BMW · MOT reliability data
BMW 5 Series
The 5 Series is BMW's executive saloon, a long-standing favourite for higher-mileage business drivers.
BMW · MOT reliability data
The 5 Series is BMW's executive saloon, a long-standing favourite for higher-mileage business drivers.
79.7%
MOT pass rate
Executive saloon / estate
Segment
Petrol, diesel, plug-in hybrid
Fuel types available
Source: DS Auto Labs analysis of DVSA's anonymised 2025 MOT test results (Open Government Licence v3.0): 205,523 first-time tests of BMW 5 Series cars of all ages (test class 4, cars and light vans). A pass means a clean first-time pass; a car that failed and was repaired at the test station before passing counts as not passed, and aborted tests are excluded. Age is the car's age at the 2025 test.
What to know
In 2025, BMW 5 Series cars passed their MOT first time 79.7% of the time, across 205,523 tests. That is in line with BMW's overall brand average of 79.3% and 7.3 points above the national average of 72.4%.
Age explains much of the difference between models. Pass rates fall steeply as cars get older, for every make, so a model with many old cars on the road looks worse than it is, and a recent model looks better. This compares the BMW 5 Series with the typical UK car of the same age.
| Car age | BMW 5 Series | All UK cars | Tests |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3-5 years | 87.5% | 87.2% | 21,507 |
| 6-9 years | 85.9% | 79.3% | 65,035 |
| 10-13 years | 78.8% | 67.9% | 59,262 |
| 14+ years | 70.8% | 59.3% | 58,907 |
Allowing for the age mix of the cars tested, a typical UK car would be expected to pass about 71.2% of the time. The BMW 5 Series passed at 79.7%, which is 8.5 points above that expected rate.
A model average says little about one particular car, so check its own MOT history for repeated advisories, past failures and mileage.
Check a specific 5 Series's MOT history, tax status, and advisories by registration number.
Check MOT historySee how the BMW range compares overall, with model-by-model pass rates.
View BMW brand page