Thieves target BMW X5 wheels

[dave_p]

Wheel locks are a waste of time. A professional thief will get your wheels off no matter how many wheel locks you have on. There are tools that BMW use if you lose your wheel lock key and the thief also have these tools.

The best advice is to not leave your car in a vulnerable place, have your alarm set and have good insurance, just in case!!

[Eric5273]

Originally Posted by dave_p

Wheel locks are a waste of time. A professional thief will get your wheels off no matter how many wheel locks you have on. There are tools that BMW use if you lose your wheel lock key and the thief also have these tools.

The best advice is to not leave your car in a vulnerable place, have your alarm set and have good insurance, just in case!!

Where I live is NOT a gated community, and I do not have a garage. I have a car port, but obviously it is wide open for anyone to steal from. My understanding when I moved in here was that in the 7 years this complex has existed, they have never had a car stolen, but several times people had cars broken into and several times people had their wheels stolen. So that is why I got the wheel locks.

While I realize this will not stop someone 100%, most theifs are not fixed on one particular set of wheels that they need to have. There are at least 5 other X5's in my complex, and I would guess that most if not all of them do not have wheel locks. Having wheel locks is like putting the Club over your steering wheel. While it is only a minor inconvenience, most thiefs will simply move onto the next car.

[Quicksilver]

WHAT!!! is that Blue encouraging a serious mod? Get on down bro. I'm proud of you!!!

Originally Posted by x54.4blue

Might be a great way to upgrade, get the money for the old rims and then buy those 22's.

[blondboinsd]

same with us, we live in a condo complex, while it has cameras etc I'm sure its not thief proof, but my motto is, if they steal it, I don't want it back so there ya go

[cmyX6go]

Originally Posted by Quicksilver

WHAT!!! is that Blue encouraging a serious mod? Get on down bro. I'm proud of you!!!

Not only a serious mod but OEM!

[asawadude]

Originally Posted by LeMansX5

On Tuesday night, Munrow discovered a 2005 BMW X5 in the Horseneck Parking Lot near the Greenwich train station with its tires gone, Munrow said. The car was found still on the tire jack and two stones, Munrow said. The owner had not set the vehicle's security alarm, Munrow noted.

Alarm not set means car was left unlocked? Poetic justice.

I'm not a big fan of the BMW OEM wheel locks or any splined lock. They are easily removed. A well equipped burglar could remove the BMW lock as quickly as a normal lug.

Whenver I get around to buying some new 20" wheels for my X5 (waiting for my tires to wear out), I'll probably look for a set of McGard Ultra High Security locks (made in Germany) to go along with a set of BavAuto camouflage locks which have a screw on bolt to give it the appearance of a normal lug.

A description of the McGard Ultra locks can be found in the beastpower.com website.

[ljnlaw]

Wait a minute on my '02 4.6 when I hit the roundel on the key fob to lock the doors doesn't the alarm automatically set itself?

[Paulpt]

Just bought the BMW lock lugs, I live in Westchester NY and reading that news gave me some concern. According to the BMW guy he said there are 6 possible combinations (I asked because the pattern did not look like something out of the ordinary and I thought the same, what if the burglar has the same thing to remove it), honestly it does not look like something totally steal proof (if there is such a thing), but for 35 bucks it may slow them and move on to another easier car, who knows. I will ask if my insurance will go down like one or two cents to recup my "investment" (ha ha ha)

[X5Andrew]

That is why I went with McGard. they have a lot more combinations. Too many for someone to carry around and try when they are trying to steal the wheels. I know they won't stop a professional, but not much will other than sleeping on the hood with a .306 I have them on for the run of the mill loser that is out for the quick nab. Will cut donw on odds a bit. Plus, if there are two vehicles they want the rims from, they will go after the one without the locks first

imho

[dkl]

Andrew, glad to hear that the McGard worked out well for you. I'm thinking about swapping out the OEM locks for them as well.