MOT comparison

BMW 3 Series F30/F31/F34 vs Mercedes-Benz C-Class W205

How the BMW 3 Series F30/F31/F34 (6th Gen) (2012–2019) and the Mercedes-Benz C-Class W205 (4th Gen) (2014–2021) do at their MOTs, compared at the same mileage so a high-mileage car is never measured against a low-mileage one.

BMW 3 Series F30/F31/F34 (6th Gen)

1,793,185

MOT tests compared · built 2012–2019

Passes more often in 6 of 15 mileage bands

Mercedes-Benz C-Class W205 (4th Gen)

1,214,557

MOT tests compared · built 2014–2021

Passes more often in 5 of 15 mileage bands

MOT pass rate by mileage

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

BMW 3 Series F30/F31/F34 Mercedes-Benz C-Class W205

Under 10,000 miles 95.6% vs 94.9%

11,607 and 16,154 MOTs

10,000–20,000 miles 93.0% vs 91.3%

72,771 and 90,994 MOTs

20,000–30,000 miles 89.8% vs 89.0%

157,218 and 166,058 MOTs

30,000–40,000 miles 88.1% vs 86.9%

200,716 and 182,203 MOTs

40,000–50,000 miles 86.4% vs 84.8%

210,479 and 167,632 MOTs

50,000–60,000 miles 84.6% vs 83.0%

201,933 and 143,755 MOTs

60,000–70,000 miles 83.1% vs 81.4%

185,803 and 116,791 MOTs

70,000–80,000 miles 81.5% vs 80.1%

163,807 and 91,569 MOTs

80,000–90,000 miles 80.1% vs 79.4%

138,970 and 69,265 MOTs

90,000–100,000 miles 78.7% vs 78.3%

114,216 and 51,226 MOTs

100,000–125,000 miles 76.5% vs 77.5%

186,697 and 71,263 MOTs

125,000–150,000 miles 74.5% vs 77.0%

90,072 and 29,116 MOTs

150,000–175,000 miles 71.9% vs 76.5%

37,671 and 11,502 MOTs

175,000–200,000 miles 70.6% vs 75.7%

14,486 and 4,427 MOTs

200,000–250,000 miles 70.3% vs 76.5%

6,739 and 2,602 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 3 Series F30/F31/F34 fails more often on

Front position lamp

Fails about 13 times as often as the Mercedes-Benz C-Class W205: 2.2% of MOTs against 0.15%.

In 12 of 15 mileage bands · Lights & Signals
Headlamp

Fails about twice as often as the Mercedes-Benz C-Class W205: 3.4% of MOTs against 1.7%.

In 10 of 15 mileage bands · Lights & Signals
Shock absorbers

Fails about 10 times as often as the Mercedes-Benz C-Class W205: 2.4% of MOTs against 0.20%.

In 9 of 15 mileage bands · Springs & Shocks

Mercedes-Benz C-Class W205 fails more often on

Engine management light

Fails about 5 times as often as the BMW 3 Series F30/F31/F34: 2.5% of MOTs against 0.76%.

In 14 of 15 mileage bands · Dashboard Warning Lights
Front coil spring

Fails over 20 times as often as the BMW 3 Series F30/F31/F34: 1.7% of MOTs against 0.07%.

In 12 of 15 mileage bands · Springs & Shocks

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Check a car's MOT Compare the BMW 3 Series F30/F31/F34 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.