Stolen E46 M3

[Sammo 2542]

4 minutes ago, m325i said:

I'm thinking of an air tag. 

Yeah worth a go maybe - I know there were some recent(?) changes with them to stop stalkers / thieves to use the for tracking people unknowingly but could be hidden easily and battery lasts a year or so?

[Kees 594]

4 hours ago, Sammo said:

Yeah worth a go maybe - I know there were some recent(?) changes with them to stop stalkers / thieves to use the for tracking people unknowingly but could be hidden easily and battery lasts a year or so?

I think I’m going to get a couple air tags for my cars since they are fairly inexpensive. Look like they work decently well and it would be nice to have the system integrate seamlessly with my phone and computer.
 

However, have heard they can notify unfamiliar Apple devices that they are being tracked. My mate left his airtag he has with his keys in a mate’s car and his mate got a notification saying a foreign airtag unfamiliar to his phone could be tracking him.

Could be problematic if the thieves have an Apple product (which lets be honest is quite likely seeing how popular iPhones are) as after a while they will know they are being tracked. 

 

Edited April 11, 2022 by Kees

[Sammo 2542]

@Kees yeah, they added that I think after people used them to stalk women.

If it gave you 24 hours of tracking first could be worthwhile for $50.

Cheap GPS trackers are available from about $200 but they need a sim and to be hard wired to car and are much more bulky.

[MD13 492]

I think there is a limit to car security - you want to make it unappealing/hard for the average car thief. But if the thief knows what they're doing or has a car trailer I don't think hundreds of dollars worth of security is going to help. Same with a tracker - are the police actually going to follow this in a timely manner? I've heard lots of stories of people trying to recover goods themselves which could get you in a whole lot of trouble...

[E30 325i Rag-Top 2956]

Are there any tracking and recovery services in NZ..? Have seen them in operation in UK. When they have confirmation from you that car is stolen they go and find it and get it back - working with the police.

Not a cheap service - install costs plus subscription fees, but if your car is that valuable to you.. maybe? Probably not enough demand in NZ and too much rural area to cover.

Connected Drive on later models has proved useful in finding some missing vehicles.

[HalfJobHarry 106]

On the subject of EWS. With a blank key ..going under the dash and programming a new key eith an onchip programmer is a 3 minute process. 

With the correct equipment it doesn't take that much longer on the newer CAS vehicles. 

You then break the lock barrel and away you go. 

For these high value high target vehicles. You need layered protection.

An aftermarket GPS tracker with remote fuel kill is essential. Under $500 with fitting. 

Also a steering wheel lock...it won't slow down a pro for too long but every little helps.

This won't have been a random act.

[Neal 540]

https://www.dummyobd.com/shop/bmw-dummy-obd-port-with-powered-siren/

Something else to consider on top of tracker / alternative immobiliser. Still leaves the one under the bonnet. But that is easy to cover.
 

 

 

[polley 916]

13 hours ago, Neal said:

https://www.dummyobd.com/shop/bmw-dummy-obd-port-with-powered-siren/

Something else to consider on top of tracker / alternative immobiliser. Still leaves the one under the bonnet. But that is easy to cover.
 

 

 

Oh wow, interesting 

[Olaf 3309]

On 4/11/2022 at 10:40 AM, Driftit said:

Sadly my Wife can't park her 200sx anywhere without attracting the wrong people. So we rarely take it anywhere where it would be parked out of sight. 

"I bought this pig-hunting truck.  Can't understand why all the pig-hunters come out of the woodwork to admire it wherever I stop".
They're not the "wrong people", they're 200SX family.  

[m325i 709]

9 hours ago, Olaf said:

"I bought this pig-hunting truck.  Can't understand why all the pig-hunters come out of the woodwork to admire it wherever I stop".
They're not the "wrong people", they're 200SX family.  

I have notice this in the last couple of years with the e46 though. Before it was only nerds. Now I get randoms coming up to me "Is that a manual bro?" etc. I think it's when cars get older but are still well presented they attract everyone; including pig hunters, f*ck pigs,  normies and nerds. 

 

@SHRNTA any news? Sorry if it's raw / too early, but the insurance scenario would be something I am sure a lot of other owners would be interested in given the recent value changes. Hope it works out OK for you.

 

[SHRNTA 48]

On 4/20/2022 at 7:10 PM, m325i said:

I have notice this in the last couple of years with the e46 though. Before it was only nerds. Now I get randoms coming up to me "Is that a manual bro?" etc. I think it's when cars get older but are still well presented they attract everyone; including pig hunters, f*ck pigs,  normies and nerds. 

 

@SHRNTA any news? Sorry if it's raw / too early, but the insurance scenario would be something I am sure a lot of other owners would be interested in given the recent value changes. Hope it works out OK for you.

 

Well Police gave up after a few days. I suspect they have better things to do than stolen vehicles. I passed information on from Wilson Carpark who could recover CCTV footage (which Im not privy too, but will be shown to the police). Again that's if the police want to pursue it.

Insurance company has mentioned if the car is not recovered within 14 days of it being stolen, they will pay out for what it was insured for (unlucky for me because I insured it for market value 6 months ago and prices were a lot lower then). Obviously Insurance company are doing their due diligence when paying out and at times it feels like I'm the one at fault here, "why did you park it there for more than a night" "did you try and sell it in the 6 months prior to it getting stolen" and it it feels like i'm doing all the work "can you get the CCTV camera footage, and give it to the police??" 

Anyway, i'm over it... 

Never had a car stolen before, so an experience so far.

One thing's for sure, insurance companies work for you if you're not at fault (accident caused by someone else etc), but the moment you claim being your fault???!!! they make it hard...

[Eagle 1661]

On 4/20/2022 at 7:10 PM, m325i said:

I have notice this in the last couple of years with the e46 though. Before it was only nerds. Now I get randoms coming up to me "Is that a manual bro?" etc. I think it's when cars get older but are still well presented they attract everyone; including pig hunters, f*ck pigs,  normies and nerds. 

Id say much of that is due to the RFB type crowd migrating their interest over to the E36, E46 etc.   

1 hour ago, SHRNTA said:

Well Police gave up after a few days. I suspect they have better things to do than stolen vehicles. I passed information on from Wilson Carpark who could recover CCTV footage (which Im not privy too, but will be shown to the police). Again that's if the police want to pursue it.

Insurance company has mentioned if the car is not recovered within 14 days of it being stolen, they will pay out for what it was insured for (unlucky for me because I insured it for market value 6 months ago and prices were a lot lower then). Obviously Insurance company are doing their due diligence when paying out and at times it feels like I'm the one at fault here, "why did you park it there for more than a night" "did you try and sell it in the 6 months prior to it getting stolen" and it it feels like i'm doing all the work "can you get the CCTV camera footage, and give it to the police??" 

Anyway, i'm over it... 

Never had a car stolen before, so an experience so far.

One thing's for sure, insurance companies work for you if you're not at fault (accident caused by someone else etc), but the moment you claim being your fault???!!! they make it hard...

Yeah insurance companies are very 2 faced. Good reminder about market value though, easy way to be out of pocket.

[Karter16 403]

On 4/20/2022 at 7:10 PM, m325i said:

Sorry if it's raw / too early, but the insurance scenario would be something I am sure a lot of other owners would be interested in given the recent value changes. Hope it works out OK for you.

This is exactly why I switched over Classic Cover with an agreed value a while back. Value going up up up and major insurance company treating it like any other car wanting to reduce the insured value each year.

[SHRNTA 48]

Hi All, just wanted to let everyone curious or posted here that the car was found, in Torbay of all places. Police has done their forensics and suggests a “deep clean??!” not knowing who’s been in the car.

I haven’t been able to see it and won’t be able to see it till insurance is confident car is what it was before claim. from what I can see from photos was mostly bumper damage and I’ve been told only the battery is missing, not sure about engine etc, but Car is heading to BM Workshop for diagnosis and then German Kollisons for panel and paint.

thanks for the discussion everyone. Keep your cars safe.

[Palazzo 475]

Glad you got it back, hope it’s ok.

[Kees 594]

47 minutes ago, SHRNTA said:

Hi All, just wanted to let everyone curious or posted here that the car was found, in Torbay of all places. Police has done their forensics and suggests a “deep clean??!” not knowing who’s been in the car.

I haven’t been able to see it and won’t be able to see it till insurance is confident car is what it was before claim. from what I can see from photos was mostly bumper damage and I’ve been told only the battery is missing, not sure about engine etc, but Car is heading to BM Workshop for diagnosis and then German Kollisons for panel and paint.

thanks for the discussion everyone. Keep your cars safe.

Great news you got it back! 

Aside from a deep clean I reckon you should potentially have the car meth tested. Testing kits are available or you can have lab testing done which will give you a specific figure on the level of contamination. A lot of higher end stolen vehicles are used by drug users and drug makers/distributors so there is probably a high likelihood of meth being smoked in the car. Legal limit is 1.5 micrograms per 100cm squared. 

One of my old cars I got from an insurance auction as a stolen/recovered vehicle. While the car was mechanically fine I had to have it meth tested as part of getting it back on the road. From memory, 5 places were swabbed, with 2 places coming back slightly above the limit. The testing agency said this was consistent with people smoking meth in the car. While it was only a small amount over the legal limit I still had to have my car professionally decontaminated. 

[M3AN 4016]

Unless your insurance company is going to cover it I wouldn't worry about meth contamination, it's not really a thing except for in exceptional circumstances, and you can be pretty confident they weren't cooking the stuff in there.

https://thespinoff.co.nz/business/27-09-2017/the-great-meth-testing-scam

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/104287037/rental-meth-panic-over

[smiddy 76]

One of the biggest scams around was meth testing and percieved fear that went with it! Hundreds of homes, relined, internal walls, gib etc!

Residual cigarette smoke was tested more toxic, sitting in peak hour traffic is worse!

Great news you have your car back, put the energy into the diagnostic health of engine and running gear.

[Eagle 1661]

and in typical capitalist fashion basically no punishment all those companies.  

[E30 325i Rag-Top 2956]

8 hours ago, SHRNTA said:

Hi All, just wanted to let everyone curious or posted here that the car was found, in Torbay of all places.

Could be great news that it’s been found, fingers crossed for you that there is minimal damage, and it’s covered by insurance. Sucks that no car insurance wants to cover consequential losses for all the stuffing around you have to do to get things sorted.

Any word on how they managed to take it? Anything from the CCTV?

[hqstu 780]

9 hours ago, Kees said:

Legal limit is 1.5 micrograms

(as above) It's not a "legal limit"  I believe it's a limit set by the "industry" as a "standard" and having just been through all this drama with a rental home - it is all a complete load of smelly BS.  The "industry" use 1.5 ug/100cm2, the guvmints own chief science dude has said that anything below 15 (10 times higher)  ug/100cm2 is safe to occupy (for their state houses)...  Millions of $$ and a sh%t ton of heartache has washed behind all this...

Anyway - great to get the M3 back...

[Blackie 510]

On 4/24/2022 at 6:40 AM, SHRNTA said:

Well Police gave up after a few days. I suspect they have better things to do than stolen vehicles.

So, was it the Police that located it or someone else? Was it just abandoned in a street somewhere?

Glad to hear you're getting it back.

[SHRNTA 48]

14 minutes ago, Blackie said:

So, was it the Police that located it or someone else? Was it just abandoned in a street somewhere?

Glad to hear you're getting it back.

It was the Police that located it. Might have been public rang it in to the Police. Plates were removed and replaced with something else.

[SHRNTA 48]

15 hours ago, E30 325i Rag-Top said:

Could be great news that it’s been found, fingers crossed for you that there is minimal damage, and it’s covered by insurance. Sucks that no car insurance wants to cover consequential losses for all the stuffing around you have to do to get things sorted.

Any word on how they managed to take it? Anything from the CCTV?

Haven’t heard anything from insurance company, who probably has got anyway with the police on it. Not sure Police will be interested now that the car has been located. Hope there’s someone who’s got time to look through the footage to find who gone and done it. Should help Wilson Carpark too to improve there security.

[Driftit 2069]

Great news. Glad you get the option to have your car back or not.

Lived in Torbay for 6 years before leaving Auckland. There are some real critters down the bottom there. Always police around there. Gang activity too. Not your typical Mongrel Power Bees types but definitely the drug peddling driving high end cars type.