2011 Black Sapphire BMW 335D M Sport - CAR STOLEN YH11 HJD

[jonjay]

Email i sent watchdog

"Dear Watchdog,

With regret I am writing this email to make you aware of a serious security flaw with BMW cars. Unfortunately in the early hours of Monday 16/04/2012 my one year old Black Sapphire BMW 335d was stolen from my drive way. There were no signs of forced entry, the criminals did not have a key and they did not use any other methods such as lifting the car up on a tow truck as no noise was made. They simply gain access to the car and drove it away.

According to BMW the car cannot be stolen without a key hence my anger and confusion as to how the car was stolen as I still have both the vehicle keys. From my research I have found out that the criminals can simply jam the signal from the remote locking signal, gain access to the car as the car remains unlocked and then simply reprogram a spare key from scratch using the cars diagnostic port. The process takes minutes and they simply drive away with the car. In some cases the criminals break the car lock and/or window without the alarm going off. As BMWs have “Thatcham 1” security this is very concerning.

Unfortunately I am not the only victim of this crime and others have suffered also. There are hundreds of people complaining on various car enthusiast forums about their new BMWs being stolen without keys and with deadly silence.

I have raised the issue with BMW UK HQ however they are not away of this issue. This I cannot believe as the problem has increased tremendously of late and gains some media attention. I have also checked with BMW whether any clones of my keys were made and they confirmed that only the two that came with the car have been issued.

Please see various examples of this serious problem:
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/4259194/Emmanuel-Adebayor-fury-as-new-60k-BMW-nicked.html .

http://www.safer-neighbourhoods.co....atford-district/watch-messages/22032012143329
http://www.expressandstar.com/news/2012/04/06/theives-target-high-end-bmws/
http://www.bimmerforums.co.uk/forum/f74/stolen-bmw-issues-t112143/

http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=669883

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/...MW's+getting+stolen+using+blank+BMW+keys
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/...&nmt=STOLEN+BMW+335d+-+YH11+HJD+-+East+London
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/...64&mid=60079&nmt=STOLEN:+BMW+535d+East+London
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/...137337&nmt=STOLEN+BMW+335i+(East+London,+E14)

I would be very grateful if you could investigate this further. I hope that this email is taken seriously for the benefit of thousands of BMW drivers who have worked hard for their right to own a nice car. Also that this problem is acknowledges by BMW and is fixed. I fear I may never buy a BMW again unless I have complete confidence that this issue is being resolved.

Best wishes,
Maz"

 

[tyrer]

Well said. Any news on yours mate?

 

[poliq]

Nice. But What is watchdog??

 

[S3 AKR]

Nice. But What is watchdog??

a UK based consumer program on the BBC. They investigate poor customer service, rip-off's, and companies not looking after you once you spend your money with them and receive poor product or services.

 

[mrbubba]

Nice. But What is watchdog??

TV program in the UK. They take on big stories and confront companies /manufacturers on TV and it highlights things to the mass public

Sent from my GT-P7510 using Tapatalk 2

 

[jonjay]

Well said. Any news on yours mate?

Nothing yet mate

 

[jonjay]

Another BMW stolen without keys.

http://www.pistonheads.com/xforums/topic.asp?h=0&f=72&t=1139583&nmt=

Sent another email to watchdog alerting them.

 

[Jmerrie]

Email i sent watchdog

"Dear Watchdog,

With regret I am writing this email to make you aware of a serious security flaw with BMW cars. Unfortunately in the early hours of Monday 16/04/2012 my one year old Black Sapphire BMW 335d was stolen from my drive way. There were no signs of forced entry, the criminals did not have a key and they did not use any other methods such as lifting the car up on a tow truck as no noise was made. They simply gain access to the car and drove it away.

According to BMW the car cannot be stolen without a key hence my anger and confusion as to how the car was stolen as I still have both the vehicle keys. From my research I have found out that the criminals can simply jam the signal from the remote locking signal, gain access to the car as the car remains unlocked and then simply reprogram a spare key from scratch using the cars diagnostic port. The process takes minutes and they simply drive away with the car. In some cases the criminals break the car lock and/or window without the alarm going off. As BMWs have “Thatcham 1” security this is very concerning.

Unfortunately I am not the only victim of this crime and others have suffered also. There are hundreds of people complaining on various car enthusiast forums about their new BMWs being stolen without keys and with deadly silence.

I have raised the issue with BMW UK HQ however they are not away of this issue. This I cannot believe as the problem has increased tremendously of late and gains some media attention. I have also checked with BMW whether any clones of my keys were made and they confirmed that only the two that came with the car have been issued.

Please see various examples of this serious problem:
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/4259194/Emmanuel-Adebayor-fury-as-new-60k-BMW-nicked.html .

http://www.safer-neighbourhoods.co....atford-district/watch-messages/22032012143329
http://www.expressandstar.com/news/2012/04/06/theives-target-high-end-bmws/
http://www.bimmerforums.co.uk/forum/f74/stolen-bmw-issues-t112143/

http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=669883

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/...MW's+getting+stolen+using+blank+BMW+keys
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/...&nmt=STOLEN+BMW+335d+-+YH11+HJD+-+East+London
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/...64&mid=60079&nmt=STOLEN:+BMW+535d+East+London
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/...137337&nmt=STOLEN+BMW+335i+(East+London,+E14)

I would be very grateful if you could investigate this further. I hope that this email is taken seriously for the benefit of thousands of BMW drivers who have worked hard for their right to own a nice car. Also that this problem is acknowledges by BMW and is fixed. I fear I may never buy a BMW again unless I have complete confidence that this issue is being resolved.

Best wishes,
Maz"

Very Well Said!!

 

[Husbandofstinky]

'Benjamin, is there something you want to tell me?'

 

[jonjay]

Thatcham Security called me this afternoon in regards to my email I sent them. They told me that they are aware of the issue and looked at the cases I pointed out to them on the Internet.

They have created specialist teams to look at this situation and have other teams working on other cars with similar issues. They are working with police and the car manufacturers to try and plug these wholes but ultimately criminals steal the cars to order and find new technology to get around the security.

I feel better that they have contact me but at the end of the day my car is gone due to a massive flaw in the alarm system and car. Fingers crossed watchdog get on this.

 

[Damoegan]

What have the insurance said and what did BMW say, Maz?

 

[jonjay]

What have the insurance said and what did BMW say, Maz?

BMW hasn't said anything.

Insurance is visiting me Friday to discuss things and the value of my car. Thank god I took a GAP policy as I think they will offer me 26p or something.

 

[Damoegan]

Shocked that BMW haven't said anything....

Hope the insurance company dont try to shaft you too mutch mate. At least you have all these great pics to prove the condition if it..

 

[G.P]

Shocked that BMW haven't said anything....

Hope the insurance company dont try to shaft you too mutch mate. At least you have all these great pics to prove the condition if it..

BMW never want to know about problems, but who does. . .

The GAP insurance makes sure you get what you paid back, well should do. . .

 

[ben450]

My cousin is s BMW tech I'll ask him

 

[ben450]

This is what my cousin text me

The keys are ordered to chassis number and you have to have proof you own the car and ID to order a key plus address proof, the only way to could steal one would be to have a engine control unit, CAS unit with keys and LM module. To swap from one car to another which is a mission and even then it may still not start because of programming. And never heard of being able to start a car via a OBD socket.

 

[jonjay]

This is what my cousin text me

The keys are ordered to chassis number and you have to have proof you own the car and ID to order a key plus address proof, the only way to could steal one would be to have a engine control unit, CAS unit with keys and LM module. To swap from one car to another which is a mission and even then it may still not start because of programming. And never heard of being able to start a car via a OBD socket.

Thanks for the info but I am pretty sure they didnt go through all of this.

Its quite well documented that they are cutting keys with some device that plugs into ODB port. Its that or someone made a copy of my key sometime in its life.

 

[SeanCorky]

http://youtu.be/kVmPfCFFkqQ

This is how they're doing it.

Been following your posts on Pistonheads, gutted for you

 

[Crafoo]

Polish....how suprising.

Clever kit but as always it ends up in the wrong hands

 

[filbro]

Seeing that youtube clip makes my blood boil.
You must be utterly frustrated. I wouldn't have another BMW if I was you though - zero confidence to leave one anywhere........