MOT comparison

Mercedes-Benz A-Class W169 vs BMW 1 Series E81/E82/E87/E88

How the Mercedes-Benz A-Class W169 (2nd Gen) (2004–2012) 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.

Mercedes-Benz A-Class W169 (2nd Gen)

910,904

MOT tests compared · built 2004–2012

Passes more often in 0 of 15 mileage bands

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

2,412,992

MOT tests compared · built 2004–2011

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.

Mercedes-Benz A-Class W169 BMW 1 Series E81/E82/E87/E88

Under 10,000 miles 93.0% vs 93.3%

14,232 and 15,725 MOTs

10,000–20,000 miles 89.9% vs 90.3%

64,107 and 86,917 MOTs

20,000–30,000 miles 86.4% vs 88.0%

105,030 and 161,477 MOTs

30,000–40,000 miles 82.0% vs 86.3%

115,488 and 196,633 MOTs

40,000–50,000 miles 77.3% vs 83.5%

111,853 and 209,613 MOTs

50,000–60,000 miles 72.6% vs 80.5%

103,697 and 214,036 MOTs

60,000–70,000 miles 68.2% vs 77.4%

92,228 and 214,602 MOTs

70,000–80,000 miles 64.6% vs 74.5%

79,044 and 210,772 MOTs

80,000–90,000 miles 60.9% vs 71.6%

64,857 and 200,877 MOTs

90,000–100,000 miles 58.5% vs 68.8%

50,152 and 185,157 MOTs

100,000–125,000 miles 55.3% vs 65.4%

72,117 and 359,284 MOTs

125,000–150,000 miles 51.6% vs 62.2%

26,453 and 211,596 MOTs

150,000–175,000 miles 49.3% vs 60.2%

8,071 and 97,111 MOTs

175,000–200,000 miles 48.4% vs 59.3%

2,441 and 35,125 MOTs

200,000–250,000 miles 49.0% vs 58.3%

1,134 and 14,067 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

Mercedes-Benz A-Class W169 fails more often on

Stop lamp

Fails about 5 times as often as the BMW 1 Series E81/E82/E87/E88: 2.6% of MOTs against 0.62%.

In 15 of 15 mileage bands · Lights & Signals
Side repeater

Fails about 9 times as often as the BMW 1 Series E81/E82/E87/E88: 1.5% of MOTs against 0.18%.

In 15 of 15 mileage bands
Headlamp aim

Fails about twice as often as the BMW 1 Series E81/E82/E87/E88: 2.7% of MOTs against 1.4%.

In 12 of 15 mileage bands · Lights & Signals

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

Engine covers

Fails about 2 times as often as the Mercedes-Benz A-Class W169: 0.66% of MOTs against 0.26%.

In 9 of 15 mileage bands

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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.