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Car Forum / BMW Cars / January 2006Tracker Monitor - Whats the point if key jacked?
So I am thinking of getting a nice new 325M Sport, and counting up all the options; extras. I am now getting worried about car security, with a car with all those nice 'M' features. So Tracker (UK based system) looks interesting, and Tracker Monitor or Retrieve seem reasonable price. But I cannot see how these help against key jacking thefts. The problem with TRACKER Retrieve is that I have to notice that the Car has been nicked before I notify Tracker HQ to activate the Tracker. If it is several hours before I know its been pinched, then the car will already have been stripped down, or the TRACKER deactivated by profesional car thieves. So if I consider the TRACKER Monitor, it automatically notifies TRACKER HQ of any 'unauthorised' vehicle movements, so they can alert me by phone before activating the Tracker. But how it knows of 'unauthorised' is inclear, presumably of car break in via car immobilisers system. - But then the Alarm would have gone off anyway. - So I don't see the means by which TRACKER can help, when the keys have been pinced, and I only notice several hours later. I don't see the additonal cost of Monitor helping very much. Nor do I see Echo and Horizon, these additonal feature systems just help with GPS location after the Tracker activation. So I am puzzled how TRACKER helps in the increased cases of Key jacking by professional thieves, and where I might still not notice the theft for several hours. Anyone care to comment ? Personally I would prefer an option to enter a 4 code every time I try to start the car, Jules > Personally I would prefer an option to enter a 4 code every time I try > to start the car, That's funny, all four of my 7 series have / had that feature... You had to set it. Have they stopped doing it recently? > Jules Hmmm OK I don't know about the 7 Series, I presume it is full of lots of fancy computer gizmos. But I am poor sole struggling to pay for a new 3 series, which I am not aware of as having any PIN to start feature. Have a Happy New Year and Great driving in 2006 Jules > Hmmm > OK I don't know about the 7 Series, I presume it is full of lots of [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > > Jules It is built into the computer, if set it displays "code" and won't start even if you have a key. Three cranks and it sounds the / an alarm. > Personally I would prefer an option to enter a 4 code every time I try > to start the car, That sounds a real bore.  Signature*When blondes have more fun, do they know it? Dave Plowman dave@davenoise.co.uk London SW To e-mail, change noise into sound. usually you would notice if you were key jacked... or do you leave your keys all over unattended for hours? My keys are in my pocket or in my house... so it is not likely they will get the key. > usually you would notice if you were key jacked... or do you leave your > keys all over unattended for hours? My keys are in my pocket or in my > house... so it is not likely they will get the key. Well...Many, it seems, leave their car keys on a hook just inside the front door. So a thief uses a bit of wire through the letter box to hook them out. Signature*My designated driver drove me to drink Dave Plowman dave@davenoise.co.uk London SW To e-mail, change noise into sound. many it seems are very dumb! Well thats where I leave my keys now, but my current car is a 18 year old BMW 320, I guess worth about £800. So obvisously have to be more careful with my keys at work (in my desk) and in kitchen drwaer, or somewhere at home, when i decide to get my new car. But Tracker, it seems still does not answer the fundamental point, that if someone managed to get my keys whilst I was asleep, or busy in meetings, then it would be several hours before I noticed the theft and hence activate Tracker. A four digit entry would be a real pain to use every day, but would be useful on the odd occasion I decided to leave it parked in Nottingham or Liverpool ! - I am pretty sure it is not an option in the 3 series. Jules > A four digit entry would be a real pain to use every day, but would be > useful on the odd occasion I decided to leave it parked in Nottingham > or Liverpool ! - I am pretty sure it is not an option in the 3 series. My 1994 E36 320i SE has this - just press the Code button on the OBC, enter the code you want to use, remove key. When you come back you can't start the car without that same code. I use it when I leave my car parked in the centre of Birmingham. Dan Cool, so maybe I will get this on my new car. :) > But Tracker, it seems still does not answer the fundamental point, that > if someone managed to get my keys whilst I was asleep, or busy in > meetings, then it would be several hours before I noticed the theft and > hence activate Tracker. get a tracker for your keys? I once had my car taken on a low-loader and it was a good 30 minutes/15 miles before I got a call from the tracker company. In a real theft it would be better than nothing but hardly an instantaneous response. Also I'm not sure whether they alert the police until after they've contacted you. i.e. if you're in a meeting then they won't get onto plod until you can call them back. Trackers are pretty much a requirement, for insurance purposes, on the higher end of the value/performance/luxury market. I can't get insurance without it. Well, that depends on what you mean by "higher end". For my 40 000-pound car a tracking device was not mandatory and wasn't even worthwhile financially. This is Norwich Union. See my other post 2 Jan 19.46 UK time. DAS SignatureFor direct contact replace nospam with schmetterling --- [...] > Trackers are pretty much a requirement, for insurance purposes, on the > higher end of the value/performance/luxury market. I can't get > insurance without it. Happened to a neighbour mine. The thief must have used a fishing rod to get his keys off the hall table some distance from the door and drive off the car (a BMW 5 - very relevant!). (Mine standing adjacent was 'just' burgled.) DAS For direct contact replace nospam with schmetterling --- >> usually you would notice if you were key jacked... or do you leave your >> keys all over unattended for hours? My keys are in my pocket or in my [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > front door. So a thief uses a bit of wire through the letter box to hook > them out. <snip> > Personally I would prefer an option to enter a 4 code every time I try > to start the car, > > Jules I onece had a Citreon Xantia (yeah, I know .. you get what you deserve) that needed a 4-digit code entered every time you wanted to start it. What a pain in the posterior that was! SignatureRegards Steve G FWIW I about two years ago investigated retrofitting a tracker device in my car on the basis that the insurance company would give me a suitable discount (in UK). However, it turned out that the discount was insufficient to pay for the device or the annual subscription to the monitoring and alarm-raising service. So I did not bother. It seems that this type of outright theft is statistically not so financially important. DAS For direct contact replace nospam with schmetterling --- > So I am thinking of getting a nice new 325M Sport, and counting up all > the options; extras. I am now getting worried about car security, with [quoted text clipped - 32 lines] > > Jules |
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