Freaked out....how good is stock alarm?
#11
Your probably an easy target for them to steal your car and ship it. You shouldve pulled up on the car and take a picture either they gonna run or u run lol either way u have some of there info and finding them shouldnt be hard if u got there license plates chances are they got pulled over in the last 3 months and police has info on driver and passengers.
#12
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Location: Originally from Koeln, Deutschland. Enjoying it in Bonita Springs, Florida Now :)
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I recommend planting land mines in your driveway...I still have some left over from WWII. PM me for a good price.
#13
lol i remember when i got my first car (88 honda civic) i loved that thing to death. as you get older you realize it's just a car. dont get me wrong; i love my e60, but if i saw somebody stealing my car i would not risk my life by running out there. i would activate alarm and call the cops. at the end of the day things can be replaced.. lol and i wouldnt mind getting my car stolen at this time; the insurance money would allow me to get something nicer
btw, you said once you heard the noises you parked it in the garage; why dont you park in the garage all the time?? it's a lot safer and better on the car
btw, you said once you heard the noises you parked it in the garage; why dont you park in the garage all the time?? it's a lot safer and better on the car
#14
Maybe it's me (and it could very well be) but I'm pretty sure you don't have all the facts. As you describe, even if you "disable it" using the central locking system (which I'm not sure how you'd do), the car will not start without a properly coded key. Even the plastic key has a chip in it so I'm not sure why you think everything is mechanical.
Sure, the Skybrake system you recommend will disable the car a minute down the road but I don't know why anyone wouldn't prefer a system that doesn't allow the car to start in the first place?
1) Moment of surprise for the thief
2) No easy way to find out about the system when the thief enters the vehicle, thinking he's good to go
3) Car stops in a vulnerable (for the thief) traffic area where he can be seen
4) The immobilizer needs power from car battery (you need to turn on the car first, otherwise it would drain the battery) and time to interchange dozens of hash keys between transmitter and receiver, and so initialization can take up to 50 seconds. If the device can not be found or hashes don't match, the control unit and the fuel system are disconnected
5) When you're gun-forced to step out of the vehicle, the thief can see the engine running or a key inside, but doesn't know about the additional security system. Your chip is in the wallet, you step out, he drives off and stops after a minute.
I'm guessing there may be country specific differences with BMW stock alarm systems but I think the coded key system is standard on all models in all countries.
From my point of view, the only way to steal one of our cars would be to get an actual key or physically lift it and take it away with a tow truck.
The factory alarm, if installed, will likely go off in the case of the car being lifted/moved but it won't go off when a car is keyed or tires slashed. (I think there may be only one or two types of alarms that would go off when someone violates a perimeter around the car.)
Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with Skybrake. It certainly has serious holes and I will put it into the trash the day I find out it's useless. Just putting some ideas for forum members to help out. Any system on the market can be disabled, but when stealing cars, the amount of time and resources required to disable it is essential. Thieves run away if they can't drive off within 2-3 minutes.
#15
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Join Date: May 2009
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My Ride: 2008 550I LOADED, all options except HUD and NV
Basically, as Rudy and others said, if they really want your car there isn't much you can do about it. Relax, enjoy life and don't worry so much about it.
BTW, I don't have a plastic spare key, my spare is identical to the original. Am I missing something?
BTW, I don't have a plastic spare key, my spare is identical to the original. Am I missing something?
#16
the likelihood of someone stealing your car altogether is pretty low. the likelihood of your car being broken into and things stolen from it is higher, though if you keep your car clean inside and literally nothing is available in plain sight (including a radar detector hot wired), you are probably fine 90% of the time.
just to elaborate on that last point, i had a used alternator in the back seat of my camaro z28 and 3 guys broke in to get the alternator. while they were in there they found my stealth 1,200 watt stereo system and took it too. 2 of the guys were caught. as they were running off they only ditched one thing, the POS used alternator. i had lived in that complex for 2 years and these guys consistently broke into cars, but never mine. my car was always spotless and i left nothing in it, and the stereo was literally unnoticeable from plain sight.
it just goes to show you, even the stupidest and worthless things like a used, broken alternator, can appear valuable to a thief if they can see it. hide everything and leave nothing in your car for them to second guess the value of, and like i mentioned earlier you will be fine 90% of the time. i have even heard of thieves breaking in for spare change in cars and never believed it until this happened to me. also i had a neighbor in the same complex who later had his G35's window shattered and had Seinfeld DVDs stolen from his car, though that seems a bit more justifiable than a used alternator because Seinfeld is awesome.
just to elaborate on that last point, i had a used alternator in the back seat of my camaro z28 and 3 guys broke in to get the alternator. while they were in there they found my stealth 1,200 watt stereo system and took it too. 2 of the guys were caught. as they were running off they only ditched one thing, the POS used alternator. i had lived in that complex for 2 years and these guys consistently broke into cars, but never mine. my car was always spotless and i left nothing in it, and the stereo was literally unnoticeable from plain sight.
it just goes to show you, even the stupidest and worthless things like a used, broken alternator, can appear valuable to a thief if they can see it. hide everything and leave nothing in your car for them to second guess the value of, and like i mentioned earlier you will be fine 90% of the time. i have even heard of thieves breaking in for spare change in cars and never believed it until this happened to me. also i had a neighbor in the same complex who later had his G35's window shattered and had Seinfeld DVDs stolen from his car, though that seems a bit more justifiable than a used alternator because Seinfeld is awesome.
#17
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My Ride: 08 528I Sport/Prem
My car came with two remotes AND the plastic key with the adapter for it in the glovebox
#18
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My Ride: G30 M550i
Model Year: 2018
Regardless of this flaw in your argument, clearly, any car can be stolen, with or without the latest and greatest technology. For most people in most places, what BMW provides is adequate but obviously, your mileage may vary depending on where you live and how badly someone wants your car...
#19
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My Ride: 525i
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lol thats wat i do every fking friday with my tl-s when i was 17 , sold it but still have some love for it though
#20
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My Ride: 525i
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If you dont have plastic key then ur having a comfort access am i right ? only ppl that dont have comfort access that have plastic spare key !