I doubt that this is what happened. I'd like to see someone remove the jamb cover from the outside and also cut the loom from the outside. Not sure what kind of tool would be able to fit through the door and do these things. You can clearly see on the third image that they forcefully removed the cover with a screw driver or something else since it's completely bent
Hi guys, very cool to see how this is being picked up over here. Shame on me, but I actually forgot to submit it to Hacker News.
The key fob method is out of the question for my car. I've known about it for a while and store my keys in special bags.
I see quite a few people asking why a sting wasn't organised. I of course shared the M.O. with the police and we actually had a few phone calls from them over the past few days. They are sharing the information with their colleagues but to be frank, they are not going to spend an entire night waiting around for a potential car theft.
We live in Ijsselstein, a city just south west of Utrecht, and car burglary and theft is quite a big issue in our area. My previous car, a BMW F20, actually got broken into twice in 2 weeks. Both times they stole the entire nav system. I've become quite adapt at filing reports but besides filing a report the police can't do anything for you.
The first time it happened they asked me whether or not I saw visible blood stains. Only then would they send a patrol car to do sample research. In any other case, they just ask you to file a report and be done with it.
Let me know if there are any questions you'd like me to answer while I'm at it.
I'm also interested in writing some follow-up articles about car security/theft prevention. If there's anyone willing to contribute, let me know!
You may want to look into rewiring your OBD port so that it doesn’t work without you flipping a switch somewhere, or building a “key” with a male and female port + some wires, then storing the “key” in some hidden location (spare tire?).
Or just expose two data lines from the OBD wiring harness and jump them together. Remove the jumper to operationalize the OBD port.
FYI: cutting off VCC may not always work since some devices may derive enough power through other lines that have pull-up resistors to function. I’ve seen it happen in other industries.
Not sure if such products exist commercially, but it would have some value for someone to build them.
A few days ago, I read on the most reliable source in the world, the internet, that if you have a class 3 alarm system from BMW, the OBD port is blocked as soon as the alarm goes off. I do want to verify this with the dealer once my holiday is over.
I also read about the OBD key cloning, but I'm not sure whether or not that was an issue with the first F30s. I'm unsure whether or not it still works with the F30 LCI from 2017 that I have
I've been thinking about that. A good one with parking mode and cloud support sets you back about 800 euro including installation. It could be worth it but the chances of the cops actually catching someone based on the footage is quite slim.
For hit and run accidents in which you can record a license plate it might be worth it.
Cut the cloud storage, install yourself, and buy direct from Asia. Except the flash card, buy that from Amazon. Then it should cost less than US$100 per side.
Oh dear. So we figured out that SD cards „directly from asia“ are either counterfeit, fake or low quality. But apparently cameras are fine? Well, good luck then.
We are actually. Not with the BMW as intended but with my girlfriends car. Currently driving from the south of France to Bretagne for our last week. The car has been fixed by now and will be picked up the 18th. I'll update the article later today too!
What I didn't know is that it would dial home if the connection was lost. Even the person I spoke to at the dealer wasn't aware of this.