Beware of keyless theft of your i3

[I33t]

I phoned BMW UK customer service to say it was stolen, and the only advice I got was how to reset the password for the iRemote app, and the (incorrect) information it had a 1 mile radius. They specifically said it wasn't a tracker. They did say BMW had a police liaison officer, but they don't deal with the car owner directly. I wasn't offered anything like locating or disabling the car.

You need to follow that up with BMW and escalate it. Even owners of the car know that it communicates to BMW remotely via the mobile phone data service as long as it is in range of the mobile service. 1 mile from your location is irrelevant.

My car is still at the dealership, as if I park it outside the house they'll be able to come back for it as things stand. BMW said all the locks will need replacing, but I don't see how that will prevent the same thing happening again. I also found this info on the security flaws, but most of it is over my head. What I do take from it is that the security is woefully inadequate. I'll take it out, do your own research!

Were the physical locks damaged? Have you checked? If the locks are undamaged, why replace them?

Maybe get your head around the OBD port and do some wire tinkering so the OBD scanners won't work.

Also, contact your car insurance company. If the locks do need replacing because they are damaged, then I'm sure they will pay for it.

 

[Jonnyp42]

What a friendly bunch...

Fact 1 : OBD based theft is big issue in the UK - http://content.met.police.uk/News/Drivers-urged-to-protect-vehicles-against-keyless-theft/1400029791185/1257246745756
Fact 2 : The Metropolitan Police will bill you for recovery, albeit that your insurer may eventually pick up the costs.
Fact 3 : The UK telematics does NOT include tracking of stolen vehicles, that's a North American service.
Fact 4 : The problem is so significant many insurers will decline cover if certain vehicles are not independently tracked.
Fact 5 : The locate my vehicle option does refuse to return a location if the vehicle is not in the same area as the requesting device. It actually states 1.5km on a data protection basis.

My X5 has had 2 recalls to address this issue. Recall 1 to prevent the drivers window dropping in the event that the drivers door is de-barrelled and Recall 2 which involved a flash of the whole ECU.

The OP's post seems entirely plausible to me.

 

[highgater63]

Ok, here's my final contribution on this:

When I finally got my i3 back from the garage (all the locks had to be replaced, it took two weeks for them to be made and sent over from Germany), I was surprised to see that my dashcam was still in the car. I had a look to see if there was any footage, and I found this clip where the thief is phoning a friend to tell him he's got the car and how much he likes it, as well as boasting about all the gear he has in his flat. I've given this to the police, but heard no more of it.

A friend has uploaded this to YouTube for me. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4lXthHJUw4

 

[alohart]

When I finally got my i3 back from the garage (all the locks had to be replaced, it took two weeks for them to be made and sent over from Germany), I was surprised to see that my dash cam was still in the car.

Were all the locks (well, there are only 2, aren't there?) damaged or was there concern that the emergency keys might have been duplicated?

How did the thief manage to steal your i3? Did he have one of your fobs?

 

[busaman]

i have a diagnostics company ALL keyless bmw,s are easy to steal via obd you can make a functioning key from a blank in seconds that why insurance companys will not insure high end range rovers in london unless garaged full time..

however the easy way to combat it is move the obd port.....