MOT History from tests of diesel BMW 5-SERIESs year 2003

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:68.11%

(The average a diesel BMW 5-SERIES year 2003 passes without issue)

Based on:73,977 MOT Tests

Most common failures	No# failures
Headlamp aim out of alignment	3926
Parking brake: efficiency below requirements \|3.7.B.7\|	3774
Brake pipe excessively corroded	2929
Registration plate lamp issues	1793
Rear parking brake recording little or no effort	1767
Windscreen wiper does not clear the windscreen effectively	1330
Registration plate issues	1142
Supplementary Restraint System warning lamp indicates a fault \|5.4.2\|	721
Offside Rear Anti-roll bar linkage has excessive play in a ball joint \|2.4.G.2\|	639
Nearside Rear Anti-roll bar linkage has excessive play in a ball joint \|2.4.G.2\|	625
Brake hose excessively deteriorated	585
Front Exhaust has a major leak of exhaust gases \|7.1.2\|	477
Parking brake efficiency below requirements (1.4.2 (a) (i))	381
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\|	376
Front brake disc in such a condition that it is seriously weakened	361
Offside Stop lamp not working \|1.2.1b\|	355
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\|	353
Offside Front Track rod end ball joint has excessive play \|2.2.B.1f\|	337
Nearside Front position lamp\|s\| not working \|1.1.A.3b\|	324
Offside Front position lamp\|s\| not working \|1.1.A.3b\|	319
Offside Rear Direction indicator incorrect colour \|1.4.A.2f\|	303
Nearside Stop lamp not working \|1.2.1b\|	300
Windscreen has damage	289
Offside Rear coil spring broken \|2.4.C.1a\|	282
Brakes imbalanced across an axle	280
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\|	275
Nearside Headlamp not working on dipped beam \|1.7.5a\|	275
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\|	269
Nearside Rear Direction indicator incorrect colour \|1.4.A.2f\|	267
Exhaust emits an excessive level of metered smoke for a turbo charged engine \|7.4.B.3b\|	262
Nearside Front Anti-roll bar linkage has excessive play in a ball joint \|2.4.G.2\|	247
Nearside Front Track rod end ball joint has excessive play \|2.2.B.1f\|	241
Nearside Rear coil spring broken \|2.4.C.1a\|	233
Offside Headlamp not working on dipped beam \|1.7.5a\|	231
Parking brake efficiency below requirements \|1.4.2 \|a\| \|i\|\|	230
Offside Front Anti-roll bar linkage has excessive play in a ball joint \|2.4.G.2\|	229
Offside Track rod end ball joint has excessive play \|2.2.B.1f\|	224
Nearside Rear Lower Suspension arm has excessive play in a pin/bush \|2.4.G.2\|	217
Exhaust has a major leak of exhaust gases \|7.1.2\|	213
Supplementary restraint system warning lamp indicates a fault (7.1.6 (a))	208
Nearside Rear Upper Suspension arm has excessive play in a ball joint \|2.4.G.2\|	201
Parking brake lever has no reserve travel \|3.1.6b\|	200
Offside Rear Lower Suspension arm has excessive play in a pin/bush \|2.4.G.2\|	197
Offside Rear fog lamp not working \|1.3.2b\|	182
Centre Stop lamp not working \|1.2.1b\|	177
Offside Rear Stop lamp not working \|1.2.1b\|	174
Windscreen washer not working	173
Offside Rear Upper Suspension arm has excessive play in a ball joint \|2.4.G.2\|	170
Nearside Track rod end ball joint has excessive play \|2.2.B.1f\|	169
Anti-lock braking system warning lamp indicates an ABS fault	155
Horn not loud enough to be heard by another road user \|1.6.2b\|	150
Offside Front Lower Suspension arm has excessive play in a ball joint \|2.4.G.2\|	143
Nearside Front Lower Suspension arm has excessive play in a ball joint \|2.4.G.2\|	142
Rear brake disc in such a condition that it is seriously weakened	139
Rear brake binding	137
Offside Front Front position lamp\|s\| not working \|1.1.A.3b\|	136
Nearside Rear Stop lamp not working \|1.2.1b\|	133
Nearside Rear Anti-roll bar has excessive play in a ball joint \|2.4.G.2\|	131
Nearside Front Front position lamp\|s\| not working \|1.1.A.3b\|	129
Offside Rear Anti-roll bar has excessive play in a ball joint \|2.4.G.2\|	127
Offside Front Shock absorber has a serious fluid leak \|2.7.3\|	124
Offside Headlamp aim beam image obviously incorrect \|1.8.A.1b\|	121
Nearside Rear Anti-roll bar linkage has excessive play in a pin/bush \|2.4.G.2\|	119
Offside Front Suspension arm has excessive play in a ball joint \|2.4.G.2\|	119
Offside Rear Anti-roll bar linkage has excessive play in a pin/bush \|2.4.G.2\|	117
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\|	115
Parking brake efficiency less than 50% of the required value (1.4.2 (a) (ii))	114
Nearside Front Suspension arm has excessive play in a ball joint \|2.4.G.2\|	114
Supplementary restraint system warning lamp indicates a fault \|7.1.6 \|a\|\|	113
Nearside Front Headlamp not working on dipped beam \|1.7.5a\|	112
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\|	111
Brake fluid warning lamp illuminated \|3.6.G.2\|	109
Windscreen has a sticker or other obstruction encroaching into the swept area by more than 40mm outside zone `A` \|8.3.1e\|	105
Nearside Headlamp aim beam image obviously incorrect \|1.8.A.1b\|	105
Nearside Front Shock absorber has a serious fluid leak \|2.7.3\|	103
Offside Rear Coil spring fractured or broken (5.3.1 (b) (i))	103
Horn not working \|1.6.2a\|	102
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\|	102
Offside Front Headlamp not working on dipped beam \|1.7.5a\|	101
Offside Rear passenger door cannot be opened from outside the vehicle \|6.2.B.1c\|	99
Offside Rear coil spring fractured \|2.4.C.1a\|	98
Offside Front Upper Anti-roll bar linkage ball joint dust cover excessively deteriorated so that it no longer prevents the ingress of dirt \|2.4.G.2\|	94
Exhaust emits excessive smoke or vapour of any colour \|7.4.B.4\|	92
Nearside Rear Suspension arm has excessive play in a ball joint \|2.4.G.2\|	89
Nearside Front Wheel bolt\|s\| missing \|4.2.A.1e\|	89
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\|	88
Offside Rear Direction indicators incorrect colour \|1.4.A.2f\|	86
Offside Rear Suspension arm has excessive play in a ball joint \|2.4.G.2\|	84
Offside Rear Suspension arm has excessive play in a pin/bush \|2.4.G.2\|	84
Front brake application uneven	80
Front Exhaust system not adequately supported \|7.1.1\|	79
Nearside Rear Wheel bolt\|s\| missing \|4.2.A.1e\|	79
Nearside Rear Suspension arm has excessive play in a pin/bush \|2.4.G.2\|	78
Nearside Rear coil spring fractured \|2.4.C.1a\|	77
Nearside Front Upper Anti-roll bar linkage ball joint dust cover excessively deteriorated so that it no longer prevents the ingress of dirt \|2.4.G.2\|	77
Emissions not tested \|7.0\|	76
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\|	76
Nearside Side repeater not working \|1.4.A.2c\|	74
Offside Rear position lamp\|s\| not working \|1.1.A.3b\|	74
Parking brake efficiency less than 50% of the required value \|1.4.2 \|a\| \|ii\|\|	73
Nearside Front Anti-roll bar linkage ball joint excessively worn (5.3.4 (a) (i))	73
Offside Front Anti-roll bar linkage ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt (5.3.4 (b) (ii))	72
Nearside Rear Direction indicators incorrect colour \|1.4.A.2f\|	71
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\|	71
Service brake: efficiency below requirements \|3.7.B.7\|	71

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 5-SERIESs year 2003

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