[magic77]

Mates 2006 E90 M SPort Saloon 320D was taken during the night.

Scary thing is no broken glass or sign of forced entry.

He had both sets of keys with him while away. So looks like another ECU hack. They did not even try the house. No one heard anything as rest of family was asleep upstairs.


Silver M Sport Saloon Reg Plate LS06ZNE

[Tunbridge]

Thats really bad, and thats before you start thinking that it could be me next.

Total scum bags.

[coopersim]

This is very scary, guess it proves that there is only so much you can do to protect your property

[dxb335d]

Oh no. Hope the insurance sorts it ASAP for your mate!

[Schnorbitz]

What's an ECU hack, dare I ask? Cunning bastards.

[G82Dude]

I still have a problem with the whole ECU hack thing. I mean, you can't add any module/component to a car and expect it to work properly without having it coded to the car first (unless that's just a con). So, popping in another car's ECU and associated bits will allow the car to start that easily?!? Surely BMW in their infinite wisdom and technology can't make it that easy?

[foxy-stoat]

One way to find out if 2 owners who have the sameish car swops their ecu's over and try starting it with their keys.

Probably wont happen tho due to risk of fudging them!

[magic77]

well there is that and also the key coding gadets you see on youtube, so all you need is one of these and a key cut to the car,

either way its scary as the alarm would have gone off and that would have woken up people, and it looks like it didnts all very odd

[Dr Dave]

I can't even add a fucking CD changer to my car without coding. This seriously sucks ROYAL DICK.

LS06 is the same prefix as my car!!! Hope mine's not next on the list.................

[foxy-stoat]

It is worring, I was thinking about wiring up a switch somewhere on mine linked to the diesel pump. That way they can start and drive off in it but when the diesel runs out a mile down the road it should stop. Assuming the ecu wont throw a wobbly if theres no power to the pump.

Things seemed a lot easier when I had my old 205 gti for this kind of stuff!

[m@rk]

For them to pull off this so called ECU thing they would still need to gain entry so you would expect to have some signs of forced entry, broken glass etc.

I keep hearing about ECUs being swapped but can't help thinking it is just an urban myth. Everybody seems to know somebody who has seen it done but nobody has seen it for themselves. And for those that say the plods told them, well they can be as full of it as the next one sometimes.

My boss had his 335D Touring nicked a while back from outside his house.

The thieves used an almost foolproof method to which all our cars are really vulnerable to:

A flatbed truck!

[bmw3series2010]

i have had my sprinter van nicked in a similar way and i know the ecu hack is not a myth as the police caught the gang stealing the van and they had their own ecu along with their own keys. the only thing different was that they HAD to drill the steering lock. they had a key to get in (some skeleton key, sprinters do not have an audible alarm only immobiliser) so no alarm went off. they bring their own keys/ecu and the part where the key fobs go into.

when i met the police who caught them without them knowing i owned a bmw they said that this particular hack is popular with mercedes sprinters and bmw's

[Schnorbitz]

Still begs the question, why did they nick a humble 320d!?

I thought these gangs nicked desirable, high end stuff which were then shipped to Africa or the Far East.

Interesting.

[magic77]

yep got me its not that it was modded or anything basic m sport with 163 engine, as said most likely for parts as that seems most logical option.

[simples]

Originally Posted by Schnorbitz

Still begs the question, why did they nick a humble 320d!?

I thought these gangs nicked desirable, high end stuff which were then shipped to Africa or the Far East.

Interesting.

rather than doing that, most are probably for garages where they are stripped down and parts sold as recon's

[Dino355]

My guess is they had a key replicated by a BMW dealer or a flatbed lorry took it away as someone said.

You may all think that getting a key from a dealership requires ID, logbook etc but it's been done before as my mate has his M3 nicked and when he asked BMW if anyone had spare keys made they looked it up and it showed a dealership in Ireland of all places had ordered them.

Turns out the thief told them he was on holiday and lost his keys. Dealer asked for ID and logbook and as the thief was on 'holiday' and 'didnt have the logbook' they accepted a faxed photocopy (which was obviously a fake) along with his driving licence. So despite all of this overwhelming evidence (and the fact that someone in the same area as the name and address shown on the driving licence was selling HIS cars parts on ebay) the police did absolutely nothing. Something to do with the car being nicked from Muswell Hill and the thief being in Leeds meant that the two police forces wouldnt share or co-operate. Crazy I know.

Real sorry to hear about your mates car. Sad fact is they probably nicked it for the interior, wheels, bumpers, lights, engine, gearbox etc and the rest will be crushed

I'm in North London and grew up in Chingford so I'll keep my eyes peeled but it's unlikely they will be stupid enough to be driving it around especially in the area it was taken from but hey, stranger things have happened.

[magic77]

thanks all car is definelty now gone but at least insurance company are being slightly usefull. Especially since he proved he still had both sets of keys. We checked with BMW to see if any extra keys where ever issued and it was confirmed only two are registred for the car.
So which ever way they did this was very quick and quiet to get away on main road with car next to the house window.
Lets just say next car his already investing in a wheel lock and I might as well

[foxy-stoat]

Originally Posted by Dino355

My guess is they had a key replicated by a BMW dealer or a flatbed lorry took it away as someone said.

You may all think that getting a key from a dealership requires ID, logbook etc but it's been done before as my mate has his M3 nicked and when he asked BMW if anyone had spare keys made they looked it up and it showed a dealership in Ireland of all places had ordered them.

Turns out the thief told them he was on holiday and lost his keys. Dealer asked for ID and logbook and as the thief was on 'holiday' and 'didnt have the logbook' they accepted a faxed photocopy (which was obviously a fake) along with his driving licence. So despite all of this overwhelming evidence (and the fact that someone in the same area as the name and address shown on the driving licence was selling HIS cars parts on ebay) the police did absolutely nothing. Something to do with the car being nicked from Muswell Hill and the thief being in Leeds meant that the two police forces wouldnt share or co-operate. Crazy I know.

Real sorry to hear about your mates car. Sad fact is they probably nicked it for the interior, wheels, bumpers, lights, engine, gearbox etc and the rest will be crushed

I'm in North London and grew up in Chingford so I'll keep my eyes peeled but it's unlikely they will be stupid enough to be driving it around especially in the area it was taken from but hey, stranger things have happened.

Blimey, I couldnt buy a number plate in Halfrauds without driving licence, original log book, dna sample and letter from my dad!

[Billyray911]

When you replace,get a blackjack system.Obviously won't help with a flatbed pick up,but will stop most other attempts.

[jinjur]

May only be a 320d but the engines would still fetch a grand or so, maybe 5k all in when split?

They would go to alot more effort for alot less in this day and age

Sorry to hear this.

+1 on the flat bed.....mate has his utterly mint 18k M2 Golf GTI16v stolen in the same manner......they didnt even open it.......they just dragged it on, handbrake engaged......

Arseholes

J

[magic77]

I have a feeling it was a roll up and toway job I cant see them using a crane loader as that would have made too much noise being on main road and car inches from bedroom window.

But a tow away as he always parks nose in sounds plausible. They didnt have a key as I have had the BMW register checked and only two keys ever issued for the car.

Its in hand of insurance company now

[Fedupwiththievingscumbags]

I am a new user to this site so bear with me!!! Just reading through and I am astonished and utterly disgusted at the amount of people that have been subjected to losing their cars!

In June 2011, my fiance surprised me with a E350 cdi cabriolet. Fully loaded, upgraded 19" AMGS, REVERSING CAMERA, HARMON KARDON, In fact, you name it, the car had it. I blissfully drove my pride and joy for 4 whole weeks before some thieving animal piece of c*** scum saw fit to put a sledgehammer through the back of the house (while I was here with my son) and take the keys and the car. Never to be seen again.

The insurance eventually coughed up (not the full £50k but near enough) and we had bought a 330d BMW convertible in the meantime as the insurance was taking so long Not a patch on the Merc but still a nice car.

NYE, we travelled from Hampshire to Birmingham to see friends. We all went shopping and parked at a train station with cctv in the middle of the day, caught a 10 minute train into the main shopping centre and retuned 2 hours later. On NYE, once again with my young son with me, we were met with no car and broken glass everywhere.

The car was recovered the following day thankfully (the merc was never seen again). I am however totally miffed as to how these animals managed to take my car in broad daylight, in a carpark with cctv (the whole thing was caught on camera but too far away too see what they did). Not to mention the fact that the spare key was in a safe at home and the other keys were in my handbag. According to the police, there were 4 stolen (all 330d) in the same way, the same day in that area... but HOW?

BMW are so unhelpful. Pompus pigs said it was not their problem!! I cannot lose another car and now live in fear that it is going to happen again! I have had 2 cars stolen in 5 months in 2 totally different ways... when does this stop?

Can anyone shed any light on how they are doing this or better still, how i can stop mine going again?

My biggest regret is not insisting on a tracker for the Merc. The BMW does not have one, however it is not the value of the other car, nor do I plan on keeping it long... just a little longer than the thieves thought I was... BA****DS!!!