New BMW's getting stolen using blank BMW keys

[stuart-b]

WeirdNeville said:

BMW not knowing their arse from their elbow when it comes to the electronics is nothing new.

My mate had a 135i .Went in for a 'software update' and cmae back running like a 118d. No guts ,no revs, no throttle response. They denied there was any fault until he got them to drive his and an identical un-broken one back to back. They couldn't find or fix the fault over a 2 month period, and eventually bought the car back off him.

BMW and software are not comfortable bedfellows at the moment.

He could have gone and got it remapped/new software put on from the likes of AmD, or gone to another dealer, surely?

[MadAdMan]

stuart-b said:

He could have gone and got it remapped/new software put on from the likes of AmD, or gone to another dealer, surely?

ive suffered 4 weeks under BMW UK's best of the best and they cant get everything back on line, go figure

thinking i should have gone for a cayenne or a touareg

[anonymous-user]

MadAdMan said:

thinking i should have gone for a cayenne or a touareg

Definitely a Cayenne over an X5

[MadAdMan]

garyhun said:

Definitely a Cayenne over an X5

drove both and preferred the X5 M to drive (+7seats) but non of my mates who have cayennes have been bothered by any OBD thefts! grrrrr

[Zod]

MadAdMan said:

garyhun said:

Definitely a Cayenne over an X5

drove both and preferred the X5 M to drive (+7seats) but non of my mates who have cayennes have been bothered by any OBD thefts! grrrrr

X5 M is not available with 7 seats.

[r999]

theaxe said:

I've been giving some more thought to how best to implement an isolator to the ODB port for my E61 5-series. However I have some questions, each with possible options.

How to disable the port?
a) A simple on/off switch
b) A series of DIP switches which have to be aligned in a particular sequence to complete the circuit.
c) A 3.5mm or maybe RJ45 socket with a plug 'key' wired in a particular way so that you have to insert the matching plug to complete the circuit.

Where to put the disabler?
a) Just inboard of the OBD port.
b) Somewhere deep in the footwell
c) Somewhere random

My view, FWIW, was that it doesn't matter how simple or elaborate the switch is, provided it can't easily be found by fumbling around with one arm in the dark.

theaxe said:

Which line(s) to break?
a) One of the power lines could be easy to circumvent, what if their device has a separate power supply?
b) One of the data lines, but which one(s) to ensure that the process can't be completed.

I too decided not to rely on breaking the power line in case some of the devices are self-powered. I broke both data lines-- there are only two that carry anything -- I don't have the pinout to hand, but you can easily find it. Breaking one would probably have sufficed.

[MadAdMan]

Zod said:

X5 M is not available with 7 seats.

x5 M sport Vs Cayenne Diesel

[mrmr96]

r999 said:

theaxe said:

I've been giving some more thought to how best to implement an isolator to the ODB port for my E61 5-series. However I have some questions, each with possible options.

How to disable the port?
a) A simple on/off switch
b) A series of DIP switches which have to be aligned in a particular sequence to complete the circuit.
c) A 3.5mm or maybe RJ45 socket with a plug 'key' wired in a particular way so that you have to insert the matching plug to complete the circuit.

Where to put the disabler?
a) Just inboard of the OBD port.
b) Somewhere deep in the footwell
c) Somewhere random

My view, FWIW, was that it doesn't matter how simple or elaborate the switch is, provided it can't easily be found by fumbling around with one arm in the dark.

theaxe said:

Which line(s) to break?
a) One of the power lines could be easy to circumvent, what if their device has a separate power supply?
b) One of the data lines, but which one(s) to ensure that the process can't be completed.

I too decided not to rely on breaking the power line in case some of the devices are self-powered. I broke both data lines-- there are only two that carry anything -- I don't have the pinout to hand, but you can easily find it. Breaking one would probably have sufficed.

@theaxe - why not just unscrew the port and tuck it up behind the panel, then reinstall the panel? Can't be accessed by "one hand in the dark" as they'd have to remove the panel to get to it.

@r999 - let us know what happens next time you take that in for service. I asked my friend who works at Thatcham (but not as a tester) whether putting a switch in the data lines would be a good idea; he advised me against it because if my joins were not quite up to standard then it could potentially cause data communication issues. (Apparently these wires are fairly high bandwidth.) That's not to say the port won't work now, but I'd be interested to hear back after you've had it tested by plugging an OBD machine in and trying to do some things.

[r999]

mrmr96 said:

@r999 - let us know what happens next time you take that in for service. I asked my friend who works at Thatcham (but not as a tester) whether putting a switch in the data lines would be a good idea; he advised me against it because if my joins were not quite up to standard then it could potentially cause data communication issues. (Apparently these wires are fairly high bandwidth.) That's not to say the port won't work now, but I'd be interested to hear back after you've had it tested by plugging an OBD machine in and trying to do some things.

It works fine with my OBDII reader, and if it does not work fine when it goes in for service, that's not my problem, as the switches were installed by the (very competent) electrician at my BMW dealer, who assures me everything will still work, and if it doesn't, the dealership will rectify at their expense.

I mentioned all this much earlier (though there's no reason for you to know that in such a long thread) and was asked further questions. To save time, I'll say again: (a) I'm not saying which dealer I use and (b) they would very likely have been less helpful if I hadn't had good relations with them for a very long time.

[MadAdMan]

BMW just posted First Spy Photos: New BMW X5 F15 on their facebook page, so naturally when asked what id like to see on new x5 i posted
"will it still have the alarm blind spot making the OBD port available to any thief who wants to steal the car in 3 mins. Like they did to my new X5 Msport ?"

now they have requested facebook to block me making any comments, as their claim is im hitting them with spam! oh this is going to get interesting as im actually at the Facebook UK HQ tomorrow for one of our partnership meetings

apparently there was an article in the times motoring supplement, anyone read it?

[va1o]

MadAdMan said:

BMW just posted First Spy Photos: New BMW X5 F15 on their facebook page, so naturally when asked what id like to see on new x5 i posted
"will it still have the alarm blind spot making the OBD port available to any thief who wants to steal the car in 3 mins. Like they did to my new X5 Msport ?"

now they have requested facebook to block me making any comments, as their claim is im hitting them with spam! oh this is going to get interesting as im actually at the Facebook UK HQ tomorrow for one of our partnership meetings

apparently there was an article in the times motoring supplement, anyone read it?

I was very tempted to do the same recently on Facebook

And yes there was an article, but like most others it used terms such as "industry wide problem" and didn't really place much blaim on BMW.

[eliot]

Kananga said:

MadAdMan said:

JUST FINISHED DESIGNS FOR THE DISABLED OBD PORT STICKERS HAPPY TO EMAIL PDF ARTWORK TO ANYONE WHO WANTS TO PRINT STICKERS..

Very nice designs.

Is there anyone on here that can print the artwork as stickers ?

You could simply print it onto A4 and laminate it - then just wedge it in drivers window when you leave.

[sinizter]

eliot said:

You could simply print it onto A4 and laminate it - then just wedge it in drivers window when you leave.

Wouldn't be very convincing.

[ywu]

Out of interest, how much do people think it should cost in labour (or time) to put a dummy OBD port in and route an extension somewhere else? I have the "bits" (i.e cable and port) but just got quoted 4 hours time by an indie dealer which I think is a bit steep! I'd do it myself my I have worries about how to take the trim off without snapping things and re-routing prob involves going under the steering wheel to the central console area.

[mrmr96]

r999 said:

mrmr96 said:

@r999 - let us know what happens next time you take that in for service. I asked my friend who works at Thatcham (but not as a tester) whether putting a switch in the data lines would be a good idea; he advised me against it because if my joins were not quite up to standard then it could potentially cause data communication issues. (Apparently these wires are fairly high bandwidth.) That's not to say the port won't work now, but I'd be interested to hear back after you've had it tested by plugging an OBD machine in and trying to do some things.

It works fine with my OBDII reader, and if it does not work fine when it goes in for service, that's not my problem, as the switches were installed by the (very competent) electrician at my BMW dealer, who assures me everything will still work, and if it doesn't, the dealership will rectify at their expense.

I mentioned all this much earlier (though there's no reason for you to know that in such a long thread) and was asked further questions. To save time, I'll say again: (a) I'm not saying which dealer I use and (b) they would very likely have been less helpful if I hadn't had good relations with them for a very long time.

Ok, I'd assumed you'd done it yourself. I stand corrected.

[WheresMyCar]

ywu said:

Out of interest, how much do people think it should cost in labour (or time) to put a dummy OBD port in and route an extension somewhere else? I have the "bits" (i.e cable and port) but just got quoted 4 hours time by an indie dealer which I think is a bit steep! I'd do it myself my I have worries about how to take the trim off without snapping things and re-routing prob involves going under the steering wheel to the central console area.

It took me 4 hours including 2 hours of surfing the interwebs to find out what the hell I needed to do having never tried to take trim off, etc before. For someone that knows what they're doing, I think this is 1.5 to 2 hours work at most.

[93Jay]

WheresMyCar said:

ywu said:

Out of interest, how much do people think it should cost in labour (or time) to put a dummy OBD port in and route an extension somewhere else? I have the "bits" (i.e cable and port) but just got quoted 4 hours time by an indie dealer which I think is a bit steep! I'd do it myself my I have worries about how to take the trim off without snapping things and re-routing prob involves going under the steering wheel to the central console area.

It took me 4 hours including 2 hours of surfing the interwebs to find out what the hell I needed to do having never tried to take trim off, etc before. For someone that knows what they're doing, I think this is 1.5 to 2 hours work at most.

We paid a BMW/Mini specialist £60 to do it, that included parts and labour.

[Billyray911]

93Jay said:

We paid a BMW/Mini specialist £60 to do it, that included parts and labour.

Who was that through?I'm close to the Midlands,so I shall give them a ring as the parts are ready to be fitted.
PM me,if need be.Thankyou!

[r999]

On e90post.com someone with the username Mart1000 has been posting about BMW thefts. He's a London policeman and is constrained in what he can say.

One point he stresses strongly is the importance of putting sellotape over the OBD port and checking regularly to see whether it has been disturbed. This of course seems pointless, but he insists it's not, and says there's more to it than meets the eye.

I can only assume he's hinting that a common mode of theft is to gain access to the OBD port and programme a key, but not take the car until some later time.

The thread is here http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=725... and it's only 4 pages long, so if you are interested, may I suggest reading the whole thread before posting questions, guesses, and comments, as we have enough to wade through here already.

[Pesty]

r999 said:

One point he stresses strongly is the importance of putting sellotape over the OBD port and checking regularly to see whether it has been disturbed. This of course seems pointless, but he insists it's not, and says there's more to it than meets the eye.

I can only assume he's hinting that a common mode of theft is to gain access to the OBD port and programme a key, but not take the car until some later time.

don't they have to damage something in the first place to get access to the port? I think the first clue is a broken window

never mind reading teh thread now he claims you can get in without breaking glass

Edited by Pesty on Saturday 11th August 16:26