It’s MOT time

bluespit

bluespit

Senior member
 Near Chester
Site Supporter
My first Z MOT next week. Always a bit twitchy about the first one with a new to me car.

I’ll get it in back my garage from the lockup and give it a going over beforehand but any pointers appreciated.

It drives fine with no undue knocks or bangs and there were no advisories last time.

Cheers
 
Its probably fine then. My only advice is take it for the mot early, so in the unlikely event it fails you have some leeway left on the current MOT to get it fixed (assuming the fails aren't dangerous)
 
If no advisories last time, you'll be fine or might have some minor advisory.
Check brake pads and disc, tyres.
Have a good look as well with the brake lines as they get really corroded.

Goodluck 👍
 
Light bulbs are a pain. Always fail on the drive to the MOT.
Also do a good check of the windscreen washers.
One year I checked mine, fine. MOT failed as they didn't work.
Turned out me checking them had enabled the pump to suck a bit of debris into the filter.
 
brillomaster said:
Its probably fine then. My only advice is take it for the mot early, so in the unlikely event it fails you have some leeway left on the current MOT to get it fixed (assuming the fails aren't dangerous)
Click to expand...
If a vehicle fails an MOT, whatever time was left on the current one is void. You can no longer drive it until it passes.
 
bluespit said:
My first Z MOT next week. Always a bit twitchy about the first one with a new to me car.

I’ll get it in back my garage from the lockup and give it a going over beforehand but any pointers appreciated.

It drives fine with no undue knocks or bangs and there were no advisories last time.

Cheers
Click to expand...
Good luck. Got mine next week 🤞
 
Good luck. As above, always check all of the bulbs.

I did and one numberplate light failed on the way there. Typical!
 
ARCS said:
If a vehicle fails an MOT, whatever time was left on the current one is void. You can no longer drive it until it passes.
Click to expand...
I do not believe that to be true, you can drive it as long as no 'dangerous' fails are identified.

www.gov.uk

Getting an MOT

When you need an MOT for your vehicle, what it costs, what happens if your vehicle fails, and how to get mistakes on the MOT certificate fixed.
www.gov.uk www.gov.uk

Driving a vehicle that’s failed​

You can take your vehicle away if:

  • your current MOT is still valid
  • no ‘dangerous’ problems were listed in the MOT
Otherwise, you’ll need to get it repaired before you can drive.

If you can take your vehicle away, it must still meet the minimum standards of roadworthiness at all times.
 
Only mot failure my car in 15 years was headlight aim.
They corrected and passed car.
So why even fail for that if they then adjust lights and pass it.
Spoiled the no mot fail history.
 
I think if mot failure is severe safety issue they won't let you drive off.
I assume a record of fail might invalid insurance.
Which then asks what if car gets stolen off mot car park like some YTubers car was.
 
I checked my Berlingo just before driving to mot station, all good. 5 minutes later arrived at station and right headlight bulb failed!
Had to re-book and go buy a bulb...or find fault.
 
I take mine to an MOT-only station. They don’t do repairs, so they have no vested interest in failing a car, and they definitely don’t want a failed car taking up one of their 3 parking spaces. I also find that if you turn up with a nice, clean, well looked after car, they are happy to chat through what they are doing and more likely to give you a verbal (e.g. “keep an eye on that”) than an advisory or a fail. They also won’t waste your time or their time with the free re-test if it’s a case of a non-working number plate bulb, or something trivial like that.

The worst things you can do, in my opinion, are to:
- turn up to the MOT with known issues. If they’re going to fail you anyway, they are more likely to give you a long list.
- turn up with a car that rains down filth and rust on them as soon as they poke it with a screwdriver. Guaranteed they’ll find something to fail you on.
 
If you look at the Z4 E89 MOTs then in order of faults


Worn inner edges of tyres especially rears / often to the canvas

Pitted / worn discs

Leaking dampers

Sometimes cracked inside edge alloy wheel

Odd wheel bearing

Odd front steering linkage
 
When I took my Z3 for it's first MOT after being finished I was worried about emissions. The car hadn't turned a wheel in three years and the fuel was at least that old. The MOT station is a mile from my house so I couldn't even do 'an Italian tune'.

So I explained my concerns and told them the recent history with the car. I also told them I didn't want any advisories on the MOT. So we agreed that they did a 'pre-MOT'. Basically they did a full MOT inspection without the VOSA clock running. Then did a real one when they were happy all was good.
It cost me a few quid more but I got a clean MOT. As it turned out there was nothing wrong, but we didn't know that before. It passed emissions with flying colours even with ancient fuel and a cold engine that had been stood for years. Good old M54!
 
Zedebee said:
The worst things you can do, in my opinion, are to:
- turn up to the MOT with known issues. If they’re going to fail you anyway, they are more likely to give you a long list.
- turn up with a car that rains down filth and rust on them as soon as they poke it with a screwdriver. Guaranteed they’ll find something to fail you on.
Click to expand...
I would also add having any tyres that are seriously worn or very old. If they see a car has been obviously neglected with no regard for safety they are going to look harder for other issues IMHO.
 
brillomaster said:
I do not believe that to be true, you can drive it as long as no 'dangerous' fails are identified.

www.gov.uk

Getting an MOT

When you need an MOT for your vehicle, what it costs, what happens if your vehicle fails, and how to get mistakes on the MOT certificate fixed.
www.gov.uk www.gov.uk

Driving a vehicle that’s failed​

You can take your vehicle away if:

  • your current MOT is still valid
  • no ‘dangerous’ problems were listed in the MOT
Otherwise, you’ll need to get it repaired before you can drive.

If you can take your vehicle away, it must still meet the minimum standards of roadworthiness at all times.
Click to expand...
I stand corrected.
 
I hope it all goes well bluespit, it's always a bit nerve-wracking!

I always check all the obvious things like lights, tyres and screen-washers but my daftest MOT experience was when I took my 1 Series for a test and they told me they couldn't test it. The bonnet safety catch was seized solid, but as they hadn't really started I didn't get charged. Ended up dousing it in WD40 for a day, finally got the bonnet open and put some grease on the pivot.

Most annoying one was my previous Z4. Screen washers worked fine on the way there, but didn't when they tested it. :(

I was expecting to find a gunked up filter on the pump, but the pump had actually died. Sytner didn't have one but luckily Barons did.

My luckiest one was with my 330i. It passed but then I went to drive home the driver's door wouldn't open which would have been a fail. It turns out a rear door lock had failed which blew the fuse and the default outcome was no locking or unlocking and everything apart from the driver's door was permanently open. :rolleyes:
 
Thanks for all the above. I’ll bring it home tomorrow and get it up in the air and have a good old look around. Tyres are just 3 years old with just 5000 miles, brakes renewed within the last 2 years. No warning lights anywhere and runs fab. Not done much these last 3 months due to the weather but I’ll try to give it a decent run prior if possible.
 
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