MOT History from tests of diesel BMW 5-SERIESs year 2008

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:77.58%

(The average a diesel BMW 5-SERIES year 2008 passes without issue)

Based on:155,250 MOT Tests

Most common failures	No# failures
Headlamp aim out of alignment	5947
Registration plate lamp issues	1752
Windscreen wiper does not clear the windscreen effectively	1720
Registration plate issues	1516
Offside Front position lamp\|s\| not working \|1.1.A.3b\|	972
Nearside Front position lamp\|s\| not working \|1.1.A.3b\|	955
Parking brake: efficiency below requirements \|3.7.B.7\|	880
Parking brake efficiency below requirements (1.4.2 (a) (i))	821
Nearside Front Anti-roll bar linkage ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt (5.3.4 (b) (ii))	819
Offside Front Anti-roll bar linkage ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt (5.3.4 (b) (ii))	794
Offside Headlamp not working on dipped beam \|1.7.5a\|	619
Nearside Front Position lamp not working (4.2.1 (a) (ii))	613
Nearside Headlamp not working on dipped beam \|1.7.5a\|	594
Offside Front Track rod end ball joint has excessive play \|2.2.B.1f\|	583
Offside Front Position lamp not working (4.2.1 (a) (ii))	545
Nearside Side repeater not working \|1.4.A.2c\|	536
Offside Side repeater not working \|1.4.A.2c\|	478
Offside Rear Coil spring fractured or broken (5.3.1 (b) (i))	452
Nearside Front Front position lamp\|s\| not working \|1.1.A.3b\|	445
Brake hose excessively deteriorated	430
Offside Front Track rod end ball joint has excessive play (2.1.3 (b) (i))	428
Nearside Front Upper Anti-roll bar linkage ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt (5.3.4 (b) (ii))	423
Offside Front Upper Anti-roll bar linkage ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt (5.3.4 (b) (ii))	403
Rear parking brake recording little or no effort	400
Offside Front Front position lamp\|s\| not working \|1.1.A.3b\|	383
Nearside Front Track rod end ball joint has excessive play \|2.2.B.1f\|	380
Offside Track rod end ball joint has excessive play \|2.2.B.1f\|	365
Windscreen washer not working	356
Nearside Front Track rod end ball joint has excessive play (2.1.3 (b) (i))	346
Windscreen has damage	330
Offside Front Headlamp not working on dipped beam \|1.7.5a\|	317
Nearside Front Anti-roll bar ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt (5.3.4 (b) (ii))	314
Parking brake lever has no reserve travel \|3.1.6b\|	309
Supplementary restraint system warning lamp indicates a fault (7.1.6 (a))	292
Nearside Front Headlamp not working on dipped beam \|1.7.5a\|	292
Exhaust emissions exceed manufacturers specified limit (8.2.2.2 (a))	288
Offside Front Anti-roll bar ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt (5.3.4 (b) (ii))	281
Nearside Front Anti-roll bar linkage ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt \|5.3.4 \|b\| \|ii\|\|	263
Supplementary Restraint System warning lamp indicates a fault \|5.4.2\|	260
Nearside Front Shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak	255
Nearside Rear Coil spring fractured or broken (5.3.1 (b) (i))	253
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\|	243
Nearside Track rod end ball joint has excessive play \|2.2.B.1f\|	235
Parking brake lever ratchet mechanism is excessively worn \|3.1.5\|	233
Offside Front Position lamp not working \|4.2.1 \|a\|\|	231
Nearside Side repeater not working (4.4.1 (a) (ii))	228
Nearside Headlamp not working on dipped beam (4.1.1 (a) (ii))	223
Nearside Front Position lamp not working \|4.2.1 \|a\|\|	219
Offside Front Anti-roll bar linkage ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt \|5.3.4 \|b\| \|ii\|\|	217
Anti-lock braking system warning lamp indicates an ABS fault	213
Offside Front Headlamp not working on dipped beam (4.1.1 (a) (ii))	212
Brakes imbalanced across an axle	212
Offside Rear fog lamp not working \|1.3.2b\|	210
Parking brake efficiency below requirements \|1.4.2 \|a\| \|i\|\|	210
Nearside Front Headlamp not working on dipped beam (4.1.1 (a) (ii))	206
Offside Headlamp not working on dipped beam (4.1.1 (a) (ii))	202
Offside Track rod end ball joint has excessive play (2.1.3 (b) (i))	189
Nearside Front Shock absorber has a serious fluid leak \|2.7.3\|	189
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\|	189
Offside Front Coil spring fractured or broken (5.3.1 (b) (i))	186
Engine MIL inoperative or indicates a malfunction (8.2.2.2 (g))	179
Front brake disc in such a condition that it is seriously weakened	178
Offside Side repeater not working (4.4.1 (a) (ii))	178
Nearside Rear Road wheel cracked \|4.2.A.1a\|	170
Nearside Front Upper Anti-roll bar ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt (5.3.4 (b) (ii))	168
Brake fluid warning lamp illuminated \|3.6.G.2\|	168
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\|	164
Nearside Rear Wheel bolt\|s\| missing \|4.2.A.1e\|	160
Offside Front Upper Anti-roll bar ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt (5.3.4 (b) (ii))	159
Offside Front Side repeater not working \|1.4.A.2c\|	159
Offside Rear coil spring broken \|2.4.C.1a\|	147
Nearside Front Anti-roll bar linkage ball joint excessively worn (5.3.4 (a) (i))	146
Offside Front Track rod end ball joint has excessive play \|2.1.3 \|b\| \|i\|\|	145
Windscreen has a sticker or other obstruction encroaching into the swept area by more than 40mm outside zone `A` \|8.3.1e\|	143
Parking brake efficiency less than 50% of the required value (1.4.2 (a) (ii))	143
Nearside Front Coil spring fractured or broken (5.3.1 (b) (i))	141
Nearside Front Wheel bolt\|s\| missing \|4.2.A.1e\|	137
Offside Front Anti-roll bar linkage ball joint excessively worn (5.3.4 (a) (i))	136
Offside Stop lamp not working \|1.2.1b\|	135
Offside Rear Road wheel cracked \|4.2.A.1a\|	133
Offside Front Shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak	132
Nearside Front Side repeater not working \|1.4.A.2c\|	129
Nearside Front Anti-roll bar ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt \|5.3.4 \|b\| \|ii\|\|	127
Engine MIL inoperative or indicates a malfunction (8.2.1.2 (h))	126
Nearside Track rod end ball joint has excessive play (2.1.3 (b) (i))	124
Nearside Front Upper Anti-roll bar linkage ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt \|5.3.4 \|b\| \|ii\|\|	123
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\|	119
Nearside Front Road wheel fixing missing (5.2.1 (a) (i))	116
Offside Front Anti-roll bar ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt \|5.3.4 \|b\| \|ii\|\|	115
Offside Front coil spring broken \|2.4.C.1a\|	114
Nearside Front Track rod end ball joint has excessive play \|2.1.3 \|b\| \|i\|\|	107
Oil leaking excessively from engine (8.4.1 (a) (i))	106
Nearside Rear Road wheel fixing missing (5.2.1 (a) (i))	106

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 diesel BMW 5-SERIESs year 2008

Find us on Facebook