This is the 2nd time its been broken into and its was on the driveway. No forced entry, alarm didnt go off and they took sat nav and put a cigarrette burn in the seat.
They did exactly the same as last time, they must have the scanner and keys. They obviously couldnt get into the boot.
Im so tempted to get rid of it now, its been nothing but trouble
And to all those who wonder where all the sport bumpers on ebay come from, go to hampstead, so many of the 3 series are missing the bumpers, must be really easy to take off too.
Hi There..
Just a quick question. Is your BMW's computer setup so that unlocking the door with the master key disables the alarm? On the E39 it can be programmed to dearm when you unlock it manually, or only dearm when you unlock remotely.
Unfortunatly there are key kits available which can easily open many BMW's manually, and if your car dearms the alarm at this point then the theif will be in and out without any trouble. Of course the car wont start for them, as the key wont have the chip to disable the immobilizer.
I've got mine programmed to set the alarm off if the key's used to unlock the doors, remote unlock is the only way to get in without it going off. If by chance remote doesnt work (say I park right underneath a mobile phone transmitter), then the alarm can still be deactivated (in an emergency) by starting the engine.
Try it out, if you can get into the key without using remote unlock, then a theif will be able to get in without setting off the alarm, as his trial and error key will also disable the alarm

. But assuming the E46's are like the E39's in this respect, your local BMW dealer should be able to reprogram the alarm to require remote unlock.
I believe the keys are 'reasonably' secure against radio scanning, and the key change their codes frequently.
I thought it was a big 'no no' to even leave a sat-nav mount. Some theives will even break into a car that has the suction ring on the windscreen. Always keep the windscreen clean, and hide all power cords/mounts/phone chargers etc out of sight. If there is anything of interest visible in the car, its going to be broken into so they can search it.
As for the guages.... Dont VDO make the guages for most european cars, BMW just select a guage which they like the appearance of, and has the features they want. Certainly had VDO guages in Vauxhall, VW, BMW, and Mercedes. The build quality on me E34, and now my E39 are both fantastic. Cant fault it at all. (Actually I can fault it.. bloomin pixels

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