Common problems

BMW 4 Series wheel problems

How often MOT testers find road wheel faults on the BMW 4 Series at each age, against all cars of the same age, and which items come up most. From 417,430 DVSA MOT tests taken 2022 to 2025.

MOT data updated 28 September 2026

At 7 years, the most tested age

Road wheels fails per 100 MOTs (n=70,637)1.0

All cars at 7 years (n=10,537,318)0.3

Road wheels advisories and minor defects per 100 MOTs (n=70,637)0.7

All cars, same age (n=10,537,318)0.6

What stands out

At 7 years, 1.0 of every 100 MOTs of the BMW 4 Series found a road wheel fail (n=70,637), against 0.3 for all cars of that age (n=10,537,318).
It is above the all-car rate at every age with at least 1,000 tests (10 ages).
The road wheel fail item recorded most often at 7 years: road wheel attachment: fixing missing, on 0.5 per 100 MOTs.
The most common road wheel advisory or minor defect: road wheel condition: slightly distorted, on 0.7 per 100 MOTs.

Road wheels fails by age

Solid line: this model. Dashed line: all cars at the same age.

BMW 4 Series: road wheels fails and advisories per 100 MOTs, by age, against all cars. Ages with fewer than 1,000 tests are not shown.
Age	Tests (n)	Fails	All cars	Advisories	All cars
3 years	30,556	0.3	0.1	0.6	0.4
4 years	38,917	0.4	0.2	0.6	0.4
5 years	48,863	0.7	0.2	0.7	0.5
6 years	62,517	0.9	0.2	0.7	0.6
7 years	70,637	1.0	0.3	0.7	0.6
8 years	67,165	1.0	0.3	0.7	0.7
9 years	51,085	0.9	0.4	0.7	0.7
10 years	32,238	1.1	0.4	0.7	0.8
11 years	13,926	1.1	0.4	0.8	1.0
12 years	1,526	1.1	0.5	1.0	1.1

Road wheels fail items at 7 years

Road wheels fail items on the BMW 4 Series at 7 years (n=70,637), per 100 MOTs, with all cars at the same age (n=10,537,318).
Item	Per 100 MOTs	All cars	Typical repair (estimate)
Road wheel attachment: fixing missing	0.5	0.2	£10 to £59 per wheel (rough guide)
Road wheel condition: fractured	0.5	0.1

Road wheels advisories and minor defects at 7 years

Advisories and minor defects are recorded, but the car still passes. Across all cars, a part with an advisory or minor defect failed at the next MOT 5.5 times in 100 (n=88,666,940 pairs of consecutive MOTs), against 0.3 times in 100 when the same part had none (n=12,936,860,350).

Road wheels advisories and minor defects on the BMW 4 Series at 7 years (n=70,637), per 100 MOTs, with all cars at the same age (n=10,537,318).
Item	Per 100 MOTs	All cars
Road wheel condition: slightly distorted	0.7	0.6

Repair estimates are a guide for an independent garage: labour at the national median local garage rate (median £78 an hour from 65 garages, ONS price quotes) times estimated labour hours, plus a parts band. Labour hours and most parts bands are estimates, not quotes, and prices vary by model, engine and region. A warning light fault shows the cost of the diagnosis only.

What to check on a viewing

On the BMW 4 Series, the road wheel items testers fail most are road wheel attachment: fixing missing; road wheel condition: fractured.

Look for buckled, cracked or badly kerbed wheels.
Check that every wheel nut or bolt is present.

Ask for the car's MOT history: a road wheel advisory that repeats from year to year has not been fixed. GOV.UK MOT history.

Questions

What are the common wheel problems on the BMW 4 Series?

At 7 years (70,637 MOTs), the road wheel fail items testers record most often are road wheel attachment: fixing missing (0.5 per 100 MOTs), road wheel condition: fractured (0.5 per 100 MOTs). The most common road wheel advisories or minor defects are road wheel condition: slightly distorted (0.7).

Does the BMW 4 Series have more wheel problems than other cars?

At 7 years it has 1.0 road wheel fails per 100 MOTs against 0.3 for all cars of the same age (about the same). It is above the all-car rate at every age with enough tests (10 ages).

What does a road wheel repair cost on the BMW 4 Series?

For road wheel attachment: fixing missing, an independent garage estimate is £10 to £59 per wheel (rough guide). This is a guide built from the national median garage labour rate and estimated labour hours, not a quote.

More on the BMW 4 Series

Read this with care. A fail rate is not a measure of build quality. How far cars are driven, how they are used and how well owners maintain them all change it, and wear items such as tyres and brake pads are common fails. Compare a model only with cars of the same age. Methodology and limits.

The all cars figures cover all class 4 vehicles (cars and light vans) tested at the same age.

Looking at a BMW 4 Series?

These figures describe the model, not the car in front of you. Found one you might buy? See what the VetTheCar Buying Report covers, or use the tools that work without a registration.

See a sample report Car tools · MOT fail rates by model · Compare models by MOT record

Repair estimates: ONS consumer price quotes for local garage labour (09/2025 to 08/2026), the MOT inspection manual for defect wording, and estimated labour hours and parts bands. Not affiliated with or endorsed by ONS.

Source

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data, class 4 normal MOT tests, 2022 to 2025. MOT data updated 28 September 2026.

Not affiliated with or endorsed by DVSA. How we calculate these figures · Data sources