Security suggestions for new BMW

facade

DullGreyGuy said:

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. 

I have a Diskloc on both cars, so do half the houses on my estate.

I am somewhat concerned that with them being so popular the thieves will simply carry the picking tool along with the keyless repeater/OBD tool.

Any numpty can open them in a few seconds with the tool, much quicker and easier than trying to break or cut them.

I am thinking about modifying mine to take a decent padlock- something like a Squire Stronghold ought to defeat the average unskilled thief.

cw8825

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.

do you use all that every time you get in the car??

sounds very impractical

UniDebtStudent

Trackers can be as little as 80 quid a year and can help reduce insurance premiums with some companies. All of the suggestions above sound good, it just depends on how long you want your mornings to be when you take the car out but a big part of car theft is time, the longer you can delay the process the better, you'll be more likely to catch them in the act.

You could get a streaming dash cam that records when parked. Also turn your sensors up (this can be annoying if you live on a particularly windy street) but any tampering and you'll hear it. Definitely download the My BMW App and pay for vehicle tracking, again if the car feels it's being tampered with you'll get a notification on your phone from the App. As is having a ring doorbell pointed at the car. 

Take as many measures as you can, no car is truly safe, I have a 20 year old Toyota and the Catalytic Converter was stolen just last week in a Council owned car park outside of London

EssexExile

cw8825 said:

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.

do you use all that every time you get in the car??

sounds very impractical

Buy a car with keyless entry for the convenience, then take an hour getting through all the security measures bought to make up for its weaknesses.