Fustrated is an understatement! I have been deprived of a great car and not only will it hit me in the pocket. It will also stop me getting another one...extremely deflated by the whole scenario.
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2011 Black Sapphire BMW 335D M Sport - CAR STOLEN YH11 HJD
- Thread starter jonjay
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Fustrated is an understatement! I have been deprived of a great car and not only will it hit me in the pocket. It will also stop me getting another one...extremely deflated by the whole scenario.
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Update from my cousin
Alright cuz, nothing official from BMW about cars being stolen, foreman has heard of a scanner being used to start the car via the OBD socket but it's not a Bmw thing we can't do it. Must be a aftermarket scanner,but still can't work out how they would get into the cars without the keys
Alright cuz, nothing official from BMW about cars being stolen, foreman has heard of a scanner being used to start the car via the OBD socket but it's not a Bmw thing we can't do it. Must be a aftermarket scanner,but still can't work out how they would get into the cars without the keys
http://youtu.be/kVmPfCFFkqQ
This is how they're doing it.
Been following your posts on Pistonheads, gutted for you
That is outrageous. I feel so sorry for you right now Maz
Let us know how you get on with the insurance. Chin up buddy.
BMW have given me their official response.
Dear Maz
Thank you for your email dated April 19 and 20, 2012 addressed to Mr xxx and Mr xxx, Corporate Communications and Managing Director of BMW UK which has been forwarded to me for a response. I was sorry to read of the recent incidents involving your BMW 3-Series, which has given you cause to contact us under such circumstances.
I can assure you that BMW products comply with all global safety and security requirements. However there are likely to be instances where a determined criminal can establish methods to gain entry into a BMW vehicle – regrettably this is outside of our control. I am sure you will appreciate that BMW cannot be held responsible for any incidents of this nature. However, BMW and its partners continue to monitor all methods of vehicle theft to ensure our products remain in the hands of the rightful owner.
Nonetheless, any incident of this nature requires the attention of your local Police authority. We will, of course, provide support to the Police should they require our assistance.
I can confirm you that we are aware of claims that our vehicles can be stolen using electronic devices such as the ones discussed on the forums you have attached and this is an area still under internal investigation. All car manufacturers work in partnership with the requisite official organisations to ensure vehicles offered for sale meet all the legislative requirements including Block Exemption Regulations. All BMWs comply with current legislation and we constantly review the level of vehicle security to ensure our products remain in the hands of the right owners. EU legislation allows keys to be reprogrammed without forcing an owner to always visit a manufacturer’s authorised dealership.
The On-Board Diagnostics port is a method our engineers use to access the car’s data bank and carry out routine servicing. It has to be in a location that allows for the day to day servicing of a vehicle. The alarm systems of a car are designed to protect the vehicle and alert the owner should there be an intrusion. It is also an EU legislative requirement to have the OBD port accessible in the passenger compartment.
As all of our cars comply with all legislation, since the introduction of coded keys and other measures the highest method of vehicle theft remains cases of keys being stolen from a house or off a person, not through key cloning or other electronic measures of crime. Car crime is not unique to BMW either. All manufacturers of premium products are targeted because there is a market for such vehicles either elsewhere in the world or as parts to a disreputable seller.
I wish to assure you that we are doing our utmost to work with the Police to assist in the capture of these extremely organised gangs and also to ensure that our vehicle stand up to the most robust form our attack. Once again, I am sorry you have had cause to contact us under such circumstances.
Yours sincerely
BMW UK
Extremely interesting.
1) They are aware of the recent thefts (I think everyone thought as much really)
2) They are aware of these devices that cut new keys
3) Although not directly saying say they have a security flaw in their BMWs there is admission there. They state EU legislation as a reason why they leave ODB port access etc...
Keen to have everyones thoughts.
If I do buy another BMW which is a possibility still then looks like I have to disable the ODB port which isn't a problem. Also get a tracker!
Dear Maz
Thank you for your email dated April 19 and 20, 2012 addressed to Mr xxx and Mr xxx, Corporate Communications and Managing Director of BMW UK which has been forwarded to me for a response. I was sorry to read of the recent incidents involving your BMW 3-Series, which has given you cause to contact us under such circumstances.
I can assure you that BMW products comply with all global safety and security requirements. However there are likely to be instances where a determined criminal can establish methods to gain entry into a BMW vehicle – regrettably this is outside of our control. I am sure you will appreciate that BMW cannot be held responsible for any incidents of this nature. However, BMW and its partners continue to monitor all methods of vehicle theft to ensure our products remain in the hands of the rightful owner.
Nonetheless, any incident of this nature requires the attention of your local Police authority. We will, of course, provide support to the Police should they require our assistance.
I can confirm you that we are aware of claims that our vehicles can be stolen using electronic devices such as the ones discussed on the forums you have attached and this is an area still under internal investigation. All car manufacturers work in partnership with the requisite official organisations to ensure vehicles offered for sale meet all the legislative requirements including Block Exemption Regulations. All BMWs comply with current legislation and we constantly review the level of vehicle security to ensure our products remain in the hands of the right owners. EU legislation allows keys to be reprogrammed without forcing an owner to always visit a manufacturer’s authorised dealership.
The On-Board Diagnostics port is a method our engineers use to access the car’s data bank and carry out routine servicing. It has to be in a location that allows for the day to day servicing of a vehicle. The alarm systems of a car are designed to protect the vehicle and alert the owner should there be an intrusion. It is also an EU legislative requirement to have the OBD port accessible in the passenger compartment.
As all of our cars comply with all legislation, since the introduction of coded keys and other measures the highest method of vehicle theft remains cases of keys being stolen from a house or off a person, not through key cloning or other electronic measures of crime. Car crime is not unique to BMW either. All manufacturers of premium products are targeted because there is a market for such vehicles either elsewhere in the world or as parts to a disreputable seller.
I wish to assure you that we are doing our utmost to work with the Police to assist in the capture of these extremely organised gangs and also to ensure that our vehicle stand up to the most robust form our attack. Once again, I am sorry you have had cause to contact us under such circumstances.
Yours sincerely
BMW UK
Extremely interesting.
1) They are aware of the recent thefts (I think everyone thought as much really)
2) They are aware of these devices that cut new keys
3) Although not directly saying say they have a security flaw in their BMWs there is admission there. They state EU legislation as a reason why they leave ODB port access etc...
Keen to have everyones thoughts.
If I do buy another BMW which is a possibility still then looks like I have to disable the ODB port which isn't a problem. Also get a tracker!
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Sounded like abit of woffle from BMW. I had tracker on my quad and for the money I cant understand why you wouldnt fit one on a desirable car but if you havent had a car stolen before I suppose everyone thinks it wont happen to me. Im quite suprised the OBD port doesnt have a special key to access if if theres ways people can access it.
as i mentioned earlier you dont need to remove them , they can plug them into the fag lighter to block the gps etc
so if it were me fittign a tracker i think i would be tempted to leave the stickers off
Although they would have to know that you have one first.
I guess it depends - some would see a tracker sticker and get put off because you have put some additional thought into the security, beyond the manufacturers spec. Some would know how to disable it and so it wouldn't stop them at all. Some might not realise it has a tracker and you might find the vehicle again.
Not really, preperation prevents piss poor perfromance. I.e, persoanlly i'd take a tracker jammer and plug it in just in case.
Those ones only block the GPS signal. Tracker (the one used by the Police) also uses vhf which will ping off towers and police cars which have the aerial's fitted. The GPS will tell tracker the location of the car once activated, if that's blocked the vehicle system will still send out a code via VHF which is a lot harder and more expensive to block.
A lot of police stations have the tracker aerial's and most traffic cars too.
The systems are about the size of a mobile phone and are well hidden. Out of all the trackers I have located, I've only once found the actual device and not the car aand that was because the owner had moved it as he thought he knew best.
They are well worth the money if you have a nice car that is desirable
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Sounded like abit of woffle from BMW. I had tracker on my quad and for the money I cant understand why you wouldnt fit one on a desirable car but if you havent had a car stolen before I suppose everyone thinks it wont happen to me. Im quite suprised the OBD port doesnt have a special key to access if if theres ways people can access it.
When I first got the car BMW wanted £1000 to fit and activate. I also wasnt aware it was so easy to nick the car. I purchase GAP insurance with the mind that if I ever crashed it, someone crashed into me or on the chance it got stolen then I was covered. Getting a tracker was always on my mind even before this happened.
I know mate. Unfortunately I am struggling to find a next car.
Good GPS trackers operate on radio frequencies too.
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