[rt10415]

some of the comments on here make me laugh

How many locks have you got on the doors to your house?
Have you got unbreakable glass in your windows?

as I, and others have said, if they want to steal it they will. you can't buy/make/invent a device which could stop them, only delay them. If you slept in it they would just take you too!

There may be issues here in the UK with thefts etc, but they are not as common as is being made out, but then what would I know, it's not like I'm a cop or anything...........

[ƒ°]

Originally Posted by johnofcross

Hmm. I know you have to press the brake to start up the car with the 8 speed, so maybe a brake lock would work?

http://www.amazon.com/The-Club-Vehic.../dp/B000L9T7AY

I know it's kinda tacky to have a physical lock (just like those old school wheel locks) but this might be the best solution.

I've never had this product before, but this news scares me enough to want to try...

I have a similar product called the AutoLock.
http://www.amazon.com/Unknown-The-UN.../dp/B0007ZFTHW

It is pretty much impossible to steal your car unless you have a plasma torch or diamond cutter.

[ikonic]

Originally Posted by rt10415

some of the comments on here make me laugh

How many locks have you got on the doors to your house?
Have you got unbreakable glass in your windows?

as I, and others have said, if they want to steal it they will. you can't buy/make/invent a device which could stop them, only delay them. If you slept in it they would just take you too!

There may be issues here in the UK with thefts etc, but they are not as common as is being made out, but then what would I know, it's not like I'm a cop or anything...........

Err... So it's laughable to want to protect your own property?

I don't think there's anything wrong with wanting to take an additional precaution. I'd personally rather not have my car stolen or at best make it harder for the scum to get away with my belongings thanks.

By your logic, I presume you don't have a house alarm or bother to lock your doors when you go out as, "if a thief wants something, he'll find a way of getting it anyway"?

Seeing as most the thefts involve someone reaching into the blind spot to connect the OBD adaptor (so as not to trigger the car alarm), I actually think a metal plate or lock across the port slot could be quite successful.

[svache]

Originally Posted by rt10415

only delay them

This is, however, a big deal. Thieves usually don't like delays, the longer a job takes, the more risky it will be for them.

If one car has a lock over their adapter, and the next one doesn't. Which one do you think they will go after?

[johnofcross]

Originally Posted by Tremolo

I have a similar product called the AutoLock.
http://www.amazon.com/Unknown-The-UN.../dp/B0007ZFTHW

It is pretty much impossible to steal your car unless you have a plasma torch or diamond cutter.

Man, reading the reviews of that product (and the one I linked) makes me wonder the validity of this product! Too many people writing about how their car was stolen with this thing on. I thought this was solid, but now I don't know!

[rt10415]

Originally Posted by ikonic

Err... So it's laughable to want to protect your own property?

I don't think there's anything wrong with wanting to take an additional precaution. I'd personally rather not have my car stolen or at best make it harder for the scum to get away with my belongings thanks.

By your logic, I presume you don't have a house alarm or bother to lock your doors when you go out as, "if a thief wants something, he'll find a way of getting it anyway"?

Seeing as most the thefts involve someone reaching into the blind spot to connect the OBD adaptor (so as not to trigger the car alarm), I actually think a metal plate or lock across the port slot could be quite successful.

yes I do have a house alarm and lock my doors, to do otherwise would just be stupid. Similar to locking my car and leaving valuables out of sight when it's unattended. However I'm not about to start fixing crude metal plates to my shiny new 32k car, on the slight chance that theives will target my car.

Take all the extra precautions you like, but I kind of like the fact that when I get in to my car I can just press the start button and go. Not get in, remove several locks, put them somewhere they won't rattle during the journey or so the passenger doesn't need to carry them, then think about driving.

do you carry a gun too? in case you get car jacked. that happens too.

[rt10415]

Originally Posted by svache

This is, however, a big deal. Thieves usually don't like delays, the longer a job takes, the more risky it will be for them.

If one car has a lock over their adapter, and the next one doesn't. Which one do you think they will go after?

absolutely agree, however, do you always park next to other lesser equiped BMW's? no probably not.

If they are using this method for overcoming the security of the car then they will have been watching you or targeting you because they want your particular model, so they will still want your car and as I've said before they will get it if they want it.

most car thefts (in the UK at least), other than boy racers wanting a chase, are stolen to order. so what's the answer? never take it out in case someone sees it and targets you? that could work.

[ThreeTwentyEightI]

That's why I have insurance.

[Jogabs77]

Originally Posted by rt10415

yes I do have a house alarm and lock my doors, to do otherwise would just be stupid. Similar to locking my car and leaving valuables out of sight when it's unattended. However I'm not about to start fixing crude metal plates to my shiny new 32k car, on the slight chance that theives will target my car.

Take all the extra precautions you like, but I kind of like the fact that when I get in to my car I can just press the start button and go. Not get in, remove several locks, put them somewhere they won't rattle during the journey or so the passenger doesn't need to carry them, then think about driving.

do you carry a gun too? in case you get car jacked. that happens too.

An adapter lock would not deter you from getting in your car, pressing start and getting to where you need to go quickly. An engineer or even a bright person like yourself can design an adapter to locking to cover the port. You laugh at the ideas people come up with but you won't be laughing when your BMW is gone.

[rt10415]

Originally Posted by Jogabs77

An adapter lock would not deter you from getting in your car, pressing start and getting to where you need to go quickly. An engineer or even a bright person like yourself can design an adapter to locking to cover the port. You laugh at the ideas people come up with but you won't be laughing when your BMW is gone.

I was referring to a steering wheel/ignition lock being removed before starting your journey. There isn't one available on the market which can't be overcome in seconds, fact!

As for my BMW being gone, I'll make sure I post on here when it happens. Then I'll keep you updated on the arrival of my new one from the leasing company.

Maybe it's me but I didn't see the security engineer add on pack being offered in the dealership when I ordered the car. How much would that be then?

[svache]

Originally Posted by rt10415

absolutely agree, however, do you always park next to other lesser equiped BMW's? no probably not.

If they are using this method for overcoming the security of the car then they will have been watching you or targeting you because they want your particular model, so they will still want your car and as I've said before they will get it if they want it.

most car thefts (in the UK at least), other than boy racers wanting a chase, are stolen to order. so what's the answer? never take it out in case someone sees it and targets you? that could work.

Oh, I know how the process goes, no worries.. I didn't always live in Hawaii

And true, if they really want it, they will take it. If they cannot do it one way, it will be done another way. In the end, I agree that nothing will be ever safe enough not to have it stolen. But, still, fact is that thieves do not like delays. The more you can delay them, the more chance you get that they will leave without actually taking the car home. If you delay them, there will be more chances that they will be scared off because someone noticed them one way or another, especially if you live in denser urban areas.

It actually happened once to a car of myself. I got outside and noticed someone broke into my car back then. However, because they apparently did not have enough time, and probably got scared off by something/someone (this is from what I could see), they left without even taking anything out of the car (and there were valuables in the car at that time), let alone with the car.

Again, I do agree that if they want it, they probably will take it. But give them a bigger delay than they expect (after all, they will not expect a metal cover with lock over the port) and they might get a delay long enough that they will be gone that one time. Or they might try to get rid of the cover and accidentally set off the alarm and still go away. Sure, they might come back, also true, but then you will be warned as well and may take other precautions

[Raspartan]

I'd be more in favor of replacing the original OBD connector with something different, say a Molex connector or similar. Then it's not just a matter of removing a covering plate to steal the car, the thief would need to reconfigure the reader plug to match.

You'd need to keep the original OBD socket suitably modified with the complementary male Molex side so that you could make the port accessible when it's time for service.

[ikonic]

Originally Posted by rt10415

I was referring to a steering wheel/ignition lock being removed before starting your journey. There isn't one available on the market which can't be overcome in seconds, fact!

As for my BMW being gone, I'll make sure I post on here when it happens. Then I'll keep you updated on the arrival of my new one from the leasing company.

Maybe it's me but I didn't see the security engineer add on pack being offered in the dealership when I ordered the car. How much would that be then?

As far as I'm aware the silver disklok (not the yellow one which is useless) actually has quite good press and hasn't been able to be removed unless they've taken the whole steering wheel with it. Those shown on the net have actually occurred because they've used the wrong size disklok (ie. too big) for the wheel - however I agree that they are a pain to use and I wouldn't bother with them myself.

However, the purpose of the thread was mainly to simply discuss whether this is even an issue that affects the F30, and if so, what simple precautions could be taken. There may be an additional procedure in the F30 that means it isn't even fallible to this method which youtube has shown can be done in 2 minutes; hence this whole topic is irrelevant.

Something simple like a port lock or even a dummy OBD could potentially prevent a stolen car isn't a massive challenge to a new car as you say.

The majority of thefts have actually come in London (on street parking as very few have driveways in the capital) so potentially there may well be a BMW literally next to you or around the corner, so there is every chance that if the thief finds your car problematic, they may well just move to the next vehicle.

If you can do anything that could delay/hamper the thief you could have a chance to prevent a potential theft. We know they've been accessing the OBD ports from a "blindspot" in the alarm sensors, so any additional barrier for them could cause more movement and thus trigger the alarm.

And whilst I'm delighted that your leasing company will simply provide you a new car in the event that it gets stolen, for many others, this might not be the case and i know i'd much rather deal without the stress of calling insurance companies and worrying about losing my NCB.

[kilmoremick]

Originally Posted by Tremolo

I have a similar product called the AutoLock.
http://www.amazon.com/Unknown-The-UN.../dp/B0007ZFTHW

It is pretty much impossible to steal your car unless you have a plasma torch or diamond cutter.

READ THIS
http://www.amazon.com/review/R30TMBD...R30TMBDEYZ6TLZ

[ƒ°]

Originally Posted by kilmoremick

READ THIS
http://www.amazon.com/review/R30TMBD...R30TMBDEYZ6TLZ

Welp, I guess nothing's full proof.

[NISFAN]

Any update on this? Now that there are more F cars around.

[fshubert]

If someone wants to steal the car, they will find a way. I guess that's what insurance is for. I'll just get a new one. A bit inconvenient to have it happen, but it's replacable.