FIGURE 1 // WHERE IT WEARSBMW i3
Top three failure systems, annotated from 1,345 failed first-time tests. Arrows point to where the defect is found on the car.
Tyres are 59% of everything that fails a BMW i3
15,271 inspections in a single year make the I3 one of the better-documented electric car. Tyres cause 59.1% of its failures; tyres take 2.5× the share they take on petrol and diesel cars of the same age.
First-time test findings
The three-year vs ten-year picture
AT THREE YEARS OLD8.4%
I3 failure rate. Petrol cars of the same age fail 8.2%.
AT TEN YEARS OLD12.1%
I3 failure rate, against 22.6% for petrol.
At three years old the BMW i3 fails 8.4% of the time, over the 8.2% of a petrol car the same age. By 9 years that reaches 13.9%. Tyres cause 59.1% of its failures.
FIGURE 2 // TYRE SECTION664 certificates in 2024
The tyre that wears from the inside
Tyres take 59.1% of the defects that fail this car, 2.5× the share seen on petrol and diesel cars of the same age. The most common item in that group is "A tyre seriously damaged", recorded 664 times in 2024.
SECTION // TYRES CONCENTRATIONYear 3 crossover
Where the curve bends
The crossover with petrol happens around year 3. From there the I3's failure rate climbs faster than the petrol fleet, and the defect list explains why.
Source: DVSA MOT defect items, 2024 test year.
What to check
Check tyre age and tread across the full width, inner edge included. Electric cars wear tyres faster; a cheap mismatched set on a used car tells you how it was run. Check the washers reach the screen. It fails the test and it is a thirty-second check. Check headlamp aim and every lamp before the test. It is the cheapest failure on the list and the easiest to avoid. Ask for the full MOT history by registration on the free DVSA service: advisories are next year's failures.
3 inspection points:
✓ Tyre inner-edge wear and age
✓ Washer reach
✓ Headlamp aim and every lamp
FIGURE 3 // FAILURE RATE BY AGEvs petrol, diesel and all electric cars
Points hidden where fewer than 50 cars of that age were tested. Dashed lines are the same-age petrol and diesel fleets.
Data sheet
- Inspections
- 15,271
- Passed
- 13,486
- Failed
- 1,345
- Passed after repair
- 440
- Failure rate
- 8.8% (all EV 12.0%)
- Average age
- 4.8 years
- Best year
- 4 yrs · 7.8%
- Worst year
- 9 yrs · 13.9%
- Top cause
- Tyres 59.1%
TABLE 1 // WHAT FAILS, BY SYSTEMshare of failing defects
| System | This car (mark = petrol/diesel) | Share | vs petrol/diesel |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tyres | 59.1% | 2.5× more | |
| Suspension | 3.7% | 3.7× less | |
| Brakes | 5.9% | 3.2× less | |
| Visibility | 13.4% | in line | |
| Lighting | 10.9% | 1.5× less | |
| Steering | 0.1% | 31.0× less | |
| Body | 1.2% | 3.4× less |
TABLE 2 // TOP DEFECTS ON THE CERTIFICATE
- A tyre seriously damaged664
- Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements484
- Windscreen washers not working or not providing sufficient fluid to clear the windscreen162
- A tyre cords visible or damaged130
- A direction indicator lamp missing, inoperative or in the case of a multiple light source more than 1/2 not functioning99
- The aim of a headlamp is not within limits laid down in the requirements94
Wording as printed by the tester, from the DVSA inspection manual.
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Where it holds up
- Suspension fail less often than on petrol and diesel cars (3.7% of defects vs 13.6%)
- Brakes fail less often than on petrol and diesel cars (5.9% of defects vs 18.7%)
- Lighting fail less often than on petrol and diesel cars (10.9% of defects vs 16.5%)
- Steering fail less often than on petrol and diesel cars (0.1% of defects vs 3.1%)
Where it fails
- Tyres take a bigger share of failures than on petrol and diesel cars of the same age (59.1% vs 23.7%)
- At three years old it fails 8.4% of the time, above the 8.2% of petrol cars the same age
VERSIONS SEEN IN THE TESTSas recorded
- I315,271
OWNER REPORTS // MATCHED TO RECORDED DEFECTS0 read · 0 matched
No owner discussion has been matched to this car's recorded defects yet. Reports are re-collected every quarter; the figures on this page do not depend on them.
Summaries written by us, never quotes; every entry links to its source. Owner reports have no denominator and never feed the failure rate.
SIMILAR CARS IN THE DATAclosest rate and age, other brands
Kia Soul9.9% fail · 2,957 testsAudi e-tron9.1% fail · 14,319 testsMG ZS9.4% fail · 13,341 testsSmart EQ8.3% fail · 2,590 tests
OTHER BMW ELECTRIC CARS
Three things the data shows
- 15,271 inspections in 2024 make this one of the best-documented electric cars in the data.
- Tyres take 2.5× the share of failures they take on petrol and diesel cars of the same age.
- Failure rate rises from 7.8% at 4 years to 13.9% at 9: a gentle ageing curve.
LIMITS // WHAT THE INSPECTION DOES NOT TELL YOU
No battery health, no motor, no charging performance. The test covers brakes, suspension, steering, tyres, lights, visibility and structure. A car with a badly degraded battery passes as long as it stops and steers. Read this page as evidence about the chassis, not the powertrain. Cars are tested from their third year, so the newest model years are missing; every figure carries its sample size for that reason. Full methodology.
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