New BMW's getting stolen using blank BMW keys

[t8cmf]

A technical question for Mr Bimmer or anybody else in the know.

When BMW apply the fix / patch, does it only upgrade a singular module or does it completely reprogram the entire car / ECU firmware?

The reason I ask is that my E92 M3 is still rocking it's original 2007 firmware from factory so if I get a full upgrade for free I'm going to be ;)

[Billyray911]

Gavstar said:

How did you do that? Mine was broken into this week and I feel it's kind of vulnerable at the moment.

Copied from a reply by member BMWTech.Hope this is of use...

The solution (that I have carried out to my own car) is to remove the OBD and relocate it elsewhere. If thieves break in and get the obd cover off and then can't locate the actual OBD connector plug, they will not be able to programme the car.

Remove the plastic panels under/surrounding the steering column and footwell. Next, unscrew the OBD (2 Philips screws) from it's mount, then relocate it among the rat's nest of wiring under the steering wheel (completely out of sight). Use electrical tape to secure it to another loom as far back as possible and hide the OBD plug among a heap of wires. Refit the trims and surroundings and hopefully that's you!

[Gavstar]

Btw, what sort of money am I looking at to replace the door lock? Presumably I'll need two new keys too.

[Gavstar]

Billyray911 said:

Gavstar said:

How did you do that? Mine was broken into this week and I feel it's kind of vulnerable at the moment.

Copied from a reply by member BMWTech.Hope this is of use...

The solution (that I have carried out to my own car) is to remove the OBD and relocate it elsewhere. If thieves break in and get the obd cover off and then can't locate the actual OBD connector plug, they will not be able to programme the car.

Remove the plastic panels under/surrounding the steering column and footwell. Next, unscrew the OBD (2 Philips screws) from it's mount, then relocate it among the rat's nest of wiring under the steering wheel (completely out of sight). Use electrical tape to secure it to another loom as far back as possible and hide the OBD plug among a heap of wires. Refit the trims and surroundings and hopefully that's you!

Thanks mate.

[don'tbesilly]

Gavstar said:

Billyray911 said:

Gavstar said:

How did you do that? Mine was broken into this week and I feel it's kind of vulnerable at the moment.

Copied from a reply by member BMWTech.Hope this is of use...

The solution (that I have carried out to my own car) is to remove the OBD and relocate it elsewhere. If thieves break in and get the obd cover off and then can't locate the actual OBD connector plug, they will not be able to programme the car.

Remove the plastic panels under/surrounding the steering column and footwell. Next, unscrew the OBD (2 Philips screws) from it's mount, then relocate it among the rat's nest of wiring under the steering wheel (completely out of sight). Use electrical tape to secure it to another loom as far back as possible and hide the OBD plug among a heap of wires. Refit the trims and surroundings and hopefully that's you!

Thanks mate.

Good DIY guide here:

http://www.bimmerforums.co.uk/forum/f3/how-remove-...

[Mr Bimmer]

t8cmf said:

A technical question for Mr Bimmer or anybody else in the know.

When BMW apply the fix / patch, does it only upgrade a singular module or does it completely reprogram the entire car / ECU firmware?

The reason I ask is that my E92 M3 is still rocking it's original 2007 firmware from factory so if I get a full upgrade for free I'm going to be ;)

As it stands, the dealer level equipment only allows for a full update. Your m3 will take most of the day to update.

[t8cmf]

Mr Bimmer said:

As it stands, the dealer level equipment only allows for a full update. Your m3 will take most of the day to update.

Thanks. That's a bonus then.

Out of interest, I guess the update will wipe out my Dension patch that integrates my Gateway 500 + AVR Module with the iDrive system?

[BEEMER69]

t8cmf said:

Thanks. That's a bonus then.

Out of interest, I guess the update will wipe out my Dension patch that integrates my Gateway 500 + AVR Module with the iDrive system?

I was told the fix would take around 40mins when I rang to register.

[don'tbesilly]

Mr Bimmer said:

As it stands, the dealer level equipment only allows for a full update. Your m3 will take most of the day to update.

Did you miss my earlier question:

don'tbesilly said:

Mr Bimmer said:

I don't remember mentioning April specifically.

The firmware was fixed back in 2011 then tweaked a few more times over the Year.

In other words, if you have been back to the dealers in the last Year for work on a module that required a firmware update, you should already have the safe firmware. The i-level should be listed on your receipt.

However, it would still be prudent to have the new firmware update just to make sure you get the very latest files.

So what you're suggesting is that there was a solution to the problem (theft via the OBD) quite some mths ago,yet BMW did nothing until what a lot of people already knew,was broadcast by Watchdog.

If the firmware update already exists,why have we got to wait 8 weeks?

Sorry Mr Bimmer,but your post makes no sense,please explain,thanks.

[russdx]

this is exactly what i did
the side panel can be a bit of a pain to get back on, as it slots under the sill.

i also called the number and have been added to the database

Gavstar said:

Billyray911 said:

Gavstar said:

How did you do that? Mine was broken into this week and I feel it's kind of vulnerable at the moment.

Copied from a reply by member BMWTech.Hope this is of use...

The solution (that I have carried out to my own car) is to remove the OBD and relocate it elsewhere. If thieves break in and get the obd cover off and then can't locate the actual OBD connector plug, they will not be able to programme the car.

Remove the plastic panels under/surrounding the steering column and footwell. Next, unscrew the OBD (2 Philips screws) from it's mount, then relocate it among the rat's nest of wiring under the steering wheel (completely out of sight). Use electrical tape to secure it to another loom as far back as possible and hide the OBD plug among a heap of wires. Refit the trims and surroundings and hopefully that's you!

Thanks mate.

[Mr Bimmer]

don'tbesilly said:

Mr Bimmer said:

As it stands, the dealer level equipment only allows for a full update. Your m3 will take most of the day to update.

Did you miss my earlier question:

don'tbesilly said:

Mr Bimmer said:

I don't remember mentioning April specifically.

The firmware was fixed back in 2011 then tweaked a few more times over the Year.

In other words, if you have been back to the dealers in the last Year for work on a module that required a firmware update, you should already have the safe firmware. The i-level should be listed on your receipt.

However, it would still be prudent to have the new firmware update just to make sure you get the very latest files.

So what you're suggesting is that there was a solution to the problem (theft via the OBD) quite some mths ago,yet BMW did nothing until what a lot of people already knew,was broadcast by Watchdog.

If the firmware update already exists,why have we got to wait 8 weeks?

Sorry Mr Bimmer,but your post makes no sense,please explain,thanks.

I'm not sure what you don't understand. Do you have any idea how many cars BMW will need to update and how long it will all take? Do you expect BMW to recall all cars as soon as someone has stolen one?

Just remember that it's the thieves who are at fault here. BMW have issued a fix and people are still complaining. Be safe in the knowledge that once the updates are done and they can't pinch your P&J without disturbing you, we can go back to the good old days, where the thieves break in and steal your keys. Nice!

As it stands, the BMW tool will take a few hours to update the car depending on it's spec. Maybe the factory will issue the dealers with some dedicated machines which will load the single module update. This would take a matter of minutes.

Edited by Mr Bimmer on Saturday 15th September 08:46

[eastsider]

Mr Bimmer said:

Be safe in the knowledge that once the updates are done and they can't pinch your P&J without disturbing you, we can go back to the good old days, where the thieves break in and steal your keys. Nice!

Sadly true, but this must happen less - its a much higher risk crime. Breaking and entering, quite possibly some sort of (armed) assault, then theft of motor vehicle (probably take a few valuables from the house while they are there - why not).

Of course it happens but a criminal undertaking that level of aggressive crime is taking far more risk, is far more committed than a gang with a programming device. So theft of keys must happen less, relatively?

The anger from owners is the ease with which the OBD method allows cars to be taken. Personally I expect a sharp increase in these thefts in the next 8 weeks - few months while they still can...

[Mr Bimmer]

eastsider said:

The anger from owners is the ease with which the OBD method allows cars to be taken. Personally I expect a sharp increase in these thefts in the next 8 weeks - few months while they still can...

Yes, I can understand owners fears, but a simple flick switch in a discrete location is all that's needed.

It's still only a tiny percentage of cars that have been stolen this way, so a quick trip to an auto electrician should allay owners fears in the meantime.

Let's not forget that these criminals will also be trying their best to get back in, so the game continues. That's why BMW have taken the time to (hopefully) patch the Cas module permanently.

Any money spent on extra security is always worthwhile however good a factory alarm is

[wizz72]

I wrote an email to BMW UK a couple of months ago on this subject to which i had the reply that they would get back to me soon,which of course hasnt happened yet.

One of my concerns was not the method of using the OBD port to reprogramme keys,although of course this is a massive problem in itself,but more the issue of the blind spot in the alarm system allowing thieves to access the port at their leisure in the first place.

When i called the customer service number yesterday i told the representative that my OBD port had been relocated some time back until this issue was resolved,he promptly told me that this would have INVALIDATED MY WARRANY, but when i told him it was my local BMW garage that performed the work,at a small cost to myself,he replied that in that case my warranty will still be intact.

So if your thinking about protecting your car using an OBD port relocation/removal method until this whole fiasco is over then at least get BMW to do the work lest you create even more problems that you shouldnt have to deal with.

The whole situation has been handled very badly with varying levels of vagueness and innacuracy being fed to customers by different dealers,from what we have now been told BMW have been aware of this issue for quite some time,so if the 'working on a fix line' holds true it is totally unnacceptable for so many people to have been left in such a predicament for so long.If they had offered more help and advice earlier on while they were developing their fix over the last 12 months then customers would have been able to have taken more precautionary measures to protect their vehicles in the meantime.

Not everyone reads these Forums so programmes like Watchdog would have been the first time many owners realised anything was wrong.

Thats a poor standard of customer care by BMW whichever way you look at it.

[sday12]

Mr Bimmer said:

Do you expect BMW to recall all cars as soon as someone has stolen one?

Just remember that it's the thieves who are at fault here. BMW have issued a fix and people still complaining.

No, I do not expect BMW to recall cars as soon as someone has stolen one.

I also don't expect their Customer Service team to lie that they don't know it's happening contrary to all the evidence, refuse to address the problem, and only act when they've been caught with their pants down on Watchdog.

As for the breaking in to steal the keys, that's the current state off affairs, and although very unpleasant, it takes a criminal with a larger set of balls than wheeling it off the drive and starting it 30 seconds later.

Yes, it is the thieves fault, but they are only using the same technology to overcome the technology used in the cars, therefore it is a security failure.
If BMW wanted to keep their reputation, they should have dealt with it, not ignoring it, not by saying its not just them, and not by saying their security meets requirements.

Edited by sday12 on Saturday 15th September 10:50

[Agent Orange]

Mr Bimmer said:

Just remember that it's the thieves who are at fault here. BMW have issued a fix and people are still complaining.

Actually that is a very valid point and something society seems all to quick to forget these days.

The thieves are the scum yet we scream at the people that made us the nice shiny toy.

[anonymous-user]

wizz72 said:

When i called the customer service number yesterday i told the representative that my OBD port had been relocated some time back until this issue was resolved,he promptly told me that this would have INVALIDATED MY WARRANY, but when i told him it was my local BMW garage that performed the work,at a small cost to myself,he replied that in that case my warranty will still be intact.

In the UK at least, our "sale of goods and warranty" acts do not allow this! Several test cases have actually gone to court, where people had modified their vehicle and the OEM had tried to veto the entire warranty. The OEM has to justifiably prove, showing engineering data to support that justification, that the modification has lead to the failure being claimed for. i.e. if you move your OBD port, and then, say your differential fails, the OEM cannot use that as a reason to invalidate your warranty!

If however, you move your OBD port, and the port stops working because of a wiring failure for example, then yes, the OEM cannot be held accountable for that failure and as such is under no obligation to financially support you!

Also, more subtle interlinked failures would not be covered. You move your port, and the new longer wire interferes with the pedal box linkages, which rub through the wires and short circuit and your car burns to the ground, then yup, your fault too.
But to say "touch anything on that car and your warranty is invalid is not allowed! ;-)

[rscott]

Mr Bimmer said:

don'tbesilly said:

Mr Bimmer said:

As it stands, the dealer level equipment only allows for a full update. Your m3 will take most of the day to update.

Did you miss my earlier question:

don'tbesilly said:

Mr Bimmer said:

I don't remember mentioning April specifically.

The firmware was fixed back in 2011 then tweaked a few more times over the Year.

In other words, if you have been back to the dealers in the last Year for work on a module that required a firmware update, you should already have the safe firmware. The i-level should be listed on your receipt.

However, it would still be prudent to have the new firmware update just to make sure you get the very latest files.

So what you're suggesting is that there was a solution to the problem (theft via the OBD) quite some mths ago,yet BMW did nothing until what a lot of people already knew,was broadcast by Watchdog.

If the firmware update already exists,why have we got to wait 8 weeks?

Sorry Mr Bimmer,but your post makes no sense,please explain,thanks.

I'm not sure what you don't understand. Do you have any idea how many cars BMW will need to update and how long it will all take? Do you expect BMW to recall all cars as soon as someone has stolen one?

Just remember that it's the thieves who are at fault here. BMW have issued a fix and people are still complaining. Be safe in the knowledge that once the updates are done and they can't pinch your P&J without disturbing you, we can go back to the good old days, where the thieves break in and steal your keys. Nice!

As it stands, the BMW tool will take a few hours to update the car depending on it's spec. Maybe the factory will issue the dealers with some dedicated machines which will load the single module update. This would take a matter of minutes.

Edited by Mr Bimmer on Saturday 15th September 08:46

Back on page 14 (April 18th) you said 'Just get your BMWs updated to the latest firmware. This cures the problem with the key hacking issue. Simple' . People have been asking BMW for the upgrade for 6 months and being told point blank that there are no problems and no fixes available. Unless you own an X5/X6, the official line from BMW is that there is still no fix available yet.

Yes, of course it is the thieves fault, but they're only taking advantage of BMW leaving a massive security hole in their systems.

I don't see much difference between the BMW security flaw and a company selling a safe which claimed to meet all security standards, but had a hidden switch which could be used to reset the combination externally.

[MrPeaPea]

Just sorted my mates 5 OBD port out for him.
Its a bit fiddly compared to 3's and lots of tugging on trim and stuck a sticker on window saying port disabled and his got a diskloc and its blocked in by another car lol
Anyone need and help with a 5 want to do it themselves let me know glad to help.

[smashy]

MrPeaPea said:

Just sorted my mates 5 OBD port out for him.
Its a bit fiddly compared to 3's and lots of tugging on trim and stuck a sticker on window saying port disabled and his got a diskloc and its blocked in by another car lol
Anyone need and help with a 5 want to do it themselves let me know glad to help.

Ive got a simpler idea ....by a mercedes.


By the way is his car still under BMW warranty?