Security suggestions for new BMW

charlie_1988UK

I park my car on the street, in an area of South London that sees a fair amount of car thefts. It's a nearly new bright blue BMW so I'm realising I need to invest in some security.

I'm looking at steering wheel locks but I assume they're only a visual deterrent, or to stop your basic car thief.

I keep my keys upstairs quite far away from where the car is usually parked, but I can also put them in a faraday pouch.

Beyond this, is it worth exploring ghost immobilisers? I also assume anyone determined enough will be able to get past it.

Robin9

Tracker ?   

DullGreyGuy

charlie_1988UK said:

I park my car on the street, in an area of South London that sees a fair amount of car thefts. It's a nearly new bright blue BMW so I'm realising I need to invest in some security.

I'm looking at steering wheel locks but I assume they're only a visual deterrent, or to stop your basic car thief.

I keep my keys upstairs quite far away from where the car is usually parked, but I can also put them in a faraday pouch.

Beyond this, is it worth exploring ghost immobilisers? I also assume anyone determined enough will be able to get past it.

Anyone determined enough will simply pick the car up onto the back of a low loader, envelope it with something to block a tracker and then deal with whatever security the vehicle has when its safely far away from where it was taken from. 

Things like wheel locks, immobilisers etc are there to stop the more casual/ opportunistic theft. 

Then there are those that want to steal parts and not the whole car, a former colleague in East London has had the exhaust, steering wheel and headlights taken from her X1 all more than once in which case things like immobilisers offer no protection at all

mr_stripey

have a crap car. It's worked for me for the last thirty years :-)

cw8825

genuinely, you can invest in what you what but if they want to take your car they will.
spend on a decent insurance policy

tacpot12

I've been considering upgrading my car to something nicer, and have also been looking at what security to use. 

I like the sound of the Ghost immobiliser but it seems too easy to remove (assuming the theives can find it). I would be wanting to have a steel plate welded over it to trap it in position so that it cannot be removed without an angle grinder being used. (There are further steps you can take that would make it difficult to use an angle grinder on the plate.) 

I would also be looking to fit a lock box over the pedals so the car can't be driven. A DiskLok Gold steering wheel lock would also provide a visual deterent and slow them down.

You can almost certainly get a gearshift lock for the car you intend to purchase but I won't be fitting one as they are too expensive.

I will be protecting the ODB Port with some sort of lock.

A kill switch on the fuel pump is also a cheap option. I'm not sure if I will have a kill switch fitted. (This idea needs some care as you don't want the fuel pump to cut out while you are driving, and it can easily be bypassed with a short peice of wire, unless other precautions are taken.)

Cars are often stolen by breaking into the house and stealing the car keys, so you need to physically protect the key as well as protecting any wireless transmissions from the keys. I will be getting a small deposit safe fitted in my house in a discreet location and will keep my main car key plus a set of keys to unlock all the security devices in there - a deposit safe allows you to post things through a slot, but not retrieve them without the safe key.  The key to the safe will be hidden in a place that needs knowledge to find it. I also intend to have a fake car key hung up in plain sight near the front door. Hopefully, the thieves will steal that and spend ages trying to start the car with it and then give up. 

A Tracker might help, but I'm not sure I want the annual fees associated with a Tracker. 

I will be storing one set of car keys plus a safe key away from my home with a friend who will allow me to access it if I need to recover my car and my set of keys have somehow been stolen.

chrisw

tacpot12 said:

Cars are often stolen by breaking into the house and stealing the car keys, so you need to physically protect the key as well as protecting any wireless transmissions from the keys. I will be getting a small deposit safe fitted in my house in a discreet location and will keep my main car key plus a set of keys to unlock all the security devices in there - a deposit safe allows you to post things through a slot, but not retrieve them without the safe key.  The key to the safe will be hidden in a place that needs knowledge to find it. I also intend to have a fake car key hung up in plain sight near the front door. Hopefully, the thieves will steal that and spend ages trying to start the car with it and then give up. 

Hiding the keys is not necessarily a good idea, they might just threaten you or your family with a knife until you retrieve them. The fake key might buy you some time but sometimes it might be best just to let them take the car.

Iceweasel

Isn't this what insurance is for?
If they want it - they'll take it no matter what you do or fit.
I have a Portimao Blau BMW G20 330d, and I want to enjoy it. So I have a tracker to reduce the insurance premium - but if it's stolen I might not want it back after it's been thrashed.
You might be better renting a lock-up near your home.

DullGreyGuy

tacpot12 said:

I've been considering upgrading my car to something nicer, and have also been looking at what security to use. 

I like the sound of the Ghost immobiliser but it seems too easy to remove (assuming the theives can find it). I would be wanting to have a steel plate welded over it to trap it in position so that it cannot be removed without an angle grinder being used. (There are further steps you can take that would make it difficult to use an angle grinder on the plate.) 

I would also be looking to fit a lock box over the pedals so the car can't be driven. A DiskLok Gold steering wheel lock would also provide a visual deterent and slow them down.

You can almost certainly get a gearshift lock for the car you intend to purchase but I won't be fitting one as they are too expensive.

I will be protecting the ODB Port with some sort of lock.

A kill switch on the fuel pump is also a cheap option. I'm not sure if I will have a kill switch fitted. (This idea needs some care as you don't want the fuel pump to cut out while you are driving, and it can easily be bypassed with a short peice of wire, unless other precautions are taken.)

Cars are often stolen by breaking into the house and stealing the car keys, so you need to physically protect the key as well as protecting any wireless transmissions from the keys. I will be getting a small deposit safe fitted in my house in a discreet location and will keep my main car key plus a set of keys to unlock all the security devices in there - a deposit safe allows you to post things through a slot, but not retrieve them without the safe key.  The key to the safe will be hidden in a place that needs knowledge to find it. I also intend to have a fake car key hung up in plain sight near the front door. Hopefully, the thieves will steal that and spend ages trying to start the car with it and then give up. 

A Tracker might help, but I'm not sure I want the annual fees associated with a Tracker. 

I will be storing one set of car keys plus a safe key away from my home with a friend who will allow me to access it if I need to recover my car and my set of keys have somehow been stolen.

None of that stops them taking parts off the car nor stop them lifting the car, all of it can be removed at their leisure once the car is away from you. 

It does however make it a pain to get into your car and drive it or park it up for 2 minutes to get something from a shop etc, unless you dont bother applying all the locks/boxes etc in which case there's a big opening for someone who wants to take it. 


Years ago I watched a firm roll up, put dollies on the weeks of a car to pull it out of a parking spot, then lift it onto the back of a lorry and drive off. I assumed it was for parking violations in the station car park we were in as there were the typical "or you'll be towed" signs but I could have just watched someone steal a £150k car in the space of about 5 minutes. 

For the three years we had an expensive car, didnt take any additional precautions other than having decent car insurance. Hell, sometimes didnt even put the roof up. 

Ectophile

It depends on the steering wheel lock.

I have a Toad Shield - an early version of what's now called Diskloc.  It's got some gouge marks on it from when someone tried to remove it with bolt cutters.  They failed.

DullGreyGuy

Ectophile said:

It depends on the steering wheel lock.

I have a Toad Shield - an early version of what's now called Diskloc.  It's got some gouge marks on it from when someone tried to remove it with bolt cutters.  They failed.

Depends on both the wheel lock and the thief. 

Slightly surprised that the Lock Picking Lawyer has never done a DiskLok, he's done other locks which has taken 15 minutes or more to unlock so it being difficult wouldn't be why not. He has done other brands of wheel locks and some were under 5 seconds to do with the right tool to hand.