Catch a car thief in my car with a key! How??
Discussion
Mostro said:
Second identical thread I've read in a week. I too hope it's the same dealer so that a) they can be brought to task, and b) the scam is not more prevalent than first thought.
One query though, why was the alarm going off and he was struggling to start it if he had a key?
Maybe not configured to overcome the immobiliser properly?
Keys need to be coded to the car in most cases if i'm not mistaken.One query though, why was the alarm going off and he was struggling to start it if he had a key?
Maybe not configured to overcome the immobiliser properly?OP, you're a bloody lucky chap there! Go get one of those gearlever locks and sleep easy.
clarkey318is said:
Mostro said:
Second identical thread I've read in a week. I too hope it's the same dealer so that a) they can be brought to task, and b) the scam is not more prevalent than first thought.
One query though, why was the alarm going off and he was struggling to start it if he had a key? Maybe not configured to overcome the immobiliser properly?
Keys need to be coded to the car in most cases if i'm not mistaken.One query though, why was the alarm going off and he was struggling to start it if he had a key?
Maybe not configured to overcome the immobiliser properly?OP, you're a bloody lucky chap there! Go get one of those gearlever locks and sleep easy.
Dr_Gonzo said:
clarkey318is said:
Mostro said:
Second identical thread I've read in a week. I too hope it's the same dealer so that a) they can be brought to task, and b) the scam is not more prevalent than first thought.
One query though, why was the alarm going off and he was struggling to start it if he had a key? Maybe not configured to overcome the immobiliser properly?
Keys need to be coded to the car in most cases if i'm not mistaken.One query though, why was the alarm going off and he was struggling to start it if he had a key?
Maybe not configured to overcome the immobiliser properly?OP, you're a bloody lucky chap there! Go get one of those gearlever locks and sleep easy.
Silverbullet767 said:
Mind you, Audi dealers are a shower too...
Some Audi dealers are a shower but the "new key" process is fairly robust as I found out recently when my wife left her keys in the post office. You have to show ID at the Audi Centre (V5, utility bill and drivers licence) for them to order the key. The key arrives and you then have to return to the Centre with the car for them to reprogramme the car, the new key and the old spare key to the new code. The "old" lost key will still turn the locks manually but can not open the car on the remote or disable the immobiliser, so as long as you lock the car on the remote, it will be secure. This does seem to be appearing too often now.
What pee's me off with this, is that no-one is prepared to try and help.
The manufacturer rightly or wrongly bounce the problem down to the individual dealer - which stinks to be honest. What kind of damage are these corporate money bags doing to a brand which until recently was regarded as prestige / attractive!
The dealer, in turn, doesnt want to have anything to do with it because they would effectively be admitting liability. If some goon hasnt been bothered to check the necessary paperwork and go through the procedures, then it should be their head on the block. It doesnt take a genius to check a database and then confirm the paper details you see in front of you does it.
The police too seem to be taking a somewhat 'Not my problem guv' approach! If you'd managed to catch the scrote (despite wearing your latest pair of Zola Budd trainers), Im pretty sure plod would be along to ask you how come your flower pot had managed to become lodged up the scrotes backside.
Not sure that any of this is any use - but just a little bit of customer care and a few people doing their jobs would have a lot more people sleeping easy and probably considering returning to the BMW brand.
OP, Good luck with your dealings - be interesting to hear how far you get by making some noise about it
What pee's me off with this, is that no-one is prepared to try and help.
The manufacturer rightly or wrongly bounce the problem down to the individual dealer - which stinks to be honest. What kind of damage are these corporate money bags doing to a brand which until recently was regarded as prestige / attractive!
The dealer, in turn, doesnt want to have anything to do with it because they would effectively be admitting liability. If some goon hasnt been bothered to check the necessary paperwork and go through the procedures, then it should be their head on the block. It doesnt take a genius to check a database and then confirm the paper details you see in front of you does it.
The police too seem to be taking a somewhat 'Not my problem guv' approach! If you'd managed to catch the scrote (despite wearing your latest pair of Zola Budd trainers), Im pretty sure plod would be along to ask you how come your flower pot had managed to become lodged up the scrotes backside.
Not sure that any of this is any use - but just a little bit of customer care and a few people doing their jobs would have a lot more people sleeping easy and probably considering returning to the BMW brand.
OP, Good luck with your dealings - be interesting to hear how far you get by making some noise about it
You are the second chap with an M3 that has posted about this this week.
I'd be concerned. Very concerned. I'd also expect BMW to front the cost of a new lockset for your car given that there is a key in circulation and in the hands of criminals still (I presume)
As someone who works in the motortrade and orders keys I am all to aware of how careful and thorough I need to be vet people trying to order keys. Infact the process I follow rigidly usually infuriates most people because it is a pain in the ass, until I explain what could happen if I didn't follow these proceedures and ask them if they'd be upset if I sold the keys to their car to a criminal gang. I want to see the original V5, the customer in person and photo ID, all of which I copy, before I even entertain ordering keys. I am also very weary of dates on paperwork matching and addresses from outside of the area. Any doubt and I refuse to order keys, and have the full backing of my manager that it is at our descretion.
I'd be concerned. Very concerned. I'd also expect BMW to front the cost of a new lockset for your car given that there is a key in circulation and in the hands of criminals still (I presume)
As someone who works in the motortrade and orders keys I am all to aware of how careful and thorough I need to be vet people trying to order keys. Infact the process I follow rigidly usually infuriates most people because it is a pain in the ass, until I explain what could happen if I didn't follow these proceedures and ask them if they'd be upset if I sold the keys to their car to a criminal gang. I want to see the original V5, the customer in person and photo ID, all of which I copy, before I even entertain ordering keys. I am also very weary of dates on paperwork matching and addresses from outside of the area. Any doubt and I refuse to order keys, and have the full backing of my manager that it is at our descretion.
What is annoying is BMW are saying that they are the 'victim' of fraud as well and that they have followed procedure. This is a growing trend by some of your comments so they need to look at their procedures quickly to combat this repearing itself which is my argument, as I said I won't be letting this one go, i'll take it as far as I can.......
A911DOM said:
This does seem to be appearing too often now.
What pee's me off with this, is that no-one is prepared to try and help.
The manufacturer rightly or wrongly bounce the problem down to the individual dealer - which stinks to be honest. What kind of damage are these corporate money bags doing to a brand which until recently was regarded as prestige / attractive!
The dealer, in turn, doesnt want to have anything to do with it because they would effectively be admitting liability. If some goon hasnt been bothered to check the necessary paperwork and go through the procedures, then it should be their head on the block. It doesnt take a genius to check a database and then confirm the paper details you see in front of you does it.
The police too seem to be taking a somewhat 'Not my problem guv' approach! If you'd managed to catch the scrote (despite wearing your latest pair of Zola Budd trainers), Im pretty sure plod would be along to ask you how come your flower pot had managed to become lodged up the scrotes backside.
Not sure that any of this is any use - but just a little bit of customer care and a few people doing their jobs would have a lot more people sleeping easy and probably considering returning to the BMW brand.
OP, Good luck with your dealings - be interesting to hear how far you get by making some noise about it
What pee's me off with this, is that no-one is prepared to try and help.
The manufacturer rightly or wrongly bounce the problem down to the individual dealer - which stinks to be honest. What kind of damage are these corporate money bags doing to a brand which until recently was regarded as prestige / attractive!
The dealer, in turn, doesnt want to have anything to do with it because they would effectively be admitting liability. If some goon hasnt been bothered to check the necessary paperwork and go through the procedures, then it should be their head on the block. It doesnt take a genius to check a database and then confirm the paper details you see in front of you does it.
The police too seem to be taking a somewhat 'Not my problem guv' approach! If you'd managed to catch the scrote (despite wearing your latest pair of Zola Budd trainers), Im pretty sure plod would be along to ask you how come your flower pot had managed to become lodged up the scrotes backside.
Not sure that any of this is any use - but just a little bit of customer care and a few people doing their jobs would have a lot more people sleeping easy and probably considering returning to the BMW brand.
OP, Good luck with your dealings - be interesting to hear how far you get by making some noise about it
kING CARGlad to hear that you didn't lose your car. And the thought of chasing someone down the road with a flowerpot did crack a smile...
I think Subaru have a really good system - you can get a key cut to match your lock but the dual immobiliser system won't accept the new key until the driver manually programs it themselves; quite how this works if you've lost all keys to the car I'm not sure. Nonetheless, when I got a spare key, I had to tap in a PIN code to unlock the system, play with the key and some more codes, and lock the system to accept just those two keys. Seems to be quite good, not heard any horror stories of 2005 STi's being stolen (then again I'm not looking for them! :P)
I think Subaru have a really good system - you can get a key cut to match your lock but the dual immobiliser system won't accept the new key until the driver manually programs it themselves; quite how this works if you've lost all keys to the car I'm not sure. Nonetheless, when I got a spare key, I had to tap in a PIN code to unlock the system, play with the key and some more codes, and lock the system to accept just those two keys. Seems to be quite good, not heard any horror stories of 2005 STi's being stolen (then again I'm not looking for them! :P)
The OP said that the thief was trying to start the car which suggests that the key was not coded to the car.
The other thread which was linked says that the car was recovered 'down the road'; perhaps unlocked and pushed away from where it was parked?
I was under the impression that keys supplied by BMW were cut blanks that then has to be coded with the car at the dealer.
Is anyone sure that the keys are a case of order key, find car and drive away? I'm not so sure.
I completely agree about the lack of thorough checking before the key is supplied.
The other thread which was linked says that the car was recovered 'down the road'; perhaps unlocked and pushed away from where it was parked?
I was under the impression that keys supplied by BMW were cut blanks that then has to be coded with the car at the dealer.
Is anyone sure that the keys are a case of order key, find car and drive away? I'm not so sure.
I completely agree about the lack of thorough checking before the key is supplied.
Edited by 530dTPhil on Tuesday 24th November 19:23
The key will open the car door manually, you can put the key in the ignition, make a few turns, press the BMW button in the right sequence and the car sync's with the key and updates it with the coding required to make the key fully functionally, its on the internet aparently!!!!!! The only problem as a thief is the car alarm will trigger but if no one checks it takes 30 secs to program the key then off you go.........
530dTPhil said:
The OP said that the thief was trying to start the car which suggests that the key was not coded to the car.
The other thread which was linked says that the car was recovered 'down the road'; perhaps unlocked and pushed away from where it was parked?
I was under the impression that keys supplied by BMW were cut blanks that then has to be coded with the car at the dealer.
Is anyone sure that the keys are a case of order key, find car and drive away? I'm not so sure.
I completely agree about the lack of thorough checking before the key is supplied.
The other thread which was linked says that the car was recovered 'down the road'; perhaps unlocked and pushed away from where it was parked?
I was under the impression that keys supplied by BMW were cut blanks that then has to be coded with the car at the dealer.
Is anyone sure that the keys are a case of order key, find car and drive away? I'm not so sure.
I completely agree about the lack of thorough checking before the key is supplied.
Edited by 530dTPhil on Tuesday 24th November 19:23
can you remember where you saw the other persons story? I need to try and get hold of him as there are others like me in this situation. Thanks
bazking69 said:
You are the second chap with an M3 that has posted about this this week.
I'd be concerned. Very concerned. I'd also expect BMW to front the cost of a new lockset for your car given that there is a key in circulation and in the hands of criminals still (I presume)
As someone who works in the motortrade and orders keys I am all to aware of how careful and thorough I need to be vet people trying to order keys. Infact the process I follow rigidly usually infuriates most people because it is a pain in the ass, until I explain what could happen if I didn't follow these proceedures and ask them if they'd be upset if I sold the keys to their car to a criminal gang. I want to see the original V5, the customer in person and photo ID, all of which I copy, before I even entertain ordering keys. I am also very weary of dates on paperwork matching and addresses from outside of the area. Any doubt and I refuse to order keys, and have the full backing of my manager that it is at our descretion.
I'd be concerned. Very concerned. I'd also expect BMW to front the cost of a new lockset for your car given that there is a key in circulation and in the hands of criminals still (I presume)
As someone who works in the motortrade and orders keys I am all to aware of how careful and thorough I need to be vet people trying to order keys. Infact the process I follow rigidly usually infuriates most people because it is a pain in the ass, until I explain what could happen if I didn't follow these proceedures and ask them if they'd be upset if I sold the keys to their car to a criminal gang. I want to see the original V5, the customer in person and photo ID, all of which I copy, before I even entertain ordering keys. I am also very weary of dates on paperwork matching and addresses from outside of the area. Any doubt and I refuse to order keys, and have the full backing of my manager that it is at our descretion.
stevieu said:
can you remember where you saw the other persons story? I need to try and get hold of him as there are others like me in this situation. Thanks
Here you go fellahttp://www.mtorque.co.uk/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php...
stevieu said:
The key will open the car door manually, you can put the key in the ignition, make a few turns, press the BMW button in the right sequence and the car sync's with the key and updates it with the coding required to make the key fully functionally, its on the internet aparently!!!!!! The only problem as a thief is the car alarm will trigger but if no one checks it takes 30 secs to program the key then off you go.........
A lot of cars in the states need two keys, one which is already coded to the car, in order to code a second. If you don't have one e.g you lost it, then it's a trip to the dealer. Right way of doing it IMO.530dTPhil said:
The OP said that the thief was trying to start the car which suggests that the key was not coded to the car.
The other thread which was linked says that the car was recovered 'down the road'; perhaps unlocked and pushed away from where it was parked?
I was under the impression that keys supplied by BMW were cut blanks that then has to be coded with the car at the dealer.
Is anyone sure that the keys are a case of order key, find car and drive away? I'm not so sure.
I completely agree about the lack of thorough checking before the key is supplied.
The other thread which was linked says that the car was recovered 'down the road'; perhaps unlocked and pushed away from where it was parked?
I was under the impression that keys supplied by BMW were cut blanks that then has to be coded with the car at the dealer.
Is anyone sure that the keys are a case of order key, find car and drive away? I'm not so sure.
I completely agree about the lack of thorough checking before the key is supplied.
Edited by 530dTPhil on Tuesday 24th November 19:23
Thanks for this, i've contacted the guy as this sounds the same people
WorAl said:
kambites said:
Erm, there was another post with someone saying exactly the same thing last week.
ETA: Here you go: http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
I have seen three threads exactly like this in the past. one was a Blue M3, remember the photo added to the threadETA: Here you go: http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Edited by kambites on Monday 23 November 21:15
This is worrying!
Earlier in the year, I had the need for a new key for my Mini, this was ordered through the original supplier of the vehicle in Wiltshire. Like in the making of registration plates, I was ready with the proof of ID, proof of ownership and recent bill. Was I asked for it at the time of order, NO!
Key fob arrives and they offer to post it to me, I said no as I did not want something that was already coded to the car potentially getting lost. So I arrange to collect the fob from the dealer, I arrive and it is handed over by someone who I had never seen and who did not ask me for ID, only my vehicle registration. Surprised I look at the man and take the fob after he instructs me what to do with it to get it fully programmed (avery simple process). Still at this point no request to see ID etc....
When he finished, I asked him do you wish to see my ID to make sure that you are giving the right fob to the right owner? He said that it was not necessary and waved me on my way. After this I never passed by since due to the lack of confidence and customer care protecting my expensive purchase.
I shall call tomorrow to see what the fob history is with my car.
By the way, hope that there was no damage to your vehicle while the thief tried to take it.
Best,
Andy
Earlier in the year, I had the need for a new key for my Mini, this was ordered through the original supplier of the vehicle in Wiltshire. Like in the making of registration plates, I was ready with the proof of ID, proof of ownership and recent bill. Was I asked for it at the time of order, NO!
Key fob arrives and they offer to post it to me, I said no as I did not want something that was already coded to the car potentially getting lost. So I arrange to collect the fob from the dealer, I arrive and it is handed over by someone who I had never seen and who did not ask me for ID, only my vehicle registration. Surprised I look at the man and take the fob after he instructs me what to do with it to get it fully programmed (avery simple process). Still at this point no request to see ID etc....
When he finished, I asked him do you wish to see my ID to make sure that you are giving the right fob to the right owner? He said that it was not necessary and waved me on my way. After this I never passed by since due to the lack of confidence and customer care protecting my expensive purchase.
I shall call tomorrow to see what the fob history is with my car.
By the way, hope that there was no damage to your vehicle while the thief tried to take it.
Best,
Andy
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