MOT comparison

BMW 1 Series F20/F21 vs Audi A3 8V

How the BMW 1 Series F20/F21 (2nd Gen) (2011–2019) and the Audi A3 8V (3rd Gen) (2012–2020) do at their MOTs, compared at the same mileage so a high-mileage car is never measured against a low-mileage one.

BMW 1 Series F20/F21 (2nd Gen)

2,167,821

MOT tests compared · built 2011–2019

Passes more often in 0 of 15 mileage bands

Audi A3 8V (3rd Gen)

2,002,064

MOT tests compared · built 2012–2020

Passes more often in 13 of 15 mileage bands

MOT pass rate by mileage

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

BMW 1 Series F20/F21 Audi A3 8V

Under 10,000 miles 95.2% vs 94.9%

22,895 and 20,621 MOTs

10,000–20,000 miles 92.0% vs 92.1%

130,010 and 125,005 MOTs

20,000–30,000 miles 88.8% vs 90.1%

242,100 and 232,769 MOTs

30,000–40,000 miles 86.2% vs 88.6%

281,226 and 269,278 MOTs

40,000–50,000 miles 83.4% vs 86.8%

277,824 and 261,674 MOTs

50,000–60,000 miles 81.0% vs 84.6%

254,710 and 235,178 MOTs

60,000–70,000 miles 78.7% vs 82.6%

222,485 and 201,244 MOTs

70,000–80,000 miles 76.3% vs 80.9%

187,646 and 166,698 MOTs

80,000–90,000 miles 74.3% vs 79.3%

151,579 and 132,954 MOTs

90,000–100,000 miles 72.6% vs 77.9%

118,499 and 103,553 MOTs

100,000–125,000 miles 69.8% vs 76.1%

175,483 and 154,492 MOTs

125,000–150,000 miles 67.4% vs 74.4%

70,714 and 65,631 MOTs

150,000–175,000 miles 65.7% vs 73.5%

23,657 and 23,194 MOTs

175,000–200,000 miles 65.5% vs 71.1%

6,716 and 7,201 MOTs

200,000–250,000 miles 64.9% vs 69.6%

2,277 and 2,572 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

BMW 1 Series F20/F21 fails more often on

Front position lamp

Fails about 6 times as often as the Audi A3 8V: 4.0% of MOTs against 0.99%.

In 12 of 15 mileage bands · Lights & Signals
Headlamp

Fails about 1.5 times as often as the Audi A3 8V: 3.7% of MOTs against 2.3%.

In 10 of 15 mileage bands · Lights & Signals
Windscreen washer

Fails about twice as often as the Audi A3 8V: 2.2% of MOTs against 1.2%.

In 10 of 15 mileage bands · Driver's View

Audi A3 8V fails more often on

Rear coil spring

Fails about 5 times as often as the BMW 1 Series F20/F21: 1.2% of MOTs against 0.24%.

In 8 of 15 mileage bands · Springs & Shocks

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Check a car's MOT Compare the BMW 1 Series F20/F21 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.