Stolen to order - beware fake keys

[stolen1m]

Hi All. Here's the CCTV footage of my BMW 1M stolen without any keys in 3 minutes!
I know this isn't a BMW forum, but this is interesting for anyone with a high end car attractive to thieves or indeed anyone with this type of key.

This is my £43,000 BMW 1M Stolen at 3 am in under 3 minutes. They accessed the car's OBD port in the footwell by breaking the glass, reaching in and using a device to reprogram a blank key fob. The car was simply then unlocked and pushed off the drive and driven away. No Alarm went off, and later found out there is a 'void' on the inside of the car, so if you keep your arm close to the inside of the door and the dash, the alarm will not activate. Just enough room to get your arm down to the OBD port where you can re-program a blank key if you have the correct device (which you can buy in the internet!)

BMW don't seem to want to admit they have a problem on their cars. It affects all BMW's with the electronic fob from 2006-2011. They are still producing cars with the OBD port located in the footwell in the same location, and I assume the same problem with the alarm. Over 300 cars were stolen in March 2012 in the West Midlands alone and apparently the Police told me in one night £250,000 worth of cars were stolen in the region.

So really just to warn you all of the issue and let you know about the new way cars are being stolen (specifically those people who own cars with reprogrammable keys) Oh and don't buy a BMW because they haven't fixed the problem with their new cars! Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DshK4ZXPU9o

 

[944 man]

Already been discussed here after your PH post the other week.

 

[tscaptain]

Why is this thread on the 944 forum?[]

 

[Mike_Pollock]

Wondered that myself!

Don't think any 944s came with anything so sophisticated as these BMs[]

 

[nick9one1]

We don't even have an OBD-II port!

The thing I find strange about this video.. when the thief broke the window, why didn't the alarm go off?!

People are also saying its not BMW's fault as the ODBII port is required on all cars by law. But, its not a requirement that keys can be programmed through the port.
On my Alfa its a dealer only procedure, as a piece of kit called 'Fiat Examiner' is needed. Apparently these are only available to dealerships. And on a Seat I used to own you could program a new key yourself, but you had to be in possession of an original key to do it.

 

[PSH]

ORIGINAL: A9XXC

Wondered that myself!

Don't think any 944s came with anything so sophisticated as these BMs[]

Our cars don't even have a decent lock due to wear, I wonder how many of you guy's have tried to unlock your drivers door using a flat head screw driver, try it you may get a shock..

Pete

 

[JamesO]

Very true about the locks. Mines pretty well imobillised and if leaving mine somwhere I take the ecu out of the glovebox as it is pretty compact and will fit in a large coat pocket.

 

[xenon]

People are also saying its not BMW's fault as the ODBII port is required on all cars by law. But, its not a requirement that keys can be programmed through the port.
On my Alfa its a dealer only procedure, as a piece of kit called 'Fiat Examiner' is needed. Apparently these are only available to dealerships. And on a Seat I used to own you could program a new key yourself, but you had to be in possession of an original key to do it.

Not strictly true. European Block Exemtion law means that manufacturers are not allowed, by law, to prevent any other garage from servicing the vehicles and are not allowed to withold information. This means that any garage could program the Alfa key if they choose to do so.

The thing that is different about the BMWs is that a blank key can be programmed in-situ without any PIN protection. It should be code-protected with the dealer only issuing codes to persons with bona-fide credentials.

It's ironic that I had to enter a 22-digit authorisation code into my BMW F10 in order to update the satellite navigation, but seemingly anyone can program the keys of pre-2011 cars.

 

[944Turbo]

Many (not all) VW/audi cars put the port in the centre of the car, often behind the ashtray not seen the video yet as on a slow mobile connection - did they break the glass, force it downwards or cut a hole in it?
Tony

 

[xenon]

They broke the glass with a centre-punch but there's hot debate on the BMW forums as to why the alarm didn't go off. Perhaps it did but was just ignored.

 

[nick9one1]

ORIGINAL: xenon

People are also saying its not BMW's fault as the ODBII port is required on all cars by law. But, its not a requirement that keys can be programmed through the port.
On my Alfa its a dealer only procedure, as a piece of kit called 'Fiat Examiner' is needed. Apparently these are only available to dealerships. And on a Seat I used to own you could program a new key yourself, but you had to be in possession of an original key to do it.

Not strictly true. European Block Exemtion law means that manufacturers are not allowed, by law, to prevent any other garage from servicing the vehicles and are not allowed to withold information. This means that any garage could program the Alfa key if they choose to do so.

The thing that is different about the BMWs is that a blank key can be programmed in-situ without any PIN protection. It should be code-protected with the dealer only issuing codes to persons with bona-fide credentials.

It's ironic that I had to enter a 22-digit authorisation code into my BMW F10 in order to update the satellite navigation, but seemingly anyone can program the keys of pre-2011 cars.

I'm sure your right, but I was referring to this article http://www.am-online.com/news/2012/7/10/independent-garages-hit-back-over-car-crime-claim/31265/

Although the European legislation states that all garages should have access to vehicle manufacturer's technical information, security information has still not been made available to the independent garage sector.

ORIGINAL: 944Turbo

Many (not all) VW/audi cars put the port in the centre of the car, often behind the ashtray not seen the video yet as on a slow mobile connection - did they break the glass, force it downwards or cut a hole in it?
Tony

The ports have to be within 2 feet of the steering wheel by law.

 

[xenon]

Interesting. It's probably just BMW then whose inbuilt systems allow this as it's just BMWs that seem to be targetted. It's apparently not an issue on the F series of cars onwards which are all keyless ignitions, ergo there is no slot into which one could insert a blank to be programmed.

 

[nick9one1]

ORIGINAL: xenon

Interesting. It's probably just BMW then whose inbuilt systems allow this as it's just BMWs that seem to be targetted. It's apparently not an issue on the F series of cars onwards which are all keyless ignitions, ergo there is no slot into which one could insert a blank to be programmed.

I know on some cars immobiliser chips in the keys aren't actually re-programmed. When you add a new key to the car the car actually 'learns' the new key.
That way if you loose a key you can tell the car to forget all old keys and just program it to accept the ones you currently have.

 

[xenon]

Good point and I'm sure that's how it works. Nevertheless, I'm told that the keyless systems on the F series (I have an F10) are not affected.... []