisk kjøretøykontroll (PKK) 2024, CC BY 4.0. Adapted; licences and full notice.
BMW X4 MOT: quick answers
BMW X4 MOT Risk Index is well below the reference at 79.7, against 100 for a car with the same age profile.
below 100 is betterabove 100 is worse100 = normal for this model at that age
- What is the BMW X4 first-time MOT pass rate?
- 85.03% of first attempts passed in 2024 (17,419 tests). This is the first-time figure: retests after repair are excluded. Basis: first-time, excluding retests.
- Why does this number differ from other sites?
- Other sites often report a pass rate that includes retests or counts all attempts. Our 14.97% figure is the first-time initial failure rate, using 17,419 primary tests as the denominator (first-time, excluding retests). The age-adjusted MOT initial-failure ratio 79.7 is shown separately because raw rates compare fleet age as well as cars.
Compare the BMW X4 with other cars
Honda CR-V is highest at 80.3; BMW X4 is lowest at 79.7 — the gap is 0.6 points.
below 100 is betterabove 100 is worse100 = normal for this model at that age
Same brand
All BMW MOT statisticsBMW 3 Series MOT statsBMW X3 MOT stats
Similar risk
Suzuki Vitara (index 79.9)Toyota Prius (index 80.0)Honda CR-V (index 80.3)
Same size class
how Toyota Estima compareshow Audi A7 compareshow Jaguar I-Pace compares
By build year
BMW X4 2014BMW X4 2015BMW X4 2016BMW X4 2017BMW X4 2018BMW X4 2019BMW X4 2020
By area
BMW X4 MOT failure rate by postcode area
By failure group
BMW X4 body, chassis and structure failuresBMW X4 brakes failuresBMW X4 vehicle identification failuresBMW X4 lamps, reflectors and electrics failuresBMW X4 noise, emissions and leaks failuresBMW X4 road wheels failuresBMW X4 seat belts and airbags failuresBMW X4 steering failuresBMW X4 suspension failuresBMW X4 tyres failuresBMW X4 visibility failures
Inspections abroad
BMW X4 in NorwayBMW X4 in FinlandBMW X4 in the Netherlands
Data details & how to cite
Scope: class-4 vehicles (cars), initial tests only, outcomes pass / fail / fixed-on-the-spot at the station (PRS counts towards the failure rate — the defect was present at arrival). Index = observed initial failures ÷ failures expected for this fleet's exact age profile, ×100; margin of error is a 95% confidence interval. Covers ALL generations together — a 3-year-old and a 15-year-old are very different cars; a generation split is on the roadmap. Dataset release dataset_release_id=dvsa-2024-v2, frozen baseline; headline claim_id=family-stats:bmw-x4:dvsa-2024-v2. Full method: methodology.
Cite: MOT Risk Index (2026). BMW X4 MOT statistics 2024 (data release dvsa-2024-v2; downloadable dataset motriskindex-families-2024-v5, doi:10.5281/zenodo.22975051). https://motriskindex.co.uk/cars/bmw-x4/ · Published 2026-07-30.