Used car guide · 2011–2018

BMW 640d common problems and MOT failures

What goes wrong on a used BMW 640d, year by year: known faults from UK buying guides, the parts flagged at MOT more than on other cars (from 26,844 MOTs done during 2023–2025), and what to check before you buy one.

26,844MOTs done in 2023–2025, all years of this model
2012best year at its MOT

Pick the year

Most years have their own guide. The year is when the car was first registered (it’s on the logbook, or check the reg below).

20182017201620152014201320122011

What usually goes wrong with a BMW 640d?

We haven’t found widely reported faults for the BMW 640d in the UK buying guides we use yet. That doesn’t mean it has none, so check the car carefully and look at the MOT weak spots below.

Common BMW 640d MOT failures to check

Parts flagged at MOT well above the usual rate for cars the same age, in more than one year. From the DVSA’s results for every MOT done in Great Britain during 2023–2025.

  • Wheels

    up to 6.4× usual

    Stands out on cars registered in 2015, 2017 and 2018.

    Rough price £70–£150 our estimate

    At the viewing: Check the tread on all four tyres, including the inside edges, and look for cracks or bulges.

BMW 640d MOT pass rate by year

Of the years since 2005 with plenty of MOT tests, the 2012 BMW 640d did best (78% passed first time, 14 points above all 2012 cars) and the 2018 did worst (81%, 2 points below all 2018 cars). Older cars fail more, so compare each year with all cars registered the same year.

YearPass first timeAll cars that yearMOT tests
201881%83% -21,778
201783%80% +32,658
201684%77% +74,959
201583%74% +95,174
201480%70% +105,525
201380%67% +133,584
201278%64% +142,678
201178%62% +16488 (small sample)

Questions to ask the seller before buying a BMW 640d

Ask before you travel to see it. A seller who knows the car will have answers, and receipts.

  1. Any recent work on the wheels? (Flagged at MOT 6.4× as often on the BMW 640d as on other cars the same age.)
  2. Can I see the service history and receipts for any big jobs?

Looking at a BMW 640d?

Check the actual car: its own MOT history, whether it already shows these weak spots and what to ask the seller. Free, no sign-up.

Where this comes from: MOT figures are the DVSA’s anonymised results for every MOT test done in Great Britain during 2023–2025, grouped by the year each car was first registered. How many are on the road is from the Department for Transport’s vehicle licensing statistics. Known faults are from UK buying guides, in our own words, with links. How we score