MOT comparison

BMW 1 Series F20/F21 vs Mercedes-Benz A-Class W176

How the BMW 1 Series F20/F21 (2nd Gen) (2011–2019) and the Mercedes-Benz A-Class W176 (3rd Gen) (2012–2018) 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)

2,165,544

MOT tests compared · built 2011–2019

Passes more often in 6 of 14 mileage bands

Mercedes-Benz A-Class W176 (3rd Gen)

1,459,951

MOT tests compared · built 2012–2018

Passes more often in 0 of 14 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 Mercedes-Benz A-Class W176

Under 10,000 miles 95.2% vs 93.3%

22,895 and 16,560 MOTs

10,000–20,000 miles 92.0% vs 90.8%

130,010 and 97,026 MOTs

20,000–30,000 miles 88.8% vs 88.0%

242,100 and 185,313 MOTs

30,000–40,000 miles 86.2% vs 85.6%

281,226 and 213,366 MOTs

40,000–50,000 miles 83.4% vs 83.2%

277,824 and 206,129 MOTs

50,000–60,000 miles 81.0% vs 80.3%

254,710 and 182,157 MOTs

60,000–70,000 miles 78.7% vs 77.5%

222,485 and 152,929 MOTs

70,000–80,000 miles 76.3% vs 75.3%

187,646 and 120,586 MOTs

80,000–90,000 miles 74.3% vs 73.2%

151,579 and 90,986 MOTs

90,000–100,000 miles 72.6% vs 71.2%

118,499 and 66,098 MOTs

100,000–125,000 miles 69.8% vs 68.9%

175,483 and 87,225 MOTs

125,000–150,000 miles 67.4% vs 67.0%

70,714 and 29,900 MOTs

150,000–175,000 miles 65.7% vs 66.1%

23,657 and 9,119 MOTs

175,000–200,000 miles 65.5% vs 65.2%

6,716 and 2,557 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 8 times as often as the Mercedes-Benz A-Class W176: 3.7% of MOTs against 0.50%.

In 11 of 14 mileage bands · Lights & Signals
Side repeater

Fails about 1.5 times as often as the Mercedes-Benz A-Class W176: 0.99% of MOTs against 0.61%.

In 9 of 14 mileage bands
Shock absorbers

Fails over 20 times as often as the Mercedes-Benz A-Class W176: 2.9% of MOTs against 0.13%.

In 8 of 14 mileage bands · Springs & Shocks

Mercedes-Benz A-Class W176 fails more often on

Supplementary restraint system (SRS)

Fails about 17 times as often as the BMW 1 Series F20/F21: 2.4% of MOTs against 0.14%.

In 12 of 14 mileage bands · Dashboard Warning Lights
Engine management light

Fails about 3 times as often as the BMW 1 Series F20/F21: 3.4% of MOTs against 1.0%.

In 11 of 14 mileage bands · Dashboard Warning Lights

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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.