What's the raised plastic piece on the roof near the rear window, gps?

 

It's BMW's way to tracking you. If their is a problem with your vehicle, your vehicle will send a message to BMW. Things like oil changes or getting in a car accident and the air bags are deployed. This will cause your vehicle to send a signal to BMW so they can schedule you for an oil change or call paramedics for you. If you have BMW assist, you can talk to a live representative as well. All this is transmitted and received by the fin on the roof. They can also track your vehicle and know exactly where it is if it's stolen. I think your GPS and maybe your radio also uses the fin.

So yes, BMW is spying on you. Keep the tin foil hat on when you drive or they'll know what your thinking too.

 

This should explain what it does...

SBT__E60_aerials.pdf

 

That's in addition to the "black box" that records when was the last time the car was running, how fast it was going, how hard it was braking, whether the stability control was activated, etc. Insurance companies often want that information after a serious crash or after a car was recovered after it was stolen!!

 

You guys are Baaddd . . .

 

Do all E50's have the black box technology..??

 

I meant E60

 

Just about all high end cars have some kind of black boxes, including all current generation BMW's. This is not a joke. My wife is a claims manager in a major insurance company and she told me about that. Seriously! BMW cooperates with insurance companies and they also use such information to study and improve the safety of their products.

Regarding the shark fin antenna and the related telemetry: BMW Assist is basically a version of OnStar so whatever OnStar can do to locate, access, and communicate to a car, BMW Assist can do more or less the same.

Do you also know that information such as the car's serial number and the latest odometer reading is downloaded to your keys whenever you used it last?

 

Shark Fin!

 

BMW black box is double-edge sword!