MOT comparison

Audi A3 8P vs BMW 1 Series E81/E82/E87/E88

How the Audi A3 8P (2nd Gen) (2003–2012) and the BMW 1 Series E81/E82/E87/E88 (1st Gen) (2004–2011) do at their MOTs, compared at the same mileage so a high-mileage car is never measured against a low-mileage one.

Audi A3 8P (2nd Gen)

3,268,136

MOT tests compared · built 2003–2012

Passes more often in 0 of 16 mileage bands

BMW 1 Series E81/E82/E87/E88 (1st Gen)

2,414,517

MOT tests compared · built 2004–2011

Passes more often in 14 of 16 mileage bands

MOT pass rate by mileage

Share of MOTs passed first time, at the mileage recorded at the test.

Audi A3 8P BMW 1 Series E81/E82/E87/E88

Under 10,000 miles 90.5% vs 93.3%

10,932 and 15,725 MOTs

10,000–20,000 miles 90.6% vs 90.3%

67,790 and 86,917 MOTs

20,000–30,000 miles 87.3% vs 88.0%

153,714 and 161,477 MOTs

30,000–40,000 miles 84.6% vs 86.3%

211,907 and 196,633 MOTs

40,000–50,000 miles 81.4% vs 83.5%

241,989 and 209,613 MOTs

50,000–60,000 miles 78.1% vs 80.5%

259,322 and 214,036 MOTs

60,000–70,000 miles 74.8% vs 77.4%

267,891 and 214,602 MOTs

70,000–80,000 miles 71.8% vs 74.5%

271,014 and 210,772 MOTs

80,000–90,000 miles 69.0% vs 71.6%

268,696 and 200,877 MOTs

90,000–100,000 miles 66.5% vs 68.8%

257,494 and 185,157 MOTs

100,000–125,000 miles 63.0% vs 65.4%

546,841 and 359,284 MOTs

125,000–150,000 miles 59.6% vs 62.2%

373,161 and 211,596 MOTs

150,000–175,000 miles 57.4% vs 60.2%

204,854 and 97,111 MOTs

175,000–200,000 miles 56.0% vs 59.3%

88,064 and 35,125 MOTs

200,000–250,000 miles 55.5% vs 58.3%

39,936 and 14,067 MOTs

250,000–300,000 miles 56.1% vs 59.1%

4,531 and 1,525 MOTs

Parts that fail more often

Only differences that hold across at least half of the mileage bands we could compare, and that are far too large to be chance, are listed. How we decide

Audi A3 8P fails more often on

Stop lamp

Fails about 3 times as often as the BMW 1 Series E81/E82/E87/E88: 1.7% of MOTs against 0.62%.

In 15 of 16 mileage bands · Lights & Signals
Front ball joint

Fails about 5 times as often as the BMW 1 Series E81/E82/E87/E88: 3.3% of MOTs against 0.83%.

In 12 of 16 mileage bands · Suspension & Joints
Front constant velocity joint gaiter

Fails over 20 times as often as the BMW 1 Series E81/E82/E87/E88: 1.5% of MOTs against 0.00%.

In 12 of 16 mileage bands · Suspension & Joints

BMW 1 Series E81/E82/E87/E88 fails more often on

Windscreen washer

Fails about 3 times as often as the Audi A3 8P: 2.9% of MOTs against 1.3%.

In 14 of 16 mileage bands · Driver's View
Shock absorbers

Fails about 5 times as often as the Audi A3 8P: 3.6% of MOTs against 1.1%.

In 10 of 16 mileage bands · Springs & Shocks

Own one of these?

Enter your registration to see your own car's MOT history, its predicted pass chance and what usually fails next at its mileage.

Check a car's MOT Compare the Audi A3 8P with another model

These are differences in real MOT results, not engineering verdicts. Owner mix differs between models (some are more often taxis, first cars or rural cars), which is why every figure compares cars at the same mileage. How we compare cars.

MOT records: DVSA MOT history, which contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. See this the other way round.