Vandalism question
 

Hi,

I've got a real strange situation with my X3. I popped my hood the other day to add washer fluid and imediately noticed that the engine compartment cover had been stolen. I have a couple of questions ...
buy
* Is there any way to get under the hood without access to the interior of the car?
* If there is a way to do this from the outside, would the alarm trigger?
* Why was this stole? Can it be sold?
* What does the cover do -- safety measure, sound proofing, etc?
* How soon should I get this replaced?

My current theory is that this happened several weeks ago when I had my car vallet parked for a day.

Thanks,
Zart

P.S. Sorry about the quantity of questions but this is really bugging me.

First off, X3s do not come with alarms from the factory, only the pre-wiring. If you have the alarm installed and had armed the system, it should have responded to the hood opening.

This is the first time I've heard of an engine cover being stolen. However, I don't think it presents an operational hazard provided the caps are still on parts like the washer fluid tank, motor oil, and coolant. Really, the cover is just for cosmetic purposes.

Anything car-parts related can be sold on the internet. I just don't know why the thief would go through the trouble, given that it's not that expensive or valuable.

Did you have service lately? Maybe they forgot to put it back on...
Do you know you really ever had a cover?

I wouldn't think a plastic X engine cover is high on the list of midnight
auto parts. :rofl:

No service recently. And yes, there was definitely a cover on the engine.

Here in the MW - specifically downtown Chicago I wouldn't ever let a valet park my car. In Oregon though I would maybe not have had second thoughts unless something like you describe would have happened. That would be a lot of trouble to go thru for something like a piece of plastic...but you never know what someone would go thru for just a few dollars....

The cover is cosmetic and sound deadening. Maybe the valet driver has an X3 himself and stole it for an under hood custom paint job? The cover is about $100 on realoem.com

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...72&hg=11&fg=15