Aftermarket security?

[HalfJobHarry 106]

I've not thought about fitting an aftermarket alarm/immobilizer since 'the old days' where immobilizers were not standard and alarms even less so.....

Are additional alarms/immobilizers still 'a thing'? If so are there any recommendations for BMWs? 

Is it all GPS trackers now or what? 

 

[my_e36 43]

Depending on what year is the vehicle. Personally, if it got a factory immobiliser, that's good enough for insurance purpose.

 

Good installer/workmanship is more important than fancy features on the hardware.

 

GPS trackers, you can have managed ones that you subscribe on a monthly fee and some self-managed ones basically put a SIM card and GPS receiver in your car. Latter ones are cheaper to run but you need to remember to top-up the SIM card for it to work properly.

[E30 325i Rag-Top 2956]

12 hours ago, HalfJobHarry said:

Are additional alarms/immobilizers still 'a thing'? If so are there any recommendations for BMWs? 

Is it all GPS trackers now or what? 

Pretty much everything come withn an immobiliser on it these days, not just BMWs but pretty much all new vehicles. Alarms are incorporated into the immobiliser systems as well, with all the smart key EWS codes, etc.

GPS trackers work well for high end vehicles that are likely to be targetted by more intelligent thieves, and if you want it back quick before it gets damaged / stripped, etc. With the subscription fees, etc it can work out quite expensive.

[M3_Power 636]

The best theft proof tool believe it or not is a hidden switch to cut earth to something. It will take hours to diagnose and basically impossible to bypass.

Everything else is useless in my opinion given the modern tools available to clone or fool the system.

You can’t protect against a tow truck however even GPS trackers. If they really want it they will take it. I was told once of a car that was chained and blocked and GPS tracked under video surveillance and the thieves cut a hole in the side of the house when the owners were overseas and took it - disappeared into oblivion.

Edited July 23, 2020 by M3_Power

[jom 98]

45 minutes ago, M3_Power said:

The best theft proof tool believe it or not is a hidden switch to cut earth to something. It will take hours to diagnose and basically impossible to bypass.

Even better is a multi-way plug with only two contacts connected. It can look like a diagnostic outlet.

[HalfJobHarry 106]

On 7/23/2020 at 12:35 PM, E30 325i Rag-Top said:

Pretty much everything come withn an immobiliser on it these days, not just BMWs but pretty much all new vehicles. Alarms are incorporated into the immobiliser systems as well, with all the smart key EWS codes, etc.

GPS trackers work well for high end vehicles that are likely to be targetted by more intelligent thieves, and if you want it back quick before it gets damaged / stripped, etc. With the subscription fees, etc it can work out quite expensive.

Thanks,

  Totally get that everything has immobilizers, and my view in the past 20 years has been that aftermarket alarms etc are probably unnecessary in case of a factory fit immobilizer. 

I'm tempted to maybe go for a GPS tracker though as the DIY with a SIM card (got to pay the data charges of course) jobbies don't seem too expensive. 

Agree with others too, in that if somebody wants to steal it ....they will steal it. 

[Ooonst 4]

Resurrecting this thread. What does everyone think of a DIY, mobile phone GPS tracker? I was thinking about hardwiring a mobile charger and then stashing the phone somewhere in the car not too visible but where it can still get a bit of GPS signal.

This app looks like it would foot the bill as well - https://apkpure.com/car-alarm/appus.pro.caralarm though I haven't managed to locate it or anything similar on the official Google Play store just yet... 

I'm also considering Dash Cam's for parking security but they might be largely pointless if someone get's into the car, they could remove them or trash them and the majority of them seem to just write to local SD Cards and not direct to Cloud storage or anything too fancy (that sort of feature would require more battery juice?)