STOLEN: BMW 535d East London

[offspring86]

eastsider said:

Car found by police parked in West London on false plates. Fair play to tracker, all the cash I have paid them over the last few years paid off when it counted. Apparently undamaged, I haven't seen it yet - police have it for forensic examination for a couple of days.

Very surprised, I was 99% sure it was in a container and heading off to Africa or wherever.

Good to hear!

[Sonic]

Awesome news OP!

[SmoothCriminal]

Nice one fella glad to hear that.

Hopefully as it was on false plates it hasn't been tagged around by chavs.

[rh123]

Excellent news.
Good to hear the car is back without damage.

[zcacogp]

Great news - very pleased to hear it!

Any ideas on how to better secure it next time?


Oli.

[Cheib]

Thom987 said:

ArsE92 said:

I understood that "transmitter picks up your key send to open" was suggesting that a device of some kind was 'listening' for a code to open the car, storing it, and using it later. I'd expect that to not be possible.

I believe it is possible, even more so on the type of key that opens the car as you approach it as it is transmitting at all times, therefor easier to brab the signal.

Firstly excellent news that they have found your car!

Secondly I think the idea that Comfort Access is easier to get "grab" than a car without it is bks. The signal they key emits for comnfort access is extremely localised....we're talking three or four feet. It has to be for obvious reasons.

[Mtech25]

the options to consider is something a friend of mines has, he has a switch which when flicked stops the fuel pump pumping petrol or something along the lines, but u can still drive i think 1 mile, but of course the person in question would be very scared to carry on trying to get it figured out in minutes.

he doesnt have a BMW, only a jap car.

did someone get arrested in the vehicle op?

[eastsider]

@Oli - The only thing I can think of to better secure it next time is a decent steering wheel lock of some sort. I will feel like its 1993 in my Vauxhall Nova again but I can't see what else to do - that hopefully will make mine a more difficult target than one without so they'll move along. Its having the discipline to put it on every time though.

Car was found parked 'in a quiet side road' allegedly undamaged, I haven't seen it yet. No one with the car no arrests made. It didn't occur to me at the time to ask the Police why they don't wait and see who comes back for it.

I guess sadly the answer would be lack of manpower and bigger priorities. They could have several officers sit there in shifts for days waiting, and probably only nick a single person, presumably a middle man/bottom of the tree in the criminal gang.

[Blatter]

Do you suppose that the gang have a modus operandi of leaving a nicked car for a day or so, if they can't initially locate a tracker unit, just in case?

To all intents and purposes, someone has just parked an anonymous car on a quiet street, but the gang will be watching it to see if it's picked up. If nothing happens after a couple of days then, bingo, it's theirs.

[GoodDoc]

essayer said:

My understanding is that they block the "locking" signal when you exit the car using a jammer, so the car is unlocked for them to return to at a convenient time.

Then, with easily available hardware, they program a new key to the car which they then use to drive off.

Failing that they get a contact at BMW to make them a new key, but this would surely be difficult to get away with on a long term basis given the paperwork that must get generated.

Having read some of the threads on BMW forums it seems that the location of the ODB port is a dead zone for the alarm. Another unfortunate owner who was relieved of his BMW has CCTV footage of the criminals breaking the window, reaching into the car and connecting to the ODB port, and then rolling the car off his the driveway before starting it. Not as subtle as jamming the signal from the keyfob but it seems to be just as effective if you want to start the car.

Lots of talk on the forums about moving the ODB port, or fitting a dummy port. Far from foolproof but may be enough to deter a criminal from trying to trouble shoot a problem connecting to the car's ECU.

Presumably BMW can't be the only car manufacturer with this problem, lots of other cars that use 'soft keys'.

[thinfourth2]

WeirdNeville said:

I forsee cars having a login and a web page in the not so distant future. You could remotely kill the engine ,set a rev limit, and of course track the car online. Setting the radio volume and frequency and remotely severing the brake lines will be a cost option.

i think that would go against basic human rights

you could remotely tune a radio onto radio 1

[eastsider]

I know now (just seen car) that the drivers door lock was drilled out on mine to gain access. OBD port cover missing, 100% they cloned a key then drove off. It must be an alarm deadzone but if you can drill out a door lock without the alarm going off then the alarm isn't much use.

ANY BMW owners that haven't read the main thread on these thefts in the BMW General forum I would suggest you do so immediately.

[jonjay]

Really pleased for you mate.

Gives me hope they may find mine.

[giggity]

This is pathetic now.

However I think this now makes sense, they drill out the lock and open the door as if you was using the blade to enter the car (remote failed)

This gives them a 10-15 second window to insert the key / connect to OBD before the alarm sounds.

To be honest, if you enter the car using the manual blade the alarm should sound right away. No 10 second window to disarm using the key.