Just caught a toe-rag trying to break in to my car
Discussion
Evening,
I just got woken up by a loud bang, and I looked out my apartment window to see a guy in a hoody trying break into my car.
Looked like he was using a tool to lever under the wing mirror, he heard my window open and jumped on his bike and fled.
I don't think he was a car thief as his friend was at the front trying to steal a bike, he joined and they both rode off, suspect he was either after the wing mirror unit or just speculating there might be something valuable left in the car (there isn't). Makes my piss boil, because BIB won't/can't do anything about this, so cars in my block get done every week.
He's cracked off the plastic that sits flush to the door and bent up some of the metal under, which will all need replacing. but the mirror unit itself is thankfully not damage, the electric folding mechanism and the adjustments all still working.
Can you actually get into the car via the wing mirror? Or is it possible he was actually trying to steal the wing mirror itself to order?
I had to claim on my insurance two weeks ago, after someone drove into me and didn't stop. So I'll probably have to pay this one cash. FFS!
Cheers,
HBT.
I just got woken up by a loud bang, and I looked out my apartment window to see a guy in a hoody trying break into my car.
Looked like he was using a tool to lever under the wing mirror, he heard my window open and jumped on his bike and fled.
I don't think he was a car thief as his friend was at the front trying to steal a bike, he joined and they both rode off, suspect he was either after the wing mirror unit or just speculating there might be something valuable left in the car (there isn't). Makes my piss boil, because BIB won't/can't do anything about this, so cars in my block get done every week.
He's cracked off the plastic that sits flush to the door and bent up some of the metal under, which will all need replacing. but the mirror unit itself is thankfully not damage, the electric folding mechanism and the adjustments all still working.
Can you actually get into the car via the wing mirror? Or is it possible he was actually trying to steal the wing mirror itself to order?
I had to claim on my insurance two weeks ago, after someone drove into me and didn't stop. So I'll probably have to pay this one cash. FFS!
Cheers,
HBT.
Edited by handbraketurn on Friday 31st May 00:50
aka_kerrly said:
This sort of crime really gets on my nerves and it's even worse when you have insurance but it makes no financial sense to use it.
It becomes even more frustrating when you know that the chances of the police getting a result are super slim to none.
Totally!It becomes even more frustrating when you know that the chances of the police getting a result are super slim to none.
To be fair to BIB, without a description or video footage, there is little they can do. Unless they had a unit nearby at the time and were prepared to come straight away and be in with a chance of actually nicking them. They know this and wear balaclavas and hoodies. They're also often armed these days, so they knew few if any residents are going to risk taking them on, low risk crime. But as you say, also low rewards.
I hope you can replace the parts where the mirror fixes to the door and it's not a whole unit, I had a quick look on eBay and it only seems to be complete mirror units. FFS.
I was going to spoil your day but yes BMW do not do the plastic outer components separately.
The body is not actually "too expensive" usually for what they are. Depending on specification the most expensive bit is the mirror glass (if it is the auto dimming, heated etc.) glass. The body is usually a few hundred, the indicators again fairly "reasonable", the glass however is fragile and is about £300 from BMW.
It is one of the reasons that if you search around you will see there is the odd on the face of it "theft" and most people think just a mirror glass not that pricey, not so as owners find out afterwards. Techs usually hate taking them out as well as they crack rather easily.
The body is not actually "too expensive" usually for what they are. Depending on specification the most expensive bit is the mirror glass (if it is the auto dimming, heated etc.) glass. The body is usually a few hundred, the indicators again fairly "reasonable", the glass however is fragile and is about £300 from BMW.
It is one of the reasons that if you search around you will see there is the odd on the face of it "theft" and most people think just a mirror glass not that pricey, not so as owners find out afterwards. Techs usually hate taking them out as well as they crack rather easily.
It's great isn't it, making the assumption that they probably don't work...
You have your wage financially raped by the Government and Council to keep these people fed, watered and up-to-date with the latest and greatest TVs and game consoles and they repay this kindness by stealing from you and damaging your property.
So more money is extracted from your wage to pay for more policing and then if they do actually get caught you then have to take time off work and lose earnings to attend court.
Then when they are let off, it's rinse and repeat. They really are scum of the earth.
You have your wage financially raped by the Government and Council to keep these people fed, watered and up-to-date with the latest and greatest TVs and game consoles and they repay this kindness by stealing from you and damaging your property.
So more money is extracted from your wage to pay for more policing and then if they do actually get caught you then have to take time off work and lose earnings to attend court.
Then when they are let off, it's rinse and repeat. They really are scum of the earth.
Thanks for replies chaps!
It's a whole assembly save the actual mirror, it cost £499.99 to replace which I had to pay cash as it's under my excess.
I'm moving at the end of the week, so going to wait till I have gone to get fitted, just in case the b*ll ends comes back.
@p4cks & Doofus - yup!
@ninjag - never a truer word said. There have been two apartments broken into in my blocks, bike stores get hit every other week and bikes locked outside will go unless they're s
t. His mate was trying to steal a baby seat off a bike, when I interrupted him. Pond life!
@4rephill - Didn't think he would be after car, if he was sophisticated enough to hack into the electronics to get the car started, wouldn't except him to be gaining entry with brute force. But I did wonder if he was just trying to get into the car to see if anything in the glove box etc. Having spoken to quite a few people, I think you're right, it doesn't seem possible to get into the car cockpit this way and most likely he thought he could sell the electric folding mirror assembly on eBay or something. But because he snapped off the plastic, it's worthless. Potentially he could get something for the actual mirror if her could get that out without breaking it, but I don't think he had that much smart.
Not only did he snap off the DOOR mirror plastic housing, but where he used a tool to lever it against the body, he's scratched and chipped the paint work and the plastic surround. I'm not even going to fix that, as it'll like be another £150 odd quid for the paint alone. I do hope karma is a thing!
Ninja59 said:
I was going to spoil your day but yes BMW do not do the plastic outer components separately.
The body is not actually "too expensive" usually for what they are. Depending on specification the most expensive bit is the mirror glass (if it is the auto dimming, heated etc.) glass. The body is usually a few hundred, the indicators again fairly "reasonable", the glass however is fragile and is about £300 from BMW.
It is one of the reasons that if you search around you will see there is the odd on the face of it "theft" and most people think just a mirror glass not that pricey, not so as owners find out afterwards. Techs usually hate taking them out as well as they crack rather easily.
@Ninja59 - You're exactly right. The body is not actually "too expensive" usually for what they are. Depending on specification the most expensive bit is the mirror glass (if it is the auto dimming, heated etc.) glass. The body is usually a few hundred, the indicators again fairly "reasonable", the glass however is fragile and is about £300 from BMW.
It is one of the reasons that if you search around you will see there is the odd on the face of it "theft" and most people think just a mirror glass not that pricey, not so as owners find out afterwards. Techs usually hate taking them out as well as they crack rather easily.
It's a whole assembly save the actual mirror, it cost £499.99 to replace which I had to pay cash as it's under my excess.
I'm moving at the end of the week, so going to wait till I have gone to get fitted, just in case the b*ll ends comes back.
@p4cks & Doofus - yup!
@ninjag - never a truer word said. There have been two apartments broken into in my blocks, bike stores get hit every other week and bikes locked outside will go unless they're s
t. His mate was trying to steal a baby seat off a bike, when I interrupted him. Pond life!@4rephill - Didn't think he would be after car, if he was sophisticated enough to hack into the electronics to get the car started, wouldn't except him to be gaining entry with brute force. But I did wonder if he was just trying to get into the car to see if anything in the glove box etc. Having spoken to quite a few people, I think you're right, it doesn't seem possible to get into the car cockpit this way and most likely he thought he could sell the electric folding mirror assembly on eBay or something. But because he snapped off the plastic, it's worthless. Potentially he could get something for the actual mirror if her could get that out without breaking it, but I don't think he had that much smart.
Not only did he snap off the DOOR mirror plastic housing, but where he used a tool to lever it against the body, he's scratched and chipped the paint work and the plastic surround. I'm not even going to fix that, as it'll like be another £150 odd quid for the paint alone. I do hope karma is a thing!
Edited by handbraketurn on Sunday 2nd June 16:26
Years ago I had an E36 328i Sport, and one day @ Christmas, found my car was one of many in the neighbourhood to have had a door mirror ripped off the car (Not stolen, just ripped off)
Looking at some of the other makes of cars that had been vandalised, it seemed the perpetrator had been happily kicking the mirrors off, because there were scuff marks up the doors, and their door mirror mountings appeared to be quite flimsy, as they were all plastic. (built to a lower cost than BMW).
My door mirror mounts were thick cast metal, and very sturdy, but the base casting had been cracked and smashed through, along with a big crack in the plastic, colour coded cover, and smashed mirror glass.
(There was no way the damage could have been done by just kicking the mirror, as the fracture was in a down ward direction. I suspect they tried to kick the mirror off, but it wouldn't break away, so frustrated/determined to damage the car, they wrapped their arm around it, and used their body weight to force the mirror downwards, until it broke off)
I called the police, who gave me a crime number, and informed me that I was 12th person in the neighbourhood to report similar damage. They suspected it was some drunk going home in the middle of the night, committing mindless vandalism, and told me there was little chance of catching them.
I had to buy a 2nd hand, complete door mirror, an asymmetrical heated mirror glass, and a body coloured cover from a BMW breaker, and despite picking out the best one they had, it still need some repairs to the casting (it needed some filling and painting due to stone chips in the casting). By the time I'd sorted out the replacement mirror, it looked like brand new - Seriously showing up the other door mirror!, so I had to do a restoration job on that mirror too, so it matched the replacement mirror (all in, it still only cost around 1/4 of what BMW wanted for a brand new mirror).
It seriously pssed me off! - I couldn't for the life of me, figure out why anyone would think it's a clever thing to do!
Looking at some of the other makes of cars that had been vandalised, it seemed the perpetrator had been happily kicking the mirrors off, because there were scuff marks up the doors, and their door mirror mountings appeared to be quite flimsy, as they were all plastic. (built to a lower cost than BMW).
My door mirror mounts were thick cast metal, and very sturdy, but the base casting had been cracked and smashed through, along with a big crack in the plastic, colour coded cover, and smashed mirror glass.
(There was no way the damage could have been done by just kicking the mirror, as the fracture was in a down ward direction. I suspect they tried to kick the mirror off, but it wouldn't break away, so frustrated/determined to damage the car, they wrapped their arm around it, and used their body weight to force the mirror downwards, until it broke off)
I called the police, who gave me a crime number, and informed me that I was 12th person in the neighbourhood to report similar damage. They suspected it was some drunk going home in the middle of the night, committing mindless vandalism, and told me there was little chance of catching them.
I had to buy a 2nd hand, complete door mirror, an asymmetrical heated mirror glass, and a body coloured cover from a BMW breaker, and despite picking out the best one they had, it still need some repairs to the casting (it needed some filling and painting due to stone chips in the casting). By the time I'd sorted out the replacement mirror, it looked like brand new - Seriously showing up the other door mirror!, so I had to do a restoration job on that mirror too, so it matched the replacement mirror (all in, it still only cost around 1/4 of what BMW wanted for a brand new mirror).
It seriously p
ssed me off! - I couldn't for the life of me, figure out why anyone would think it's a clever thing to do! 4rephill said:
It seriously pssed me off! - I couldn't for the life of me, figure out why anyone would think it's a clever thing to do!
Yeah, mindless vandalism is even more p*ss boiling. I'd be just as annoyed as you. ssed me off! - I couldn't for the life of me, figure out why anyone would think it's a clever thing to do! I guess we can't figure it out because we're not mentally ill, so difficult to empathise with the world view of someone who does that.
In London we are plagued with Moped muggers car thieves on cycles ....yesterday 6 doors from where I live was a mpoed rider plotted up with number plate obscured with 2 guys on cycles,Just sitting chatting.
Got em I thought ,Rang the police put through nice and quick ,told them the situation ,she said this is good as my part of london is bad for this which is not news
I watched from my window thinking this is going to be great they are sitting ducks
I waited and waited and waited 18 minutes later off they went.
Got em I thought ,Rang the police put through nice and quick ,told them the situation ,she said this is good as my part of london is bad for this which is not news
I watched from my window thinking this is going to be great they are sitting ducks
I waited and waited and waited 18 minutes later off they went.
Edited by smashy on Sunday 2nd June 21:52
Not sure if this is still a thing, but they used to rip of electrical parts to get a plug and the wiring loom, plug a box in with communicates with the locking and do it this way. I think that was more 80 and 90s cars though.
What car is it , fancy expensive mirrors of the top model ? Given parts prices these days and some of the insecurity, on things like a bumper it can be two main bolts and yank the whole lot off. £1ks worth of bumper gone in seconds.
What car is it , fancy expensive mirrors of the top model ? Given parts prices these days and some of the insecurity, on things like a bumper it can be two main bolts and yank the whole lot off. £1ks worth of bumper gone in seconds.
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