01-D-93863 bmw Stolen with key

goz83

Hi guys. I can't sleep, my car was stolen a few hours ago from the drive way. It's a 2001 bmw 318 auto jap import. I'm in Dublin 13, saw the car at around 11pm before goin to bed and was woken at 3am by my wife asking where I left the car. Long story short, the keys are gone from the hallway, but the house keys, the keys off the wifes brava and the van are still there. I called the Garda and they dropped down to take some details. They say there was no forced entry, so after reading a couple of threads I am wondering if they were fished through the letter box.

My question is...how likely will I get my car back? Are there any places I should look? I drove up to Darndale to look, but apart from that, i'm clueless. Also, what do you think it was stolen for...it's not exactly a joy riders car and is not worth a hundred grand or anything. Also parts are easy to find, so i am confused. I don't even know how to go about this with my insurance company....the Garda said to phone them first thing in the morning and I didn't get the impression that it would be found in one piece.

Thoie

Sorry to hear that. As the gardaí said, just gather together all your car documentation (log book, insurance cert, all the bits of paper you have, a copy of the garda report) and call the insurance company when they open. The insurance company will be well used to this, and will probably ask you a few questions, and send you out a form to fill in.

One of the mods will correct me if I'm wrong, but I think it's OK to post the reg here, and people will keep an eye out for it. No guarantees anyone will spot it, but there's no harm in trying.

dirtydiesel

Post the reg up here, someone might spot it, even better if you have a photo put it up.
I am confused as to why someone would import a bmw from Japan! Whats that about?

goz83

Thanks. Just in case it's not OK to post the reg here....It's a 01-D anyway. It's a Steel Blue 318i 4 Door Saloon. It has 18" Aluminium AC Schnitzer alloys and the side and rear windows tinted. The badge is missing from the rear. I'm not looking forward to calling the insurance company. I hate stuff like that. I don't know how it works, but will just follow their lead I guess. I just hope it's found before that, but I know that its high hopes.

goz83

dirtydiesel wrote: »

Post the reg up here, someone might spot it, even better if you have a photo put it up.
I am confused as to why someone would import a bmw from Japan! Whats that about?

I didn't import it. I just bought it at a dealer here in Dublin. They bought it from someone who imported it. But the spec is way way higher than the standard rubbish we get ripped off for here. A small bonus was the clock was in kilometres and not miles. 01D93863. Mods can remove reg if need be.

dirtydiesel

goz83 wrote: »

I didn't import it. I just bought it at a dealer here in Dublin. They bought it from someone who imported it. But the spec is way way higher than the standard rubbish we get ripped off for here. A small bonus was the clock was in kilometres and not miles. 01D93863. Mods can remove reg if need be.

Sounds like a nice car, do hope you get it back. Stick the reg on your tread title, more people will see it that way.

goz83

reg added to title yes its a beautiful car. I put a lot of time into it, adding bits and pieces. I hate to think of it being stripped or burnt. I'm hoping to be one of the lucky ones where it's found in a car park.

rebel.ranter

Sounds Ike it is distinctive with the ACS wheels & tinted windows, is the number plate a funny shape too?

How did they know where the key were? Does the front door have clear glass in it or is your letterbox easy to look through? I know mine has a draft excluder (a brush-like plastic rail). Just wondering how they knew where to look.

Eoin

No problem at all posting the reg - hope it all works out OP

goz83

rebel.ranter wrote: »

Sounds Ike it is distinctive with the ACS wheels & tinted windows, is the number plate a funny shape too?

How did they know where the key were? Does the front door have clear glass in it or is your letterbox easy to look through? I know mine has a draft excluder (a brush-like plastic rail). Just wondering how they knew where to look.

There is glass on the door, but its mostly frosted and decorated. I suppose you could see the keys if you were pretty tall and looked through the small €2 sized clear part. The letter box also has one of those brush draught excluders, but I just checked and it is possible to see the keys, which were on the radiator shelf at the time. It must have taken some time if they fished them through the letterbox. I pointed out some scratch marks inside the hall door, but the Gardai seemed convinced that entry wasn't forced. This kinda makes sense, because all the keys were in the hallway and valuables were not a million miles away either.

Thanks to the mod for confirming that the reg is OK. I informed the insurance company and I am waiting on a call back.

f22

Sorry to hear that.

My brother in laws 5 series estate was nicked during the week from Donabate. Crow bar to the front door and keys taken from the back of the house (not on show). Gone within seconds.

goz83

Absolute SCUM!

On second thoughts...I hope they find my car up in smoke, wrapped around a lamp post, with the scum hole thief still inside. What makes people think they can just do this!!! This is the kinda stuff that messes up peoples lives. I have no claims protection, which should keep my renewal down, but I won't find another car like that one so easily.

Wibbs

:mad: Sorry to hear this. Hope you get it back and if you don't I hope the insurance crowd dont start playing silly buggers. If its for a joyride, the local scum often go to the same places. The Guards usually know where. Like you say it's an unusual car for that though. Then again a mate of mine who's a cop told me there was a spate of nicking ordinary starlets for a while.

There seems to be an upswing of stolen cars of late. Even a couple I know that were towed away. I've found it's not treated as that serious a crime. It could be reduced. One way would be http://www.baitcar.com/

goz83

No word from the Gardai yet. Maybe no news is good news right now. The insurance company rang and i'm not sure what to make of them. I was in town so couldn't really talk. What I did get was that I am to wait 2 weeks unless my car is recovered, but I am entitled to a courtesy car, which is OK I guess, so i have to wait for 24 hours to sort that out. He mentioned something about an engineers report to decide on the value of the car if a claim is processed. He asked me to gather any service receipts I have, but all those are in the service manual in the car. Besides, it was mostly serviced by myself or my friends brother (who is a mechanic) for more difficult jobs. The receipts are mainly for the parts and fluids.

If I do have to claim, I hope they don't screw me. My car is worth twice what a standard irish model is worth and would hate to have to settle for that. Any advice welcome. I'm fully comp with 10 years clean driving and no claims (7 years protected NCB in car). Although I know only 5 years count.

Eoin

First off, check your policy to see if theft will affect your NCB. Also, you don't have to accept the first offer. Argue your case and demonstrate how hard it would be to replace the car.

Give it a few days though and see what happens. Best of luck.

-Corkie-

Whos your insurance company op

Sorry to hear it man, i'll let you know if i see it.

My Ma's BMW 535 was got into early Wednesday morning and all they took was the Airbag. Got the pricks on CCTV tho, faces in clear view. Garda have taken the CCTV footage anyways and do whatever they do. Looked foreign anyways, even the Garda said they did.

Thing with high value cars like a BMW, they can sell them in the black market for alot of money, same for there parts.

What i would pay to catch them in the act tho.

mickdw

To be honest OP, I cant see you getting any better price for your car than the standard book figure they use for an 01 318. You can fight them & try to get it up a little but that would be it.

Did you tell your insurers when you got the policy that your car was different & had twice the value of equivalent cars in ireland? How do you believe it worth twice an Irish equivalent? Did you have any special arrange re its value?

Absurdum

Sorry to hear, OP. If it isn't found within the next couple of days, it's probably being stored in an underground/multistorey carpark to be used in a robbery or shooting. Either way, it probably won't be in one piece

goz83

I'm with Aviva. As far as i'm concerned, I have for the past 3 years I owned the car, given them the true value of the car. In fact, I undervalued it in year 1. I paid for that premium at that value, so if I do need to claim, it should be close that value to allow me to find a similar car. It's worth twice the value of the standard Irish model, because it is a much higher spec. It was priced in the same range as the 318i cabrio of the same year to give you an idea of cost.

x in the city

would make me want to exercise the law into my own hands, aka: law abiding citizen

what is the spec of your bmw, I didn't know jap bmw's were higher spec,? compared to say a uk import, which would also be much better than the crap we are given by bmw ireland.

CaraFawn

Did you publish pictures of your car before on the internet or on some forum?
The fact it was nicked might be the result that and someone managed to locate you (Pictures, location...) and knew your car had some expensive toyz such as the AC wheels etc.

Or it might be pure coicidence.

goz83

I didn't post up pictures and to the best of my knowledge, have never given any details about the car and/or location. Regarding spec, my mechanic gave me a list of extras the car had, which the standard models don't. As someone who loves my car and knows little about cars aside from how to change the oil, I can say it had a smart computer and gps integrated. It was full leather interior and all chrome trims inside. Seats were all electric and heated. It had an independent isolated power switch in the dash (handy for leaving your phone on charge even when the engine is off and you're out of the car). It was just special and I loved it. Last year the Toyota garage in Finglas offered me 10k straight out for it and I was only looking at cars with my mate, I wasn't talking about trading. I'm still hoping the gardai call and say they found it. I don't mind if it has a bit of damage, but the last thing I wanna hear is that it's smoking in Darndale or swimming in Donabate.

Muckie

Feel you pain, had my own car robbed in the past. Have a check around the carparks, underground ones too. Hope it turns up soon. Place this up
on as many car sites that you can, you never know someone might see it.

Atlantic Dawn

I will keep an eye out for it.

What colours are the leather seats and interior, will make it easier to spot. There can't be more than a handful of Jap import 3 Series BMW's in the county, square plates on front and rear should make them easy to spot.

bmstuff

Do you have pics so if any part comes up or we come across the car, we could report back?

Barr

With Aviva theft wont affect your bonus.

Fishtits

Car stolen.

Insurance claim.

Its a pisser but why get spun up over it?

Dust off, move on.

jaffa20

Fishtits wrote: »

Car stolen.

Insurance claim.

Its a pisser but why get spun up over it?

Dust off, move on.

Cos some people love their cars and a replacement will never be the same.

bladebrew

Fishtits wrote: »

Car stolen.

Insurance claim.

Its a pisser but why get spun up over it?

Dust off, move on.

brilliant,

so if your car gets stolen i will simply quote this
nothing to worry about, no need to look for the car

if some scumbag nicked you car tonight, you would just ring the insurance company tuesday to put the claim in??

feelites

on thursday when my friend was comming back from night fishing with his vti 01 civic, some 2 fellas came up with the knifes when he was getting out of the car and told him to leave the keys in the ignition and go away..........


some bad things happen every day, very sad to hear similar stories.... i had 2 motorbikes stolen and one car.....


F**KIN SCUMBAGS

goz83

Hi guys. Thanks all for your comments. The plates are not square though, which is unusual for a jap import i know. I have a Mazda Bongo jap import van and it has the square plates. My car was first imported to the UK and then to Ireland some time later, so maybe that had something to do with it. I will post a pic soon, but I dont have any pics with the AC Schnitzers. The interior was all grey. It also has a very recent scratch and dint (most likely made by a rock) on the driver side very front wing and some painted scratches in the same place on the passenger side.

goz83

Here is a pic of the car guys. Sorry its not at the greatest angle.

318i.JPG


I'm arranging the courtesy car. If they give me a Yaris, Auris or Megane, I will drive myself and it over the harbour.

cml387

goz83 wrote: »

Here is a pic of the car guys. Sorry its not at the greatest angle.

318i.JPG


I'm arranging the courtesy car. If they give me a Yaris, Auris or Megane, I will drive myself and it over the harbour.

If you drove any of those cars,they wouldn't have been stolen.

Anyway,hope you get it back.

listermint

cml387 wrote: »

If you drove any of those cars,they wouldn't have been stolen.

Anyway,hope you get it back.

Stupid comment, any car is liable to theft especially if they have the keys.
No offense to the original poster but there is nothing majorly special about a 318. So I dont think you can blame the BMW badge on the theft.

Wibbs

Fishtits wrote: »

Car stolen.

Insurance claim.

Its a pisser but why get spun up over it?

Dust off, move on.

Its attitudes like this that keep car and property crime in general unacceptably high.

feelites wrote: »

on thursday when my friend was comming back from night fishing with his vti 01 civic, some 2 fellas came up with the knifes when he was getting out of the car and told him to leave the keys in the ignition and go away..........

:eek::eek::eek::mad: Where did this happen?? Have the cops any leads? That is unreal that some sections of scum reckon they can get away with this stuff.

This is why I have an anti hijack system fitted. Take the keys scumbag, it'll die on you a few minutes down the road.

F**KIN SCUMBAGS

+1000

listermint wrote: »

Stupid comment, any car is liable to theft especially if they have the keys.

+1. While some cars are more stealable, the scum will nick anything pretty much.

johnplayerblue

Will keep an eye out in the Laois area. Main Limerick and Cork route through Portlaois. Sorry to hear btw!

goz83

cml387 wrote: »

If you drove any of those cars,they wouldn't have been stolen.

Anyway,hope you get it back.

I actually don't see the point in that comment. My colleagues Yaris was nicked two years and was found stripped down in a car park. I'm sure there have been a number of Auris' stolen too and many more Meganes'. I just find those cars to be very uncomfortable to drive. Most other cars are fine. I just collected a 2009 Bravo...I'm fne with that. They were giving me a brand new Focus, but they give problems with the plug in GPS (something to do with the windows) so I asked for a different make of car.

No offense to the original poster but there is nothing majorly special about a 318. So I dont think you can blame the BMW badge on the theft.

The car was special to me. But anyhow, I know there is nothing majorly special about a 318, but mine is gone. As mentioned earlier, it wasn't a bog standard model. I think the BMW badge had something to do with it, because the other keys off the other 3 vehicles are still here and other posters seem to be falling in the majority for BMW thefts. If it were a joy ride, I suspect the Brava would have been of more interest, but because I'm not a nacker thief, I really don't know. I just now i'm really p**sed off about this and i'm half expecting a call to say they found my car wrecked and written off and ripped apart.

Our man in Havana

I assume they stole your keys thru the letter box?

goz83

Haddockman wrote: »

I assume they stole your keys thru the letter box?

That's what the Gardai think.

Atlantic Dawn

goz83 wrote: »

Here is a pic of the car guys. Sorry its not at the greatest angle.

318i.JPG


I'm arranging the courtesy car. If they give me a Yaris, Auris or Megane, I will drive myself and it over the harbour.

I will keep an eye out for it, those headlights look fairly unique for that model so should make it easier to spot. You should look around half built housing estates nearby and hotel car parks, they sometimes leave them in places like this to cool off before they are needed. Depends what it was stolen for, if it was for parts you are unlikely to see it again, if it was stolen to do a bank job or some other crime there's a good chance it will be spotted before it is to be used.

Don't blame yourself for being the victim, it would be expected in the civilized world that a man could leave the keys of his motor in his house without fear of it being stolen.

CaraFawn

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

I will keep an eye out for it, those headlights look fairly unique for that model so should make it easier to spot. You should look around half built housing estates nearby and hotel car parks, they sometimes leave them in places like this to cool off before they are needed. Depends what it was stolen for, if it was for parts you are unlikely to see it again, if it was stolen to do a bank job or some other crime there's a good chance it will be spotted before it is to be used.

Don't blame yourself for being the victim, it would be expected in the civilized world that a man could leave the keys of his motor in his house without fear of it being stolen.

I doubt anyone would steal a 318 for a bank job.
Ok those guys are dumbs as *** most of the time, but still.
Although I used to know a guy who decided one day to rob a bank in a Renault 5 few years back lol...and he was in college...

goz83

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

I will keep an eye out for it, those headlights look fairly unique for that model so should make it easier to spot. You should look around half built housing estates nearby and hotel car parks, they sometimes leave them in places like this to cool off before they are needed. Depends what it was stolen for, if it was for parts you are unlikely to see it again, if it was stolen to do a bank job or some other crime there's a good chance it will be spotted before it is to be used.

Don't blame yourself for being the victim, it would be expected in the civilized world that a man could leave the keys of his motor in his house without fear of it being stolen.

if only we lived in a civilised world. I will be looking into better anti-theft devices and a tracking device sounds good.

Regarding insurance....if it doesn't show up, i'm wondering is it worth my while getting quotes from jap import dealers for the same type and spec to show my insurance company. I don't want them to rip me off and i'm sure they will try.

Idbatterim

Op i hope your not still hanging the keys same place!

PaulKK

goz83 wrote: »

Regarding insurance....if it doesn't show up, i'm wondering is it worth my while getting quotes from jap import dealers for the same type and spec to show my insurance company. I don't want them to rip me off and i'm sure they will try.

To be fair the extras on your car aren't going to add that much value to it.

You may have got a little extra than a standard 318i in fairness or found it easier to sell, but to say its worth twice a standard one just isn't true.

Also you don't have to look to a Jap importer to find a high spec 318i.. plenty in the UK and even here. For example: http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/1457726
there are an awful lot of base spec cars around alright, but if you look hard enough there are a few gems too.


I feel sorry for you though OP, I know its easy to get attached to a car etc, but at least thats all that was taken and nobody was hurt either.

RandomAccess

Any word on an anpr network in Dublin?
It would be a hell of a lot better value than stupid speed cameras.

I've seen rakes of these threads showing up of late and the first thing that always springs to mind is whether it passed the m50 toll.

Wibbs

RandomAccess wrote: »

Any word on an anpr network in Dublin?
It would be a hell of a lot better value than stupid speed cameras.

Not nearly enough revenue though.

Crime against property doesnt seem to be taken seriously enough in this country, yet it causes quite a bit of anger, frustration and financial loss. TBH I dont blame the cops on this front either. I blame the government for not giving them the resources and the judiciary for handing out nonsensical sentences.

The lack of imagination is another aspect. The use of bait cars would reduce car crime. Too expensive? Hardly. A 1000 euro tops should do it. Involve ordinary citizens. Start a scheme whereby your car can go forward as a bait car. You spread the costs of fitting it with the gov as it will pretty much guarantee you get your car back, wont cost much more than something like a clifford alarm, will be way more effective and the insurance companies should allow for that in premiums. The cops can then monitor the car should it be stolen and you alert them, they track and follow it and when safe to do so shut it down and capture the scum. Bang to rights. If even a 1000 people in somewhere like Dublin got on board the scum would find less and less easy pickings. The next car they steal could land them in gaol.

mickdw

What would you expect to get for your car from insurer OP?

kasper

sorry to hear about your car op i was keeping an eye on this thread and hopeing every time you posted it was good news best of luck

goz83

mickdw wrote: »

What would you expect to get for your car from insurer OP?

Hi, it was insured for €13,000, so I would like to see something close to that really. Why insure something for an amount and only get half that amount? It doesn't make sense. I have been looking around and although I did get attached, nothing has come even close to my 318. UK models are better than Irish models, but as I said before, i'm quite fussy and I like that a car is in Klms rather than miles, so a UK model puts me off a bit. Also, the UK roads give the under body hell with all the salt they dish out in many areas. I looked in the UK before buying my 318 and the under body on many of them were highly corroded. I don't know how they passed safety inspections.

voxpop

goz83 wrote: »

Hi, it was insured for €13,000, so I would like to see something close to that really.

I think that the insurance company give you the OSMP or the amount you insured it for - whichever is less. Bit of a joke really but thats what I was told, due to the rule that you arent allowed to make money from an insurance claim.

So even if you insured it for 13k and the OSMP says its worth 5K - you get 5k as I understand it