MOT History from tests of petrol BMW 5-SERIESs year 2001

Review the list of common BMW 5-SERIES failures below or to perform a specific mot history check on your BMW then use our popular KnowYourCar service

mot history

Pass percent:65.91%

(The average a petrol BMW 5-SERIES year 2001 passes without issue)

Based on:105,337 MOT Tests

Most common failures	No# failures
Headlamp aim out of alignment	7678
Parking brake: efficiency below requirements \|3.7.B.7\|	5999
Registration plate lamp issues	4737
Brake pipe excessively corroded	4094
Rear parking brake recording little or no effort	2913
Windscreen wiper does not clear the windscreen effectively	2484
Anti-lock braking system warning lamp indicates an ABS fault	1744
Registration plate issues	1488
Nearside Rear Anti-roll bar linkage has excessive play in a ball joint \|2.4.G.2\|	1079
Offside Rear Anti-roll bar linkage has excessive play in a ball joint \|2.4.G.2\|	1029
Exhaust emissions Lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits \|7.3.D.3\|	861
Offside Rear Direction indicator incorrect colour \|1.4.A.2f\|	698
Brake hose excessively deteriorated	696
Supplementary Restraint System warning lamp indicates a fault \|5.4.2\|	675
Offside Stop lamp not working \|1.2.1b\|	645
Nearside Front Anti-roll bar linkage has excessive play in a ball joint \|2.4.G.2\|	603
Nearside Rear Direction indicator incorrect colour \|1.4.A.2f\|	567
Front brake disc in such a condition that it is seriously weakened	548
Nearside Stop lamp not working \|1.2.1b\|	543
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\|	531
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\|	523
Centre Stop lamp not working \|1.2.1b\|	512
Nearside Front position lamp\|s\| not working \|1.1.A.3b\|	503
Brakes imbalanced across an axle	486
Offside Front position lamp\|s\| not working \|1.1.A.3b\|	405
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\|	397
Offside Front Anti-roll bar linkage has excessive play in a ball joint \|2.4.G.2\|	397
Offside Rear coil spring broken \|2.4.C.1a\|	385
Nearside Rear Lower Suspension arm has excessive play in a pin/bush \|2.4.G.2\|	381
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\|	377
Nearside Headlamp not working on dipped beam \|1.7.5a\|	373
Offside Rear Lower Suspension arm has excessive play in a pin/bush \|2.4.G.2\|	364
Offside Headlamp not working on dipped beam \|1.7.5a\|	362
Offside Rear fog lamp not working \|1.3.2b\|	360
Parking brake efficiency below requirements (1.4.2 (a) (i))	322
Windscreen has damage	320
Offside Rear Upper Suspension arm has excessive play in a ball joint \|2.4.G.2\|	317
Nearside Rear Upper Suspension arm has excessive play in a ball joint \|2.4.G.2\|	314
Offside Rear Stop lamp not working \|1.2.1b\|	305
Nearside Rear coil spring broken \|2.4.C.1a\|	300
Offside Front Lower Suspension arm has excessive play in a ball joint \|2.4.G.2\|	286
Anti-lock braking system warning lamp does not illuminate \|3.4.1b\|	278
Rear brake disc in such a condition that it is seriously weakened	264
Nearside Rear Stop lamp not working \|1.2.1b\|	261
Nearside Front Lower Suspension arm has excessive play in a ball joint \|2.4.G.2\|	256
Nearside Rear Anti-roll bar has excessive play in a ball joint \|2.4.G.2\|	244
Electronic stability system warning lamp indicates a fault \|3.4.1c\|	242
Windscreen washer not working	238
Nearside Rear Anti-roll bar linkage has excessive play in a pin/bush \|2.4.G.2\|	234
Windscreen has a sticker or other obstruction encroaching into the swept area by more than 40mm outside zone `A` \|8.3.1e\|	231
Rear brake binding	227
Offside Rear Suspension arm has excessive play in a pin/bush \|2.4.G.2\|	226
Nearside Front Suspension arm has excessive play in a ball joint \|2.4.G.2\|	222
Parking brake efficiency below requirements \|1.4.2 \|a\| \|i\|\|	219
Offside Front Suspension arm has excessive play in a ball joint \|2.4.G.2\|	217
Offside Rear Anti-roll bar has excessive play in a ball joint \|2.4.G.2\|	216
Offside Rear Anti-roll bar linkage has excessive play in a pin/bush \|2.4.G.2\|	209
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\|	208
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\|	204
Offside Rear Direction indicators incorrect colour \|1.4.A.2f\|	197
Offside Rear coil spring fractured \|2.4.C.1a\|	196
Nearside Rear Suspension arm has excessive play in a pin/bush \|2.4.G.2\|	193
Parking brake lever has no reserve travel \|3.1.6b\|	185
Nearside Front Upper Anti-roll bar linkage ball joint dust cover excessively damaged so that it no longer prevents the ingress of dirt \|2.4.G.2\|	183
Offside Front Track rod end ball joint has excessive play \|2.2.B.1f\|	181
Offside Side repeater incorrect colour \|1.4.A.2f\|	177
Offside Front Upper Anti-roll bar linkage ball joint dust cover excessively damaged so that it no longer prevents the ingress of dirt \|2.4.G.2\|	176
Nearside Front Front position lamp\|s\| not working \|1.1.A.3b\|	175
Nearside Headlamp insecure \|1.7.3\|	173
Nearside Rear Suspension arm has excessive play in a ball joint \|2.4.G.2\|	172
Nearside Steering rack gaiter split \|2.2.D.2d\|	171
Offside Front Headlamp not working on dipped beam \|1.7.5a\|	167
Exhaust emissions carbon monoxide content after 2nd fast idle excessive \|7.3.D.3\|	160
Offside Rear coil spring incomplete \|2.4.C.1a\|	155
Offside Front Front position lamp\|s\| not working \|1.1.A.3b\|	153
Nearside Rear Wheel bolt\|s\| missing \|4.2.A.1e\|	152
Nearside Rear Direction indicators incorrect colour \|1.4.A.2f\|	151
Nearside Headlamp aim beam image obviously incorrect \|1.8.A.1b\|	151
Offside Front Anti-roll bar ball joint dust cover excessively deteriorated so that it no longer prevents the ingress of dirt \|2.4.G.2\|	150
Offside Rear Suspension arm has excessive play in a ball joint \|2.4.G.2\|	150
Nearside Front Anti-roll bar has excessive play in a ball joint \|2.4.G.2\|	150
Nearside Front Headlamp not working on dipped beam \|1.7.5a\|	147
Offside Track rod end ball joint has excessive play \|2.2.B.1f\|	143
Offside Front Shock absorber has a serious fluid leak \|2.7.3\|	142
Nearside Front Shock absorber has a serious fluid leak \|2.7.3\|	142
Nearside Front Track rod end ball joint has excessive play \|2.2.B.1f\|	140
Nearside Front Wheel bolt\|s\| missing \|4.2.A.1e\|	139
Nearside Rear coil spring fractured \|2.4.C.1a\|	137
Centre Rear Stop lamp not working \|1.2.1b\|	136
Nearside Front Anti-roll bar ball joint dust cover excessively deteriorated so that it no longer prevents the ingress of dirt \|2.4.G.2\|	132
Exhaust emissions carbon monoxide content at idle excessive \|7.3.D.4\|	130
Offside Headlamp aim beam image obviously incorrect \|1.8.A.1b\|	129
Offside Headlamp insecure \|1.7.3\|	128
Offside Rear brake disc excessively pitted \|3.5.1h\|	127
Engine MIL inoperative or indicates a malfunction (8.2.1.2 (h))	126
Front brake application uneven	121
Nearside Rear brake disc excessively pitted \|3.5.1h\|	118
Nearside Track rod end ball joint has excessive play \|2.2.B.1f\|	114
Nearside Side repeater incorrect colour \|1.4.A.2f\|	113
Offside Front suspension has excessive play in a lower suspension ball joint \|2.5.B.1a\|	111
Supplementary restraint system warning lamp indicates a fault (7.1.6 (a))	111
Offside Rear Coil spring fractured or broken (5.3.1 (b) (i))	111
Service brake: efficiency below requirements \|3.7.B.7\|	108

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.

Got suggestions? We’re improving this section all the time. If you have any suggestions, please let us know.

MOT History from tests of petrol BMW 5-SERIESs year 2001

Find us on Facebook