When talking to my dealer about possibly putting lojack in, he mentioned that BMW assist will be able to Locate the car if Stolen. Anybody have detailed information on this.

I am wondering if it is worth putting in another system, such as lojack if this feature is available from BMW (Assist I guess).

Any thoughts would be appreciated. I am triing to iron out a few last details before my car arrives next month.

 

Lojack is a one time fee. BMW Assist is about $240 a year (less per year if you pay for 2 or 3 years in advance). I just got a subscription notice.

 

Much talked about earlier. BMW Assist is NOT able to locate your car if it is stolen! The GPS tracking device can only be activated by an accident which deploys the air bags or by the someone pressing the SOS button. It cannot be remotely activated like Lojack or OnStar. BMW does not offer this ability, which is the only reason I renewed OnStar in my previous vehicle, supposedly out concern for owners privacy.

 

I thought Assist could NOT locate a stolen car. Is this something new or is it typical dealer confusion?

eta: kscarrol beat me to it. It's funny how we both capitalized the word not...

 

Based on comments, I would imagine it is new or dealer confusion. I wonder which one?

 

I can only hope for the former, but given past experience, I expect the latter.

 

My dealer told me that on the 2005's BMW assist WILL BE ABLE to track a stolen car's location. It is new for 05. I plan on giving this info to my insurance company because I get a 20% discount for lojack and I believe the BMW assist program will qualify. Then my BMW assist will be almost for free and the first year is free anyway.

 

I wonder if your insurance company will make you prove you renewed the Assist service each year to continue to give the discount?

 

Which insurance company do you deal with???

I have Boomerang II installed but my insurance only gives me $10 *yes* Ten Dollars discount at year!!!

Now I wonder why I put in the Boomerang ... if my car is stolen, I pay the deductible and collect. damn another stupid mistake!

 

There is also a GPS tracking unit you can buy to mount in the trunk so you can see online exactly where your car is. But I wasn't aware that BMW could track it. By the way, how can someone steal a BMW without towing it. Without the key everything shuts down and it can not be hot wired. It needs that key code. No electronics to the car whatsoever. In my opinion if someone does steel my car I do not want it back. I want a new one from the insurance company. I don't want one that has probably been stripped and abused.