MOT History from tests of diesel BMW 3-SERIESs year 2001

Review the list of common BMW 3-SERIES failures below or to perform a specific mot history check on your BMW then use our popular KnowYourCar service

mot history

Pass percent:55.98%

(The average a diesel BMW 3-SERIES year 2001 passes without issue)

Based on:88,989 MOT Tests

Most common failures	No# failures
Headlamp aim out of alignment	7449
Parking brake: efficiency below requirements \|3.7.B.7\|	7054
Brake pipe excessively corroded	6896
Registration plate lamp issues	6869
Rear parking brake recording little or no effort	4612
Windscreen wiper does not clear the windscreen effectively	3251
Offside Rear Direction indicator incorrect colour \|1.4.A.2f\|	1709
Supplementary Restraint System warning lamp indicates a fault \|5.4.2\|	1640
Registration plate issues	1611
Nearside Rear Direction indicator incorrect colour \|1.4.A.2f\|	1600
Nearside Front Suspension arm has excessive play in a ball joint \|2.4.G.2\|	1398
Offside Front Suspension arm has excessive play in a ball joint \|2.4.G.2\|	1381
Brakes imbalanced across an axle	1133
Front Exhaust has a major leak of exhaust gases \|7.1.2\|	1034
Offside Headlamp aim beam image obviously incorrect \|1.8.A.1b\|	1030
Anti-lock braking system warning lamp indicates an ABS fault	1005
Parking brake lever has no reserve travel \|3.1.6b\|	977
Offside Front Suspension arm rubber bush deteriorated resulting in excessive movement \|2.4.G.2\|	935
Offside Front Lower Suspension arm has excessive play in a ball joint \|2.4.G.2\|	928
Nearside Front Suspension arm rubber bush deteriorated resulting in excessive movement \|2.4.G.2\|	909
Nearside Front Lower Suspension arm has excessive play in a ball joint \|2.4.G.2\|	894
Offside Rear Shock absorber has a serious fluid leak \|2.7.3\|	875
Nearside Front Anti-roll bar linkage has excessive play in a ball joint \|2.4.G.2\|	874
Nearside Headlamp aim beam image obviously incorrect \|1.8.A.1b\|	827
Offside Rear coil spring fractured \|2.4.C.1a\|	773
Nearside Front suspension has excessive play in a lower suspension ball joint \|2.5.B.1a\|	768
Offside Rear coil spring incomplete \|2.4.C.1a\|	768
Offside Front Anti-roll bar linkage has excessive play in a ball joint \|2.4.G.2\|	768
Offside Front suspension has excessive play in a lower suspension ball joint \|2.5.B.1a\|	752
Brake hose excessively deteriorated	747
Exhaust emits an excessive level of metered smoke for a turbo charged engine \|7.4.B.3b\|	738
Nearside Rear coil spring incomplete \|2.4.C.1a\|	645
Offside Stop lamp not working \|1.2.1b\|	587
Offside Front Suspension arm has excessive play in a pin/bush \|2.4.G.2\|	577
Nearside Stop lamp not working \|1.2.1b\|	568
Nearside Rear Shock absorber has a serious fluid leak \|2.7.3\|	565
Nearside Rear coil spring fractured \|2.4.C.1a\|	563
Nearside Front position lamp\|s\| not working \|1.1.A.3b\|	549
Nearside Front Suspension arm has excessive play in a pin/bush \|2.4.G.2\|	531
Exhaust has a major leak of exhaust gases \|7.1.2\|	515
Offside Front position lamp\|s\| not working \|1.1.A.3b\|	501
Offside Headlamp not in good working order adversely affecting beam image \|1.2.4a\|	489
Offside Rear Direction indicators incorrect colour \|1.4.A.2f\|	477
Nearside Rear Direction indicators incorrect colour \|1.4.A.2f\|	455
Offside Headlamp not working on dipped beam \|1.7.5a\|	450
Windscreen has damage	423
Rear brake binding	422
Nearside Headlamp not working on dipped beam \|1.7.5a\|	401
Offside Rear coil spring broken \|2.4.C.1a\|	400
Offside Front Lower Suspension arm rubber bush deteriorated resulting in excessive movement \|2.4.G.2\|	397
Front brake disc in such a condition that it is seriously weakened	397
Nearside Front Lower Suspension arm rubber bush deteriorated resulting in excessive movement \|2.4.G.2\|	373
Nearside Front Shock absorber has a serious fluid leak \|2.7.3\|	367
Nearside Headlamp not in good working order adversely affecting beam image \|1.2.4a\|	367
Front brake application uneven	353
Offside Front Anti-roll bar linkage ball joint dust cover excessively damaged so that it no longer prevents the ingress of dirt \|2.4.G.2\|	340
Nearside Rear coil spring broken \|2.4.C.1a\|	333
Offside Headlamp aim aimed so that it dazzles other road users \|1.8.A.1a\|	324
Nearside Front Front suspension has excessive play in a lower suspension ball joint \|2.5.B.1a\|	321
Offside Front Front suspension has excessive play in a lower suspension ball joint \|2.5.B.1a\|	320
Parking brake efficiency below requirements (1.4.2 (a) (i))	310
Nearside Front Anti-roll bar linkage ball joint dust cover excessively damaged so that it no longer prevents the ingress of dirt \|2.4.G.2\|	305
Offside Front Headlamp aim beam image obviously incorrect \|1.8.A.1b\|	300
Offside Front Shock absorber has a serious fluid leak \|2.7.3\|	294
Rear brake disc in such a condition that it is seriously weakened	268
Nearside Front Anti-roll bar linkage ball joint dust cover excessively deteriorated so that it no longer prevents the ingress of dirt \|2.4.G.2\|	256
Fuel system component leaking \|7.2.3\|	256
Offside Rear Stop lamp not working \|1.2.1b\|	249
Offside Front Anti-roll bar linkage ball joint dust cover excessively deteriorated so that it no longer prevents the ingress of dirt \|2.4.G.2\|	246
Nearside Front Anti-roll bar has excessive play in a ball joint \|2.4.G.2\|	246
Emissions not tested \|7.0\|	244
Nearside Front Headlamp aim beam image obviously incorrect \|1.8.A.1b\|	241
Nearside Rear Stop lamp not working \|1.2.1b\|	239
Nearside Headlamp aim aimed so that it dazzles other road users \|1.8.A.1a\|	236
Service brake: efficiency below requirements \|3.7.B.7\|	229
Offside Front Lower Suspension arm has excessive play in a pin/bush \|2.4.G.2\|	227
Offside Front Anti-roll bar has excessive play in a ball joint \|2.4.G.2\|	224
Windscreen has a sticker or other obstruction encroaching into the swept area by more than 40mm outside zone `A` \|8.3.1e\|	220
Parking brake efficiency below requirements \|1.4.2 \|a\| \|i\|\|	220
Horn not working \|1.6.2a\|	217
Rear Direction indicator incorrect colour \|1.4.A.2f\|	198
Nearside Front Lower Suspension arm has excessive play in a pin/bush \|2.4.G.2\|	188
Nearside Front Front position lamp\|s\| not working \|1.1.A.3b\|	176
Offside Front Headlamp not in good working order adversely affecting beam image \|1.2.4a\|	173
Offside Front Anti-roll bar has excessive play in a pin/bush \|2.4.G.2\|	173
Offside Front Front position lamp\|s\| not working \|1.1.A.3b\|	173
Electronic stability system warning lamp indicates a fault \|3.4.1c\|	169
Nearside Front Headlamp not working on dipped beam \|1.7.5a\|	169
Centre Exhaust has a major leak of exhaust gases \|7.1.2\|	168
Supplementary restraint system warning lamp indicates a fault (7.1.6 (a))	164
Offside Front Headlamp not working on dipped beam \|1.7.5a\|	163
Rear Direction indicators incorrect colour \|1.4.A.2f\|	161
Exhaust emits excessive smoke or vapour of any colour \|7.4.B.4\|	160
Offside Front Anti-roll bar rubber bush deteriorated resulting in excessive movement \|2.4.G.2\|	159
Exhaust system not adequately supported \|7.1.1\|	152
Offside Front Anti-roll bar linkage insecure \|2.4.G.1\|	151
Nearside Rear Wheel bolt\|s\| missing \|4.2.A.1e\|	150
Offside Front Anti-roll bar ball joint dust cover excessively damaged so that it no longer prevents the ingress of dirt \|2.4.G.2\|	150
Offside Rear position lamp\|s\| not working \|1.1.A.3b\|	147
Nearside Front Headlamp not in good working order adversely affecting beam image \|1.2.4a\|	145
Offside Front Direction indicator incorrect colour \|1.4.A.2f\|	143
Nearside Front Anti-roll bar rubber bush deteriorated resulting in excessive movement \|2.4.G.2\|	142
Nearside Front Direction indicator incorrect colour \|1.4.A.2f\|	141
Nearside Front Anti-roll bar linkage has excessive play in a pin/bush \|2.4.G.2\|	141
Nearside Front Anti-roll bar has excessive play in a pin/bush \|2.4.G.2\|	139
Nearside Front Anti-roll bar ball joint dust cover excessively damaged so that it no longer prevents the ingress of dirt \|2.4.G.2\|	139
Driver`s airbag obviously defective \|5.4.1\|	135
Offside Rear fog lamp not working \|1.3.2b\|	134
Hazard warning switch faulty \|1.4.B.1d\|	134
Nearside Rear position lamp\|s\| not working \|1.1.A.3b\|	133
Windscreen wiper blade insecure	130
Offside front brake binding \|3.7.B.1\|	130
Nearside Front Wheel bolt\|s\| missing \|4.2.A.1e\|	129
Nearside front brake binding \|3.7.B.1\|	124
Offside Front Anti-roll bar linkage has excessive play in a pin/bush \|2.4.G.2\|	122
Front Exhaust system not adequately supported \|7.1.1\|	121
Offside Front Headlamp aim aimed so that it dazzles other road users \|1.8.A.1a\|	120
Nearside Front Lower Ball joint has excessive play \|2.2.B.1f\|	119
Supplementary restraint system warning lamp indicates a fault \|7.1.6 \|a\|\|	119
Offside Front suspension has excessive movement at a wishbone pin or bush \|2.5.A.1c\|	118

We get to these numbers by trawling through over 1 billion MOT test results since 2004 and crunched the numbers. We remove anything to do with Tyres, as they are model independent and group together common non-model specific issues. We are trying to get to a picture of what models have what issues.

Please note: We take the data from the DVSA. This data is raw and can contain typos and spelling mistakes that garages may have entered while recording a MOT result. Specifically miss-match on names of models and makes. We are constantly cleaning the data so bear with the odd issue.

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MOT History from tests of diesel BMW 3-SERIESs year 2001

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