Attempted Theft BMW M235i

[MarathonMan22]

My First Post…. Have read this site for years but never posted at all but want to share this, in case any of the info is useful.

On Thursday at 1.30am , 5 men in Balaclavas/hoodies broke into my home with the intention to find the key, I live on a nice quiet estate just outside Halifax, West Yorks.

Luckily the alarm sounded and my missus looked out of the window, to see 5 youths running down the side of the house in Balaclavas.

I went downstairs and checked the doors, could see they had forced the back patio door which was wide open.

Police arrived quickly and SOCO found a good footprint, no fingerprints. My missus is now terrified and my lad (14) slept through it all.

Anyway – using the neighbourhood watch group on Facebook, we found a good locksmith and with the help of Police Crime Prevention Officer (who was dead helpful) we now have a house like a fortress.

2 useful bits of info she gave me were :

Fences, if you have a high fence they will easy climb it, but put a trellis , that flimsy stuff for plants to grow on the top of it, they will be scared to get a slight cut for DNA.
Charity bags, many of these are fake but give thiefs a really good way to get close to your property / front door etc.

I am getting a New Car on 1st March , which is much more desirable than the M235i , none of this will stop me enjoying what I have worked hard to afford, just be more aware.

Thanks

[mike9009]

Lucky and unlucky OP.

Hope everything goes better in the future. Your case is not uncommon. Useful tip about the trellis and charity bags though!

I am just lucky where I live (and the car I drive! ), although complacency is perhaps not a good thing!


Mike

[Buff Mchugelarge]

Far too many of these kind of threads recently. What a sad world we live in.

[hooblah]

Charity bags?

[Zooks]

Unfortunately patio doors are way to easy for thieves to get in. The eurolocks fitted to the majority of doors are crap and need changing for something more secure. Google 'lock bumping' or 'snapping'

[duckson]

Do you post on babyBMW.net?

There was also an attempt on a M140i in Heywood last night, not sure if that is nearish to you?

[SlimJim16v]

Yep, most patio doors, open invitation to a thief. Unless modified.

Glad you're OK OP.

[smarty156]

So what's the best way to secure French doors or are we talking sliding patio doors?

[GG89]

How would fence trellis cut them?

[eatontrifles]

smarty156 said:

So what's the best way to secure French doors or are we talking sliding patio doors?

No external locks, laminated glass, patlock/sash jammers.

[Shiv_P]

Sorry charity bags?

[WCZ]

Presumably the thieves put charity bags outside peoples houses to scope out places :?

[Pica-Pica]

Hawthorn hedges at garden edges are good for pulling DNA, fibres, etc, I understand.

[economicpygmy]

GG89 said:

How would fence trellis cut them?

Presumably when they try and climb over the fence and it splits.

[SR20i]

When I had a motorbike I used to attach metal quality street tins full of pebbles to the cover then tuck them under the bike. Sounds stupid but it was loud enough to wake me if I heard them move, you could set up a wireless motion detector that would tell you that someone's there. It's a shame you have to go to such lengths to protect what you've worked hard for.

[dimots]

Naive question but would leaving the key in the other side of the patio lock prevent them from bumping the lock?

[RemyMartin81D]

Can someone explain the charity bag comment, I've not a clue what that means.

[Harji]

smarty156 said:

So what's the best way to secure French doors or are we talking sliding patio doors?

when my dad had patio doors he used to put a wooden broomstick in the railing/guide, so even if unlocked you couldn't get any leverage from the outside, quite ingenious.

[xjay1337]

RemyMartin81D said:

Can someone explain the charity bag comment, I've not a clue what that means.

It's like the two dogs tied together.

[No Face]

We’ve invested in one of these for our patio doors.
https://www.patlock.co.uk/
I’m not convinced they’d stop thieves on their own but I think the more layers of security you can add, the less likely thieves will bother.