New BMW's getting stolen using blank BMW keys
Discussion
To see if its worth buying a new BMW just go onto one of the compare insurance sites and see what quotes you get.
After my BMW was stolen in Feb of course my insurance shot up, even with 9 years no claims protection, however when i put my details in now and leave off my claim just to see what it would be, my new claim for a 330 im sport convertable in Birmingham is over £900. it was £650 last year. so almost a 50% increase. and most insurers are asking for a massive voluntary excess in the thousands.
I can only see these prices rising as more and more cars are stolen. and its only BMW, quotes for other premium cars havent gone up at all.
After my BMW was stolen in Feb of course my insurance shot up, even with 9 years no claims protection, however when i put my details in now and leave off my claim just to see what it would be, my new claim for a 330 im sport convertable in Birmingham is over £900. it was £650 last year. so almost a 50% increase. and most insurers are asking for a massive voluntary excess in the thousands.
I can only see these prices rising as more and more cars are stolen. and its only BMW, quotes for other premium cars havent gone up at all.
If is even remotely thinking of buying another BMW after getting their's stolen, they surely need their head examining.
The theives are know you get a payout, and will buy a new car. They will just wait for you to park it up, and nick it straight away, just like a few people on this thread have unfortunaltey already experienced.
And if you think that your insurance payments have gone up too much due to 1 theft, after 2 thefts you will be uninsurable.
Do you really want to take that risk.
The theives are know you get a payout, and will buy a new car. They will just wait for you to park it up, and nick it straight away, just like a few people on this thread have unfortunaltey already experienced.
And if you think that your insurance payments have gone up too much due to 1 theft, after 2 thefts you will be uninsurable.
Do you really want to take that risk.
The point of getting it out into the main stream press isnt so that BMW can get a slap on the Wrist. The bad press will cause sales to plummet, and they will have no other choice but to order a recall. Also if it is proven they knew about this security flaw and didnt tell customers when they bought a car, that means they broke the sales of goods act, and a civil cliam can be made against them.
When I first set up this forum back in feb after my BMW was stolen without the keys, I did so because I hadnt heard of it happening anywhere else. Obviosuly since then its almost a daily occurance in the UK, now only 3 months later I personally know 2 other people who have had their BMW's stolen in this way, 1 in Birmingham and 1 in Cardiff, and this morning the security guard in our building had his 2011 320 stolen overnight from his drive in this exact same way.
The company I work for only has a small car fleet of less than 50, but over 20 of those are BMW's and they have now been removed from the list of cars you can order because of the insurance costs should they get stolen. And all current owners told to park in a garage overnight, or fit a full disclok immediately.
The company I work for only has a small car fleet of less than 50, but over 20 of those are BMW's and they have now been removed from the list of cars you can order because of the insurance costs should they get stolen. And all current owners told to park in a garage overnight, or fit a full disclok immediately.
after my car was taken, the police in Birmingham told me that the large engine M sports were getting shipped abroad, and the smaller engine cars stripped for parts. So basically they will take any BMW as it only takes 2 mins for them to steal it and they make thousands per car in parts or selling them on.
As the person who started this forum i am a little disapointed
At some of the negative comments going back and forth between
Certain posters. I started this forum after my 6 month old 330 convertable
Was stolen and i couldnt figure out how the thieves took it
Without the keys. We all now know how they are getting stolen its
With a device that lets them copy a key in less than a minute using
The obd port.
If the thieves could steal other cars this way they would, i replaced
My bmw with a £60k jjag, and guess what, 4 months later its still
In my drive. The focus of this forum should be on making sure
Other bmw drivers dont wake up with thier pride and joy stolen
By these little sh#ts.
At some of the negative comments going back and forth between
Certain posters. I started this forum after my 6 month old 330 convertable
Was stolen and i couldnt figure out how the thieves took it
Without the keys. We all now know how they are getting stolen its
With a device that lets them copy a key in less than a minute using
The obd port.
If the thieves could steal other cars this way they would, i replaced
My bmw with a £60k jjag, and guess what, 4 months later its still
In my drive. The focus of this forum should be on making sure
Other bmw drivers dont wake up with thier pride and joy stolen
By these little sh#ts.
From ny experience you will get screwed on your insurance payout if you dont have GAP insurance. I paid £33k for a six month old 330 im sport convertable, it only had 1,000 miles on the clock and was fully loaded so it was a bargain.
a few months later it was stolen and the insurance only offered me £25k. so without the GAP I would have lost £8,000 in less than 4 months. this was back in Febuary, and i know that second hand prices have fallen quite a bit since then due to the volume of thefts.
a few months later it was stolen and the insurance only offered me £25k. so without the GAP I would have lost £8,000 in less than 4 months. this was back in Febuary, and i know that second hand prices have fallen quite a bit since then due to the volume of thefts.
Mr Bimmer, I think we all now by now you probably work for BMW, and you don't have talk some rubbish. If I went to spend £50k on a car and was told by the dealer that they were easy to steal and their security system had been cracked and i still went ahead and bought it, then yes i suppose it would be my fault for not listening. however in my case and eveyone esle on this forum who had their car stolen, one of the main reasons we paid the money for a BMW was for their security, and all the dealers saying "just keep you keys safe and you car will be safe" when they knew for a facy this was a lie. So back in your BMW box please Mr Bimmer.
A lot of posters have mentioned that the press dont point the finger just at BMW. after talking to a journalist this week I now understand why. legally unless they can prove without any doubt its just BMW they wouldnt dream of saying so for fear of getting sued. there is a program getting filmed for BBC later this year on this very topic and as the person who set up this forum I have been asked to take part. it will be screened in Jan / Feb next year.
Kuroblack350 said:
Interesting thread this, especially as I picked up my E92 330D M Sport last Wednesday...
Having spent the better part of the afternoon reading it start from finish I'm not sure what to think. It has the usual PH 'secret recipe' of at least 70% hearsay and utter tripe, but some of it is undoubtedly genuine, useful stuff.
It's difficult to say how prolific the problem is though, if at all. Yes, there are some (very sad) tales of empty driveways, but how many are linked to and talked about over 70+ pages, ten, fifteen maybe? BMW registered 116,000 cars in 2011 - of course not every theft is talked about on here, but still - epidemic? Time to run to an Audi dealer? [shudder]
And let's not forget the insurance debate - apparently the UK's 6th most popular car is about to be priced off the road? Premiums are going through the roof and 200,000 cars (just 2010 and 2011 BTW) will be uninsurable, rendering BMW's 8.5% share of the UK car market pointless... Honestly, it's like reading the Daily Mail by stealth.
It's truly terrifying, my 330D has just cost me £613, up £50 from my ageing Saab 93. Again, some interesting tales - but surely some perspective sorely needed?
So as far as definitive, reliable information goes - that's also greyer than a foggy Dogger Bank. At night. In winter.
What we do know is that several cars have been taken with similar MO's, from what seem to be a couple of hotspots. And that really about it. Yes we've got a few figures from a bloke here and there, but without context, what do they actually mean? We've got a stack of theories, but aside from one or two solid bits of empirical evidence (like the 1 series theft) data is thin on the ground.
I'm not disappointed by BMW's response either, in fact - I'm apathetic to be honest. I mean, what do we expect in today's blame-orientated society? Did I really expect the salesman to explain the exquisite poise and delicacy of the chassis and then stumble into "oh, by the way..." Never going to happen.
What I can hope for is that behind the scenes, continued pressure (inherent and external) ensure that BMW produce a solution for not only this loophole, but the next, and the next. For all we know, they probably are, at least that's what I choose to believe of a premium car manufacturer that's been going for a fair old while.
And if not, then there's always Audi. Oh, hang on...
My heart goes out to those who have had their P&J taken, and my sincere thanks to those posting useful material, it's appreciated.
Here's a pic of my E92 - modified this evening on the back of this thread...
I'm glad you feel all safe and secure about your new purchase. my colleague felt the same way when he bought his 330m 2 months ago, 3 weeks after taking delivery it was taken from his drive at night. just like the thousands that have been stolen since january this year. He didnt get GAP insurance when he bouight the car and his insurance payout was £8,000 less that what he paid for the car.
Just remember, these things always happen to someone else until they happen to you and you wake up to an empty driveway.
Interesting thread this, especially as I picked up my E92 330D M Sport last Wednesday...
Having spent the better part of the afternoon reading it start from finish I'm not sure what to think. It has the usual PH 'secret recipe' of at least 70% hearsay and utter tripe, but some of it is undoubtedly genuine, useful stuff.
It's difficult to say how prolific the problem is though, if at all. Yes, there are some (very sad) tales of empty driveways, but how many are linked to and talked about over 70+ pages, ten, fifteen maybe? BMW registered 116,000 cars in 2011 - of course not every theft is talked about on here, but still - epidemic? Time to run to an Audi dealer? [shudder]
And let's not forget the insurance debate - apparently the UK's 6th most popular car is about to be priced off the road? Premiums are going through the roof and 200,000 cars (just 2010 and 2011 BTW) will be uninsurable, rendering BMW's 8.5% share of the UK car market pointless... Honestly, it's like reading the Daily Mail by stealth.
It's truly terrifying, my 330D has just cost me £613, up £50 from my ageing Saab 93. Again, some interesting tales - but surely some perspective sorely needed?
So as far as definitive, reliable information goes - that's also greyer than a foggy Dogger Bank. At night. In winter.
What we do know is that several cars have been taken with similar MO's, from what seem to be a couple of hotspots. And that really about it. Yes we've got a few figures from a bloke here and there, but without context, what do they actually mean? We've got a stack of theories, but aside from one or two solid bits of empirical evidence (like the 1 series theft) data is thin on the ground.
I'm not disappointed by BMW's response either, in fact - I'm apathetic to be honest. I mean, what do we expect in today's blame-orientated society? Did I really expect the salesman to explain the exquisite poise and delicacy of the chassis and then stumble into "oh, by the way..." Never going to happen.
What I can hope for is that behind the scenes, continued pressure (inherent and external) ensure that BMW produce a solution for not only this loophole, but the next, and the next. For all we know, they probably are, at least that's what I choose to believe of a premium car manufacturer that's been going for a fair old while.
And if not, then there's always Audi. Oh, hang on...
My heart goes out to those who have had their P&J taken, and my sincere thanks to those posting useful material, it's appreciated.
Here's a pic of my E92 - modified this evening on the back of this thread...
I'm glad you feel all safe and secure about your new purchase. my colleague felt the same way when he bought his 330m 2 months ago, 3 weeks after taking delivery it was taken from his drive at night. just like the thousands that have been stolen since january this year. He didnt get GAP insurance when he bouight the car and his insurance payout was £8,000 less that what he paid for the car.
Just remember, these things always happen to someone else until they happen to you and you wake up to an empty driveway.
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