[syd34]

I have a question about the on-board telematics and BMW's ability to track a vehicle in the event of a theft. I have a 2019 440i with BMW ConnectedDrive.

In recent weeks, the city of Toronto and surrounding areas have seen a disturbing rise in carjacking incidents. People have been robbed at gunpoint in parking lots, main roads and even their own driveways. The vehicles targeted range from Range Rovers and Porsche Cayennes to Honda CRVs and Toyota Corollas.

My question is whether BMW ConnectedDrive is effective at tracking a stolen vehicle if reported quickly? I am trying to figure out if installing an aftermarket GPS tracker will provide additional benefit or if it will be unnecessary?

Thanks.

[Wires]

On my 2016, it updates real time. Our Audi only updated when the car was stationary (at least that's what the app did).

I'm pretty sure that if you reported a modern day vehicle stolen, law enforcement has the ability to access locations. Pretty sure, not 100% sure. There is notes in the manual, etc, about calling 9-1-1, etc and the police could track.

[visionaut]

My car w/ active CD pkg stays traceable in the My BMW app as well, if you enabled tracking. It will locate the car precisely on the map. Throw in an AirTag if you’re extra paranoid to ‘double down’ your own tracing…

(of course, determined/smart thieves can disable these techs)

[anotheran]

The poor carjackers will leave it on an empty street to see if anyone is tracking it. The carjackers with more resources will park it underground so 4G on the car won't work, disable the tracking, then it's shipped.

[syd34]

Thanks everyone. Sounds like the standard ConnectedDrive should be good. I may just use the AirTag idea soon, thanks for that idea.

Hopefully this craziness winds down. Even an NHL player from the Toronto Maple Leafs (Mitch Marner) had his Range Rover taken at gunpoint.

Thanks guys.

[bimmer456]

If the battery is unplugged it won't work. Systems like LoJack have backup battery and are hidden in a location in the vehicle.

[Aziego]

I had my 2022 M340 stolen about 3 weeks ago. I was tracking it on my phone until the thieves changed the privacy setting within the car's iDrive system disabling my tracking. BMW call center was able to track them but after the thieves reached their destination, they unplugged the cellular module. So connected drive was pretty much useless.

Overall, I also found BMW assist to be unhelpful. They would not provide any information to me and said they will only call my police department (even though the police were at my house completing the incident report). In the end they never called the police department directly either.

I am pretty sure my car is now on the other side of the Atlantic by now. I am using an Airtag on my other car, placed in a well-hidden location.

[CajunBMW]

Originally Posted by Aziego

I had my 2022 M340 stolen about 3 weeks ago. I was tracking it on my phone until the thieves changed the privacy setting within the car's iDrive system disabling my tracking. BMW call center was able to track them but after the thieves reached their destination, they unplugged the cellular module. So connected drive was pretty much useless.

Overall, I also found BMW assist to be unhelpful. They would not provide any information to me and said they will only call my police department (even though the police were at my house completing the incident report). In the end they never called the police department directly either.

I am pretty sure my car is now on the other side of the Atlantic by now. I am using an Airtag on my other car, placed in a well-hidden location.

Bummer. That really stinks. Hopefully insurance paid enough to get a new car.

[Aziego]

Originally Posted by CajunBMW

Bummer. That really stinks. Hopefully insurance paid enough to get a new car.

I have new car replacement coverage that will pay the full cost of a similarly optioned model, waiting for insurance company to give me their proposal. The bigger issue is the long wait for a replacement vehicle, Dealer is saying 5-6 months for a X5 45e as we decided to go plug-in with the crazy gas prices. It will be more out of pocket but we are expecting to receive the tax credit.

[turbocomppro]

Originally Posted by Aziego

I have new car replacement coverage that will pay the full cost of a similarly optioned model, waiting for insurance company to give me their proposal. The bigger issue is the long wait for a replacement vehicle, Dealer is saying 5-6 months for a X5 45e as we decided to go plug-in with the crazy gas prices. It will be more out of pocket but we are expecting to receive the tax credit.

Do you have any idea how they were able to steal your car?

[Aziego]

the old fashion method of breaking into home and taking the keys. according to the police report, they took my car to try to steal other cars.

[hmonkey]

Apologies for bumping an old thread but I was hoping someone could clarify what service allows for for the vehicle tracking feature. I was primarily looking to see what the cost was against insurance discounts for theft prevention and, going to https://mygarage.bmwusa.com/connected-drive-store.html it lists 6 available services as part of BMW Connected Services:

* Amazon Alexa Car Integration
* Remote Services
* Advanced Real-time Traffic Information
* Online Speech Processing
* BMW online
* Automatic Map Update

The ones that are indicated as included with my vehicle (2018 340i) are:

* Apple CarPlay Compatibility
* BMW TeleService
* Intelligent emergency call
* BMW Remote Services

I don't see anything in the service descriptions that indicate remote tracking... and I'm wondering if if this is part of one of the already included services.

[toxik]

Originally Posted by hmonkey

Apologies for bumping an old thread but I was hoping someone could clarify what service allows for for the vehicle tracking feature. I was primarily looking to see what the cost was against insurance discounts for theft prevention and, going to https://mygarage.bmwusa.com/connected-drive-store.html it lists 6 available services as part of BMW Connected Services:

* Amazon Alexa Car Integration
* Remote Services
* Advanced Real-time Traffic Information
* Online Speech Processing
* BMW online
* Automatic Map Update

The ones that are indicated as included with my vehicle (2018 340i) are:

* Apple CarPlay Compatibility
* BMW TeleService
* Intelligent emergency call
* BMW Remote Services

I don't see anything in the service descriptions that indicate remote tracking... and I'm wondering if if this is part of one of the already included services.

Remote services is part of what you're talking about. That's the part of the connecteddrive features that tracks where your vehicle was last geo located, it shows you its current location in the app. There's no live tracking available to the user, lets say if your car is on a truck or trailer, the location isnt updated until the car is in locked and unlocked. But BMW may be able to track it on their end, not really sure... not really a selling point for me if I can't get that data instantly.

[eff32fl]

If you're serious about wanting to be able to track your car if stolen you're better off investing in a device with its own GPS signal (and battery?). Professional thieves know to disconnect your cellular module. BMW to my knowledge can't track it if that occurs and you're out of luck.

[hmonkey]

Thanks for pointing out which service it's associated with. I just went into the myBMW app and saw the Vehicle Finder option. It was initially disabled since vehicle tracking was apparently off in my car settings. I just went and turned that on and it indeed shows the location of the vehicle now.

Time to call my insurance and see about getting that discount

Regarding a better tracking system, I'm not hugely interested in one (this was mostly about the insurance discount for me), at least if it comes with service fees. If there's a one-time cost option, perhaps that's something I'd do. Honestly I'm more worried about accident fraud and am looking into a good dash cam and installer.

[bimmer456]

Originally Posted by hmonkey

Thanks for pointing out which service it's associated with. I just went into the myBMW app and saw the Vehicle Finder option. It was initially disabled since vehicle tracking was apparently off in my car settings. I just went and turned that on and it indeed shows the location of the vehicle now.

Time to call my insurance and see about getting that discount

Regarding a better tracking system, I'm not hugely interested in one (this was mostly about the insurance discount for me), at least if it comes with service fees. If there's a one-time cost option, perhaps that's something I'd do. Honestly I'm more worried about accident fraud and am looking into a good dash cam and installer.

Connected drive has a monthly service fee after the free period which for me was 4 years. You can get LoJack which is a one time purchase for lifetime monitoring and has it's own battery backup in case the battery is disconnected, and it's hidden in various places in the vehicle (meaning it's not installed in the same place in every vehicle) making it harder to find and disable. There is no sticker anywhere on your car advertising that it's there to thieves so they may not know it's even being tracked.

[Wires]

Originally Posted by hmonkey

Thanks for pointing out which service it's associated with. I just went into the myBMW app and saw the Vehicle Finder option. It was initially disabled since vehicle tracking was apparently off in my car settings. I just went and turned that on and it indeed shows the location of the vehicle now.

Time to call my insurance and see about getting that discount

Regarding a better tracking system, I'm not hugely interested in one (this was mostly about the insurance discount for me), at least if it comes with service fees. If there's a one-time cost option, perhaps that's something I'd do. Honestly I'm more worried about accident fraud and am looking into a good dash cam and installer.

I believe that toggle in the MMI only enables/disables locations leaving the car to the app. Even when it's off, the BMW Assist/Law Authorities should be able to see the car.

I'd assume any good car thief would have a GPS jammer nowadays which makes the about moot. The world sucks sometimes!