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A Dutch first: Ingenious BMW theft attempt

mrooding.me

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Re: A Dutch first: Ingenious BMW theft attempt

#81

Post by mcguire »

rconti wrote: post #62
avar wrote: post #27

Reading this article is honestly a bit of a domestic culture shock for me, where does this guy live in The Netherlands? Here in downtown Amsterdam we called the police because the rear window of someone's car had just been smashed outside our office, and the police's response was "Has anyone been hurt? Nope? Then we're not coming". Meanwhile, wherever this guy lives they're sending officers because some BMW call cent…

As an American, I'm glad I'm not the only one :) That said, I thought that car theft was all but gone in the US, at least for modern cars, whereas in Europe it still seems common. (Eg, if you follow international forums for newer car models, nobody in the US talks about theft anymore, but our European counterparts talk about these highly complex theft schemes). But then someone was posting about theft in Sacramento,…

If the old "Top Gear" shows are to be believed, eastern European countries are full of cars stolen from western European countries. Then there's this: (http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1999-12-27/news/991227006...).

Re: A Dutch first: Ingenious BMW theft attempt

#82

Post by woodman »

avar wrote: post #27

Reading this article is honestly a bit of a domestic culture shock for me, where does this guy live in The Netherlands? Here in downtown Amsterdam we called the police because the rear window of someone's car had just been smashed outside our office, and the police's response was "Has anyone been hurt? Nope? Then we're not coming". Meanwhile, wherever this guy lives they're sending officers because some BMW call cent…

You would be surprised how much effort businesses put into building a relationship with local police, that is a big part of a security director's job. The more people they have on site, or the higher their inventory value, the more they are willing to spend on the local PD. I've seen areas built on company property that are effectively police sub-stations, giving cops a place to do paperwork and take a break, in order to cheaply keep them nearby. I've seen off duty cops hired for show up jobs, just to guarantee timely incident response. I've seen local PDs negotiate a fee schedule... it ain't a bribe if there is a "fee schedule". No, companies aren't doing this in order to break strikes or otherwise oppress employees - there is just a ton of risk when you concentrate hundreds of people in a small place that you're legally responsible for. I have seen some interesting results come out of it though: one holiday night a copper thief got onto the facility roof to plunder the AC units, one call from the off duty officer resulted in the immediate dispatch of a police helicopter and nearly a dozen cruisers. This is from an American perspective, but I'd be surprised if it was different anywhere else in the world.

Re: A Dutch first: Ingenious BMW theft attempt

#83

Post by raverbashing »

jasoncartwright wrote: post #39
maym86 wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe you could stop this attack by having an IMU in the key so it only broadcasts the unlock signal while it's being held/moved.

Many suggestions for foiling this (including some interesting Tesla specific ones, like having the screen ask for a PIN), but the simplest is to just have the key not unlock the car unless a button is pressed. Not a massive inconvenience.

Well, for some people, pulling the parking brake is a "massive inconvenience" which ends up having serious consequences.

Technology can't solve everything.

Re: A Dutch first: Ingenious BMW theft attempt

#84

Post by gerardnll »

eecc wrote: post #79
hellofunk wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Here in downtown Amsterdam we called the police because the rear window of someone's car had just been smashed outside our office, and the police's response was "Has anyone been hurt? Nope? Then we're not coming". Amsterdam currently has a big police shortage, that's why. It's not normal, it's just a problem in Amsterdam. https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2018/07/amsterdam-is-not-lawle...

What? I though they were bored stiff. Every time anything happens - even the most insignificant accident - you’ll see a flock of police offices taping out the scene, parading numerous vehicles and generally making much ado about nothing :)

Well, if you're bored, one of the ways to have fun is to gather up with some friends (other officers) or staying home because you're lazy :P

Re: A Dutch first: Ingenious BMW theft attempt

#85

Post by avar »

pc86 wrote: post #50
lphnull wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

well then is it closer to having a box with $15k? $10k? $5k? In all these situations, the incentive is still there.

Probably $3-6k but with the associated risks and punishments of a $30k crime, and much more if you happen to have a firearm on you while committing it.

This is Europe, nobody stealing a car is carrying a gun.

Re: A Dutch first: Ingenious BMW theft attempt

#86

Post by rtkwe »

londons_explore wrote: post #76

It's clear what has happened here... Cutting that wire loom disables the cars 'call home' functionality (probably by cutting it's antenna), as well as conveniently disabling the alarm. The thieves who cut it this time were too slow though. Presumably, the 3G connection takes ~30 secs to boot up, find a cell tower, and connect to BMW servers. The thieves hoped to break the window and cut the loom immediately, before t…

Aren't they just always on? Also the modem would have to be on the other end of that cable loom for that to work when it's much more likely to be down in the glove box with the rest of the control modules and you don't need an antenna that long for a WAN modem.

Re: A Dutch first: Ingenious BMW theft attempt

#87

Post by [deleted] »

cptskippy wrote: post #25
jimmy1 wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, I don't understand this. After you went through all the work of disabling the SOS, you can just take the car then, unless breaking the window was the way they initially got inside, and maybe they were thinking that the person would blindly repair the broken window to increase the value of the car on the black market? I don't know.

When they broke the window SOS was triggered. They knew this and that Police were en route. When they cut the wire in the pillar, they didn't disable SOS, they disabled the triggering mechanism. The idea being that they would return and break the window again only SOS wouldn't be triggered because that wire was cut.

[deleted]

Re: A Dutch first: Ingenious BMW theft attempt

#88

Post by londons_explore »

rtkwe wrote: post #86
londons_explore wrote: post #76

It's clear what has happened here... Cutting that wire loom disables the cars 'call home' functionality (probably by cutting it's antenna), as well as conveniently disabling the alarm. The thieves who cut it this time were too slow though. Presumably, the 3G connection takes ~30 secs to boot up, find a cell tower, and connect to BMW servers. The thieves hoped to break the window and cut the loom immediately, before t…

Aren't they just always on? Also the modem would have to be on the other end of that cable loom for that to work when it's much more likely to be down in the glove box with the rest of the control modules and you don't need an antenna that long for a WAN modem.

You probably want the antenna away from all the metal body panels of the car. Hence normally running a cable up the A pillar.

The modem itself probably isn't booted up to reduce vampire power drain. If it was always on, it would drain the battery after a few weeks. More likley, when the alarm goes off it starts booting up.

Re: A Dutch first: Ingenious BMW theft attempt

#89

Post by growlist »

avar wrote: post #80
rconti wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As an American, I'm glad I'm not the only one :) That said, I thought that car theft was all but gone in the US, at least for modern cars, whereas in Europe it still seems common. (Eg, if you follow international forums for newer car models, nobody in the US talks about theft anymore, but our European counterparts talk about these highly complex theft schemes). But then someone was posting about theft in Sacramento,…

There's a huge difference between the US and EU in this regard. If I steal a car in California and try to sell it in Nevada, I can expect to be arrested. If I have a car stolen in The Netherlands and it's being sold in Romania, and I find out who's selling it and where, I'll be told that I have to travel to Romania and file report with the local police there before they'll do anything. The only inter-state enforcemen…

Interesting because stolen cars are sometimes broken for parts, but perhaps there's no profit in that in US? There was an 'OEM+' car modding craze here a few years back where certain top-end Audis were being targeted solely for their front seats, which would then be fitted to older VWs.

Re: A Dutch first: Ingenious BMW theft attempt

#90

Post by test6554 »

mabbo wrote: post #6

The thieves would have been wiser to take something, anything to make the narrative of the original break in more believable. They didn't sell the narrative well enough, which left people curious.

There's an old saying about not committing more than one crime at a time.
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