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.
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
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.
Gassing Station | BMW General | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff