Video: Key fob reprogrammers steal BMW in 3 mins
Why car theft using sophisticated key programming devices is a problem that won't go away
PHer 'stolen 1m' (we see where they're going with that username) had their £43K M car stolen from their driveway when thieves smashed a small area of window glass in the car without activating the alarm and used a diagnostic device to reprogramme a key fob through the OBD port.
But a quick internet trawl reveals it's not just BMWs that are vulnerable. Devices similar to that used on BMWs are also available for Opel, Renault, Mercedes, Volkswagen, Toyota and Petrol-engined Porsche Cayennes.
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) recognises the problem is a wider issue, though, telling us that they are working to tighten up the procedures for getting hold of these devices, in order to minimise the risk of them falling into undesirable hands. They also say that the industry is working on the technological side of the issue, with companies like Thatcham in particular liaising with police on ways to battle this technological crime.
The reason this form of theft is currently so rife - and admittedly this issue is not limited to BMWs - is that European competition rules require diagnostic and security reprogramming devices to be available to non-franchised garages. As we understand it, this effectively means that car companies cannot restrict access to or use of OBD ports.
Unfortunately it also means that, to a certain extent, the hands of car companies are tied, hence BMW can still only tell us that that they are "aware of recent claims that criminal gangs are targeting premium vehicles from a variety of manufacturers. This is an area under investigation. We have a constant dialogue with police forces to understand any patterns which may emerge. This data is used to enhance our defense (sic) systems accordingly. Currently BMW Group products meet or exceed all global legislative criteria concerning vehicle security."
False triggers keep dealers very busy - and having to take your car into the dealer because the alarm keeps going off is bloody annoying and tends to cause manufacturers to score poorly on those customers satisfaction indexes.
Of course in this case there's a super-super-simple solution - if the alarm is armed and something connects to the OBD port, it should go off surely?
Then there's no need to fk around with the interior sensors...
That's imho the biggest design flaw.
alarm armed -> OBD port "used" -> sound alarm
Or, like you said, an alarm-triggered lockable cover.
Exact address?
Closed garage or parking lot?
You've clearly got a big chip on your shoulder when it comes to BMW owners
If that would be the problem [u]all[/u] cars would be affected, as it's legislation for all new cars. Yet that's not the case, is it? What the thieves effectively can do now is "make" a key on the spot, in mere seconds. Physical keys would take longer and bigger equipment one way or another. So there are several solutions:
- Make keys that can't be made in seconds with relatively cheap and portable equipment
- Make sure the OBD port can't be accessed when the alarm is activated
- For fk sake, put the OBD port somewhere where it can't be accessed without getting into the car
Making it impossible isn't really possible imho. Making it harder is the true goal.
As someone said, why don't they need a code that is provided with the car to create new keys?
It has got to be possible to "steal" a car, because it's the same process that one goes through when an owner loses the keys. The problem just seems to be that it's silent (because the alarm is rubbish) and too easy/fast. They could still just introduce a delay into the car-side of the OBD system so it takes 24 hours to program a key, or something similar.
Ultimately, it has to be possible to get a car going again without the key or any special information when it's sitting there alarmed because that will usually be the state the car is in when someone loses the keys.
Like I said, on new hondas and ducati, you would need to replace some ignition/ecu parts, costing about € 1000 to repair.
Agreed, for second hand selling buyers it's just something extra they need to be aware of.
Anybody knows how Alfa solved this? Last time I heard the 159 was very hard to steal, yet it hasn't got a regular key either... I think it was because there are no blank/reprogrammable keys available.
So only available as an original part.
With the 159 key, iirc, Fiat will provide you with an extra BUT they will only provide one made to order, not a blank one that everyone could program.
So not every youth with his hat on backwards can get 10 blank ones.
Agreed, when the car is 30 years old and you can't order keys anymore you've got a big problem. But then again, if you don't have any spare blank ones (??) lying around, you've got the same problem.
If you caught them in a corner, then you might have a problem, otherwise most are intelligent enough to know the law isn't looking for "attempted theft", and even when they get caught they'll get minor punishment. Hit someone or use force to obtain the goods and it's a whole other level. And they know it.
I cannot express how furious this makes me.
What kind of place was it in? Driveway? Garage? Any other security rather than the regular BMW 'security'?
Gutted for you!
- It's the EU's fault the OBD is accessible without opening a door?
- It's the EU's fault the OBD is accessible without triggering the alarm?
- It's the EU's fault it's that easy to program new keys in the car? No code required, no new key?
Anyway, aftermarket isn't bad most of the time, as, albeit some installs can be very crude, more than 90% of the cars are just equipped with manufacturers' security, so that's what the scrotes are mostly up-to-speed about.
For about £ 250 there are some very basic albeit efficient self-install GPS Trackers available. These days they are little bigger than a matchbox and can be hidden anywhere in the car.
I can see a couple of upsides here though:
- Car returned relatively fast without cost, no insurance bother either
- Damage is usually minimal, a couple of hundred £
- "they" won't return after a couple of months for your brand new insurance money car
- insurance claims don't go up for EVERYBODY. Look at this 1M, imagine if you want one and insure one, turns out that in your area there's a 20% chance it'll get nicked without a chance of retrieval. Your insurance quote will eventually say £15000, because some people "rather have a new one than have one returned". Don't forget that, however you think of it, YOU pay for the new one, not the scrotes, not the insurance, YOU.
- most of all: the fking scrotes don't have it, they've wasted an evening of their fking around and don't have any money in their pockets for it. This sends the message that MAYBE crime doesn't pay after all. Better still, they might even get caught with it (justice system aside, that's another matter). Imagine if the return/retrieval rate of cars is 60% instead of the current 5%, you'd think that thefts will drop? Now it's just so likely to get away with it it's ridiculous.
- it took 12 weeks to recover it
- it was supposedly un-damaged, but ended up being written off some months later when the fixing dealer discovered the shell was twisted (not before they had already spend a fortune on trying to fix it)
- if only.....
Can't imagine that NOT showing in insurance quotes if the metro's numbers are correct...
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