BMW M140i stolen off driveway - Cheltenham
Discussion
Never thought I was going to be this guy, (especially considering I was reading Gavia's thread earlier today and feeling really bad for him..), but.....
Gray BMW M140i, gone along with Mrs Lando's jewellery box and possibly some other stuff I can't identify at the moment in the late evening of 18th January.
I live in a new build estate, and have what I consider as pretty good security. (In a not-being-as-slow-as-the-others-running-from-the-lion kind of way) including CCTV at the back of the house, a Ring doorbell at the front, ABS anti-snap locks, desirable car always blocked in by older car, etc.
Modus Operandi of the f
king scum was to wait until we went out for dinner; then enter through the back gate of the house into the garden, which was only unlocked since the window cleaners have been in today. Figures. They smashed the back patio doors in with the huge Masterlock padlock that normally locks the back gate. Stole all car keys, and stuff from upstairs including the jewellery box and a pillowcase (To stash things in!?). They then exited back through the hole they created.
The sts even pulled the Mini D forward so they could get the 140i out, then abandoned it, and then left with both sets of keys for that car too.
BMW Connected app reports the car unlocked when they got in, then nothing since.
CCTV caught 2 males in full get-up. They notice the (fairly discrete) camera presumably by the IR ring, then smash it out of sight before they break in.
Police have just left, and the insurance company have boarded the house up which was pretty quick, but I feel pretty hollow.
Long time reader, don't really post, etc etc. Just wanted some like-minded Pistonheader company.
Keep an eye out for the car.
Gray BMW M140i, gone along with Mrs Lando's jewellery box and possibly some other stuff I can't identify at the moment in the late evening of 18th January.
I live in a new build estate, and have what I consider as pretty good security. (In a not-being-as-slow-as-the-others-running-from-the-lion kind of way) including CCTV at the back of the house, a Ring doorbell at the front, ABS anti-snap locks, desirable car always blocked in by older car, etc.
Modus Operandi of the f
king scum was to wait until we went out for dinner; then enter through the back gate of the house into the garden, which was only unlocked since the window cleaners have been in today. Figures. They smashed the back patio doors in with the huge Masterlock padlock that normally locks the back gate. Stole all car keys, and stuff from upstairs including the jewellery box and a pillowcase (To stash things in!?). They then exited back through the hole they created.The s
ts even pulled the Mini D forward so they could get the 140i out, then abandoned it, and then left with both sets of keys for that car too.BMW Connected app reports the car unlocked when they got in, then nothing since.
CCTV caught 2 males in full get-up. They notice the (fairly discrete) camera presumably by the IR ring, then smash it out of sight before they break in.
Police have just left, and the insurance company have boarded the house up which was pretty quick, but I feel pretty hollow.
Long time reader, don't really post, etc etc. Just wanted some like-minded Pistonheader company.
Keep an eye out for the car.
Edited by Lando on Friday 19th January 03:51
Edited by Lando on Thursday 25th January 18:27
Thanks everyone.
Glad your claim went well. We'll see what happens. TBH, I don't want it back, but that's out of my hands at the moment.
Gavia said:
Sorry you’ve had this too. It seems that you’ve had it worse though with the amount of valuables being taken. I’m not sure if you’d want it back, but the MO for yours seems to be more about the burglary and the car being a bonus rather than the car being the primary goal for the burglary. There’s a lot more chance of the car being recovered a sa result.
The BMW Connected App is absolute garbage and BMW need to pull their finger out and be honest about how useless it really is / the purpose it really serves i.e. for women who can’t find their car in the car park and fk all else.
If you need any help with sorting your claim out, then PM and I’m happy to help. My claim was resolved inside a fortnight and the replacement car arrives tomorrow, 18 days after the theft.
Yeah, it's weird. The only thing we can find missing at the moment is this jewellery box, and there was quite a lot of high-value tech lieing around in really obvious places. It's also suspicious with the timing (we had been out of the house less than 20 minutes) and the fact they didn't case the front of the joint as there was no motion trigger.The BMW Connected App is absolute garbage and BMW need to pull their finger out and be honest about how useless it really is / the purpose it really serves i.e. for women who can’t find their car in the car park and f
k all else. If you need any help with sorting your claim out, then PM and I’m happy to help. My claim was resolved inside a fortnight and the replacement car arrives tomorrow, 18 days after the theft.
Glad your claim went well. We'll see what happens. TBH, I don't want it back, but that's out of my hands at the moment.
cmaguire said:
It reads to me like the car was exactly what they were after. Once in the house whilst one looked for the keys the other had a quick look around for something of value that was quick and easy to remove (cue the jewellery box or cash/phones etc). They had no intention of carting electricals etc back and forth.
Me too.cmaguire said:
Do you want the Mini ?
tigger1 said:
To the OP - be glad you were out. It's insured metal and can easily be replaced. The buggers having been in the house would be a bigger annoyance to me. Not cool.
Hopefully they stick it into a tree at high speed, but it's more likely to be in bits by now, sold for spares.
Yeah, it's mostly the invasion of privacy and initial shock. Home, castle, etc. Plus the shear amount of ballache and hassle.Hopefully they stick it into a tree at high speed, but it's more likely to be in bits by now, sold for spares.
Christmassss said:
Where does it say i said they were Joyriders?
I doubt they are going to the trouble of trying to disable the tracker/connected drive etc, they'd have just dumped it/parked it/left it somewhere and will wait for a few days to see if it gets collected.
I want to agree, but as sI doubt they are going to the trouble of trying to disable the tracker/connected drive etc, they'd have just dumped it/parked it/left it somewhere and will wait for a few days to see if it gets collected.
t as the connected drive app is; it does always state where the car is, and report last movement. (Even if it's useless as a tracker). The app still recons the car is on the driveway, unlocked with the drivers door open. It smells like they opened the door, killed it somehow (presume you can do this via idrive or just ripping out the SIM in the boot) then drove off.Idle speculation at the moment, but it's a way for me to kill the time I guess.
MrBarry123 said:
Sorry to hear this OP.
Out of interest, was the BMW 3-door or 5-door?
It's the 5 door.Out of interest, was the BMW 3-door or 5-door?
magnum555 said:
Sorry to hear this OP, did you have a house alarm?
Nope. Something to be changed shortly.herewego said:
Smashing a patio door in the early evening with neighbours all around sounds a bit risky to me. I'd have expected a neighbour to take an interest.
Yeah, no-one heard anything as far as I can tell. The window boarding up bloke who set up a workbench and a powered jigsaw to cut chipboard at 3:30am got everyone's attention though Squadrone Rosso said:
Sorry if this has been answered but can’t see it if not?
Did your house have an alarm that was switched on?
We’re in a new build. Like you, upgraded locks & handles etc.
Also got ADT in addition to the builder fit Alarm and fitted a cage around the Alarm controll unit indoors.
Glass remains vulnerable so considering a security film for French doors.
The more layers you have, the harder it becomes for thieves.
Smart water is great as thieves hate it. Datatag for Cars too.
ADT looks like the answer for me too really. How do you find the unit?Did your house have an alarm that was switched on?
We’re in a new build. Like you, upgraded locks & handles etc.
Also got ADT in addition to the builder fit Alarm and fitted a cage around the Alarm controll unit indoors.
Glass remains vulnerable so considering a security film for French doors.
The more layers you have, the harder it becomes for thieves.
Smart water is great as thieves hate it. Datatag for Cars too.
So much support. Thanks everyone! This place can be great, especially when avoiding The Lounge
Quick update for everyone who's interested.
Almost 48 hours later, and the car is simply gone. No trace whatsoever. No sightings or ANPR hits.
No-one is willing to pay the ~£900 bill for the recovery and re-keying of the Mini either, and the insurance company working for the BMW won't lend a replacement vehicle as it's not damaged. Brilliant. Luckily the local BMW and Mini garage have been amazing and sourced something for free at zero notice.
It's pretty scary how many people have had similar break-ins, but not that surprising I suppose with modern car security requiring crims to get keys in order to take the vehicle. Cheers for everyone sharing their stories.
Almost 48 hours later, and the car is simply gone. No trace whatsoever. No sightings or ANPR hits.
No-one is willing to pay the ~£900 bill for the recovery and re-keying of the Mini either, and the insurance company working for the BMW won't lend a replacement vehicle as it's not damaged. Brilliant. Luckily the local BMW and Mini garage have been amazing and sourced something for free at zero notice.
It's pretty scary how many people have had similar break-ins, but not that surprising I suppose with modern car security requiring crims to get keys in order to take the vehicle. Cheers for everyone sharing their stories.
Bump!
In case anyone is interested. (And with some details omitted, because the investigation is ongoing).
So; tl;dr - I got the car back this week. It was gone for about three months in total. The insurance company + GAP insurance were ready to pay out, when it turned up. (
).
The car spent a couple of weeks (and 700 miles on the odo) in the hands of criminals; and was linked to a series of crimes. (5 door, fast, unassuming). It discovered in a very PH way..! Basically whichever scumbags stole it had false plates ready, and put them on the car on the driveway. The plates they used (cloned from a grey 118d) were off a 15 plate vehicle. Some excellent car nerd spotted the car and realised that the model was too new for the plates. They phoned it into 101, who arranged to get the false plates on cover.
It had a number of ANPR hits on the new plates, and was eventually found abandoned with shredded tyres and smashed wheels after being crashed whilst attempting to flee from a scene of crime. It was recovered along with a stolen X5 which was used as it's criminal buddy......
The car spent several weeks with the police for forensics, after being recovered to my local garage. Surprisingly there was not a lot of external damage, but the interior was a total ststorm. Wrecked seats, flooring, trim, ceiling (!) covered in mud, stones, gouges and generally looking like it was used to ram-raid farms to steal all sorts of stuff. It ended up needing a new exhaust, 2 bumpers, 4 wheels, most of the interior, some mild panel work at the back, and a bunch of electronics in the boot which had been ripped out and destroyed to avoid the car talking back to BMW. (Plus the Harmon Kardon amp and other goodies that were collateral damage from the telematics being ripped out). 11k's worth of damage.
So, the car has now been restored to a perfect condition, and I've taken it back. I've also gone from security level 7 to level 11. I've had to get rid of the Mk1 MX5 I've owned for almost 10 years so that the BMW can fit in my single garage away from prying eyes.
I'm not really sure what the moral of this story is, other than it doesn't matter how much security you have, these stbags will just get in anyway. For me, although the car is mechanically restored, I don't think it can stay living where I do in the middle of a town, and I struggle to wonder if it will be the same again.
AngryHappySad. Etc.
In case anyone is interested. (And with some details omitted, because the investigation is ongoing).
So; tl;dr - I got the car back this week. It was gone for about three months in total. The insurance company + GAP insurance were ready to pay out, when it turned up. (
). The car spent a couple of weeks (and 700 miles on the odo) in the hands of criminals; and was linked to a series of crimes. (5 door, fast, unassuming). It discovered in a very PH way..! Basically whichever scumbags stole it had false plates ready, and put them on the car on the driveway. The plates they used (cloned from a grey 118d) were off a 15 plate vehicle. Some excellent car nerd spotted the car and realised that the model was too new for the plates. They phoned it into 101, who arranged to get the false plates on cover.
It had a number of ANPR hits on the new plates, and was eventually found abandoned with shredded tyres and smashed wheels after being crashed whilst attempting to flee from a scene of crime. It was recovered along with a stolen X5 which was used as it's criminal buddy......
The car spent several weeks with the police for forensics, after being recovered to my local garage. Surprisingly there was not a lot of external damage, but the interior was a total s
tstorm. Wrecked seats, flooring, trim, ceiling (!) covered in mud, stones, gouges and generally looking like it was used to ram-raid farms to steal all sorts of stuff. It ended up needing a new exhaust, 2 bumpers, 4 wheels, most of the interior, some mild panel work at the back, and a bunch of electronics in the boot which had been ripped out and destroyed to avoid the car talking back to BMW. (Plus the Harmon Kardon amp and other goodies that were collateral damage from the telematics being ripped out). 11k's worth of damage.So, the car has now been restored to a perfect condition, and I've taken it back. I've also gone from security level 7 to level 11. I've had to get rid of the Mk1 MX5 I've owned for almost 10 years so that the BMW can fit in my single garage away from prying eyes.
I'm not really sure what the moral of this story is, other than it doesn't matter how much security you have, these s
tbags will just get in anyway. For me, although the car is mechanically restored, I don't think it can stay living where I do in the middle of a town, and I struggle to wonder if it will be the same again.AngryHappySad. Etc.
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