All generations and engines together · 16,163 MOT tests in the 2025 data · typical mileage at age 7: 63k
Middling for its age among coupés and convertibles, and better than most per mile driven. Watch suspension and corrosion. A fair used buy, provided its MOT history has no repeating suspension advisories.
Split by first-registration year. Cars registered in a changeover year can belong to either generation.
Owner folklore from forums and the motoring press, with how well each report stands up. Most of it never shows up in an MOT, which is why this section exists at all.
The 4.4 twin-turbo V8 in the 650i (F06/F12/F13) is prone to rising oil consumption between services, along with timing chain stretch and fuel injector wear as the miles rack up. BMW acknowledged the pattern in North America with a Customer Care Package covering timing chain, injectors, mass air flow sensor and vacuum pump from late 2014, and US regulators were still logging fresh oil-consumption and battery-drain complaints on the same engine in 2019. UK cars share the identical engine but not that US goodwill programme, so an out-of-warranty repair can run into four figures. Doesn't affect the 640i/640d six-cylinder cars.
635d/640d cars (and the Gran Turismo's 620d/630d) were subject to a manufacturer recall to replace a faulty EGR cooler; Honest John logged an owner case where the repair kept the car off the road for two months. Separately, BMW issued a statement in January 2022 acknowledging a technical fault in the same N57 diesel family that had caused fires in UK cars driven hard after long periods of idling, prompting some police forces to pull the model from service. It's more relevant to ex-fleet or ex-police cars with heavy idling patterns than typical private use, but worth checking on any diesel with a fleet history.
The measured MOT data for this model's coupe/GT segment flags suspension as the standout fault category, and owner reports back it up from a different angle: firm M Sport suspension on 19in wheels is described as harsh over poor surfaces, and the Gran Turismo's standard self-levelling rear air suspension is called out by the motoring press as expensive to put right if it fails. It's the kind of fault that stays invisible at MOT time right up until it sags or fails outright, so a level, settled ride height at a viewing matters more than the test's pass record.
Owners and reviewers disagree on where the line sits between factory firmness and worn components. Honest John's own review notes the M Sport set-up with low-profile tyres gives a taut ride that some drivers find uncomfortable on rough tarmac from new, which makes it harder for a buyer to tell whether a knock or crash from the front end is normal for the car or a sign of tired bushes, drop links or dampers. There's no recall or fix beyond the usual wear-and-tear replacement, typically a few hundred pounds per corner.
Ranked from this model’s own MOT record, then from what owners report.
Saveable checklistThe physical checks its own defect data says are worth your time, most telling first.
These judge the seller’s upkeep rather than the model, and they are where the haggling money is.
The physical checks its own defect data says are worth your time, most telling first.
These judge the seller’s upkeep rather than the model, and they are where the haggling money is.
Drawn from the reports above rather than the MOT data. These are the model-specific ones.
Computed from DVSA MOT results, all of Great Britain, 2025. Nothing here is opinion.
Share of tests where each item was recorded. The dark tick is the class average across all tracked models; bars are scaled within each group.
The rows that judge the model rather than its keeper. 7,337 tests in this band.
Tyres, pads and stone chips say more about how the car was driven and maintained than about how it was built.
Same segment (Coupés, convertibles & GT), best MOT record first. Compare before you shortlist.