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Cheib
6,219 posts
44 months
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LooneyTunes said: What's with that quote ^^^ Cheib?
I've never mentioned anything about Thorne (whatever/wherever that is???) and don't have a water feature....! Sorry don't know what happened there.
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jonjay
59 posts
86 months
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My insurance company came and gave me an evaluation of my stolen car yesterday. It was a pretty good offer. What he told me during the course of the meeting was very worrying however. He said currently he is making 3 visits a week for stolen BMWs and it won't be long now till the underwriters just say BMWs are just to high risk to insure and premiums go through the roof. Apparently this is a very contentious issue with big name insurers who have spent 25m on payouts to BMW owners alone, much higher than other makes of cars being stolen.
He is full aware of the security issues with BMWs as are the insurance companies. He has seen a lot of cases of them being stolen without keys. Only recently a chap bought a brand new 5 series, took it home to show his family and next morning it vanished!
This problem just isn't there with other manufacturers he went on to say. There is the odd Mercedes here and there going missing. He recommended to me that Audi is the most secure cars, hardly ever get stolen on the same scale as others especially in the same manner we are seeing with BMWs.
So from what the insurance chap told me face to face this will be my first and last BMW. I have done everything to get in touch with right people at BMW to assure me of there security and or give me some indication the problem with get fix to no avail. They lost me as a customer for a good while.
Next car - current short list is Megane RS 250 cup, Audi S4 and Audi S3.
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Sunwest3d
10 posts
13 months
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Yes Jonjay that confirms my thought, I am disapointed by this experience and BMW somehow.
I am also shortlisting cars, Golf DSG, Audi A3 2.0T FSI S-tronic black edition.
I can't afford a new car now since I lost thousand of pounds from the theft and the derived factors... sad!
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TX1
551 posts
52 months
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Very worrying news jonjay, as I suspected its only a matter of time before our insurance premiums hit the roof.
Mine is not due for another few months so I shall probably hit the escalated premium.
The only hope I have is that the thefts have not seemed to hit up North so far.
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Gaygle
306 posts
77 months
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Is it possible that criminals are seeing these cars driving around, then following them until they park up, then making a note of the location or just stealing them there and then.
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Tea Pot One
1,342 posts
97 months
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Gaygle said: Is it possible that criminals are seeing these cars driving around, then following them until they park up, then making a note of the location or just stealing them there and then. From what I have been told ... both ...
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smashy
280 posts
27 months
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jonjay said: My insurance company came and gave me an evaluation of my stolen car yesterday. It was a pretty good offer. What he told me during the course of the meeting was very worrying however. He said currently he is making 3 visits a week for stolen BMWs and it won't be long now till the underwriters just say BMWs are just to high risk to insure and premiums go through the roof. Apparently this is a very contentious issue with big name insurers who have spent 25m on payouts to BMW owners alone, much higher than other makes of cars being stolen.
He is full aware of the security issues with BMWs as are the insurance companies. He has seen a lot of cases of them being stolen without keys. Only recently a chap bought a brand new 5 series, took it home to show his family and next morning it vanished!
This problem just isn't there with other manufacturers he went on to say. There is the odd Mercedes here and there going missing. He recommended to me that Audi is the most secure cars, hardly ever get stolen on the same scale as others especially in the same manner we are seeing with BMWs.
So from what the insurance chap told me face to face this will be my first and last BMW. I have done everything to get in touch with right people at BMW to assure me of there security and or give me some indication the problem with get fix to no avail. They lost me as a customer for a good while.
Next car - current short list is Megane RS 250 cup, Audi S4 and Audi S3. Well this post makes me feel like BMW have no respect for their customers and are treating them like muppets ,this is not good.
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BE57 TOY
819 posts
16 months
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I am in the market for a new car and I had narrowed it down to the 123d M Sport. The search is now back on and looking very much like another Audi which is a shame because I've been in Audis for 5 years now. I fancy a bit of a change really, but less so than finding my car isnt on the drive when I wake up!
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NelsonR32
617 posts
40 months
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BE57 TOY said: I am in the market for a new car and I had narrowed it down to the 123d M Sport. The search is now back on and looking very much like another Audi which is a shame because I've been in Audis for 5 years now. I fancy a bit of a change really, but less so than finding my car isnt on the drive when I wake up! Same really, I was looking at and really wanted a 125 M-Sport Coupe. I live in Ipswich so don't fear it being nicked, but I do fear having to pay 3x more per year on insurance than I should. I guess i'll just treat my E46 to a bit of paint and a wheel refurb and keep it another year until something else takes my eye. The new A3 is due out in September time just to let you know...
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Potatoes
2,262 posts
39 months
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I'm only 6 months into my ownership of an LCI E61 5 series and do no like this thread one bit.
I keep returning to the window in my house/office/hotel room/wherever I am to make sure my car is still there!!
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BE57 TOY
819 posts
16 months
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NelsonR32 said: Same really, I was looking at and really wanted a 125 M-Sport Coupe. I live in Ipswich so don't fear it being nicked, but I do fear having to pay 3x more per year on insurance than I should. I guess i'll just treat my E46 to a bit of paint and a wheel refurb and keep it another year until something else takes my eye.
The new A3 is due out in September time just to let you know... I live in the countryside so in reality it wouldn't get stolen HOWEVER like you say, insurance will be a b  h as will residuals. Plus, if I ever do want to visit friends in Birmingham or London it could end up disappeared.
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stuart-b
2,588 posts
95 months
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Potatoes said: I'm only 6 months into my ownership of an LCI E61 5 series and do no like this thread one bit.
I keep returning to the window in my house/office/hotel room/wherever I am to make sure my car is still there!! You've got nothing to worry about... I'm a great driver, and I won't curb the wheels. But next Friday could you come back a bit later? I was a bit rushed Friday just gone ... 
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toxicnerve
5,264 posts
46 months
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If BMW don't do something about this (i.e. recall/update firmware) then the second hand market is also going to be severely affected with prices sinking like a stone 
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Steven Quas
108 posts
28 months
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Does this issue affect the F11 and F01, or any of the F models, or is it just E models at present?
Thanks
Steven Quas
Hamburg
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pi22adough
8 posts
13 months
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Hi to all! i found a possible solution.im gona try it once its stop pissing down.....so maybe next week:-). Here is the link from pistonheads: http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...Maybe its worth a try.....im thinking just ripping the whole port out and then when i take my car for servicing(still under waranty) i let them ask me why i did it. And the answer is:if BMW factory alarms ect dont do anithying because of any easy trick then we have to do something!
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valiant
780 posts
29 months
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Was looking to change cars early next year and a 3 series touring was very high up on my (v.long) list. As I live in E.London this problem has seriously got me thinking twice. As I would have bought from a main dealer, this is one sale (+associated servicing,parts,etc) that BMW will lose out on.
Wouldn't the old Fiat/Alfa way of having a 'red' master key help solve this situation? Idea being the master key always stayed at home and you used the spare.You lose the master and it's a replace all locks job which is a mistake you only make once! Benefit being there is no central database to hack or access for clones.
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Kateg28
725 posts
32 months
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We bought an E61 in black on a '57 plate in January and now constantly watch this thread. The car is stored on our drive at night but parked out the back of shops during the day. We have bought a crook lock as extra security, in the view that anything helps.
We also tested out our alarm yesterday and we were unable to make it activate (we didn't break any windows obviously).
We tried leaving the rear glass resting on the lock but not attached, tried leaving someone in the car and all combinations of clicks on the key fob but it never activated.
Will be interested if we can deactivate the port somehow until we send for a service but think the skills may be beyond us.
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bulldog5046
963 posts
47 months
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In my experience most car alarms down arm themselves until about 60-90 seconds after you've locked the car so i'm not suprised you are failing to set it off.
leave the window down, lock the car with the fob and try putting your arm in a couple of minutes later, i expect the alarm will sound as intended.
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BEEMER69
62 posts
15 months
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Another option to consider is to screw a blanking plate over the obd latch using irregular sized torq screws. That way you don't have to faff around with reconnecting pins etc. Not the perfect solution but I can't see a would be thief walking around with a full set of torq heads and even then not easy to do in the dark.
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jonjay
59 posts
86 months
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Kateg28 said: We bought an E61 in black on a '57 plate in January and now constantly watch this thread. The car is stored on our drive at night but parked out the back of shops during the day. We have bought a crook lock as extra security, in the view that anything helps.
We also tested out our alarm yesterday and we were unable to make it activate (we didn't break any windows obviously).
We tried leaving the rear glass resting on the lock but not attached, tried leaving someone in the car and all combinations of clicks on the key fob but it never activated.
Will be interested if we can deactivate the port somehow until we send for a service but think the skills may be beyond us. You tried leaving someone in the car whilst it is locked with them moving around and it didnt go off? I would drive the car back to BMW and say "WTF is going on here". Also write a letter to thatcham.
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