STOLEN BMW 335i (East London, E14)

[crispian22]

probrably worth bmw owners investing in a good old fashioned crooklock for peice of mind.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Stoplock-Original-High-S...

[Steffan]

crispian22 said:

probrably worth bmw owners investing in a good old fashioned crooklock for peice of mind.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Stoplock-Original-High-S...

It might make the thieves look elsewhere.

But if they want your car this will add 15 seconds of time to their theft. Various consumer programs have demonstrated how ineffective these are against determined thieves. But certainly better than nothing.

[rallycross]

There does seem to be a lot of BMW's being taken from East London (just from threads on P/H).

Buy one of these (below) for some added security if you have a late model bmw with the plug into the dash type key.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DISKLOK-Small-Car-Steeri...

[driver67]

Same thing being reported over at babybmw.net.

Suggested remedies include moving / putting a false obdii port in place.

[BorkFactor]

I genuinely can't believe BMW have not done anything about this yet, it is the sort of thing that could put large numbers of people off the brand for life!

[Fastra]

Has it been serviced recently?
Had anything done to it that required someone else having the keys?

[pilchardthecat]

driver67 said:

Same thing being reported over at babybmw.net.

Suggested remedies include moving / putting a false obdii port in place.

A false OBDII port connected to a high-voltage jump starter concealed in the boot?

Or confugured to close a circuit when the cable is pushed into it, thus activating a tazer/can of mace/sharp spike secreted somewhere?

Come on, this is PH

[frosted]

BorkFactor said:

I genuinely can't believe BMW have not done anything about this yet, it is the sort of thing that could put large numbers of people off the brand for life!

More likely make them uninsurable

[frosted]

D P

[haggy]

Had a random phone call from a guy near me in southampton a couple of weeks ago. His 330D was taken, no keys. 5 BMW's were taken the same way between the monday and thursday!! getting a joke now

[Ved]

Shocking and yet every day stuff. I really hope you don't get it back and can move on. I'd never want a car back if it was stollen but I do hope you stick with the nice cars as you've earned the right.

My boss had his keys taken at knife-point not so long ago so it could be so much worse.

How are they doing this then, is it frequency intercpeption or just jamming the actually remote lock?

[Steffan]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

If you look in the sister post to this on PH there is a pretty detailed explanation including sufficient information to convince me this is the technology biting BMW on the bum. And the customers.

BMW have simply failed to secure the IT element in the management systems on these cars. The thieves have been observed operating laptops near the cars shortly before theft occurs. A footballers X5 has gone missing.

Somebody has cracked the Key codes and can reprogram blank keys at will. Full details on the other post. I hope the car thieves rot in hell. Regrettably unlikely.

[JT1982]

I have contacted Watchdog with the details of my car theft - I hope that other victims of the same crime do likewise. Unfortunately, for us its a little too late (limited chance of getting her back) but if the number of calls increases, then something will come of this and bad press will defo hit BMW.

We bought our car in good faith from BMW, only for it to be taken using a simple method which exploits the cars OWN computer system to re-program a blank key and bypass all the security features.

There is a need for the general public (not just those on forums like us) to be aware of this so they can protect their cars...as BMW will not!

[jonjay]

Good on you for contacting watchdog!

[XJSJohn]

naturally i am not saying these are dishonestly acquired, but reciently we have been seeing quite a few BMW "used imported vehicles" on the market out here.....

http://www.sgcarmart.com/used_cars/listing.php?CAT...

[Zed Ed]

jonjay said:

Good on you for contacting watchdog!

Looking like a good story, on arrogant premium car manufacturer!

BMWs equivalent of Hoover's Free Flights fiasco

[swisstoni]

I would be buying a wheel clamp if I owned a BMW in East London at the moment. Theives probably don't want to be clanking around in the middle of the night if there is an easier one up the road.

[Gaygle]

I think BMW have known about this problem for a while, which is why they haven't bothered trying to make a HPFP that lasts more than 5 minutes. Think about it, if the thief only gets 0.5 mile up the road because the HPFP packs up, the chance of getting the car back is much higher. It's basically them using one design flaw to fix another design flaw. German efficiency at it's best!

Seriously though, sorry to hear about the loss of your 335i. Your 335i sounds almost exactly the same as mine so i appreciate how bad it must feel to lose it!

[Mouse1903]

Hope it does turn up, fingers crossed for you!

[nice audi driver]

I hadn't heard anything about this and now it's all I'm seeing. I guess this is self fulfilling: the more people find out how easy it is, the more people will do it.

It reminds me of the fiasco surrounding mk4 golf platform door locks, but that didn't allow you to steal the car.

Truely horrible story to keep reading.