[disco4me]

Is it worth buying the Anti-Theft system?

[Killramos]

Wouldn't consider buying a car without one lol. Helps a lot with insurrance in any case.

[darkerosxx]

BMW engineers say they don't include them by default because your key has to be used to start the car. Almost impossible to fake. Take that for what it's worth.

[creepy coupe]

What about taking things from the car? Worth having one as a deterrent just for that?

[warmtoes]

Personal opinion. I prefer it. My 135i cabriolet didn't come with it but wish I had it even though nothing happened. My X3 came with it standard. Interestingly in Canada the M235i comes with it standard.

[tccox]

What is it? $400 Yea its worth it . Dont know why I forget to include it when I ordered my 228. Also it gives you audio confirmation when you lock your car

[five3three]

Originally Posted by Killramos

Wouldn't consider buying a car without one lol. Helps a lot with insurrance in any case.

What I have found is that insurance already considers this car as having a security system since it comes with a passive immobilizer so the extra alarm option makes no difference.

I wouldn't spend money on this option. Alarms don't work. Nobody gives a second look at a car alarm going off and it doesn't keep someone out who either wants to break in quickly or knows what they are doing.

With that said, a passive immobilizer is good since it stops your everyday person from stealing the car. Plus there's no physical key to start the car so this with the immobilizer is plenty of a deterrent.

A thief with some knowledge of alarms will be able to shut the alarm up within 30 seconds if it isn't just a smash and grab. These vehicles can also be remotely located so at the end of the day you're just paying for noise.

If you want the car to beep when you lock and unlock your doors and value that at $400, then get the option.

Coded Driveaway Protection is now standard on these vehicles:
http://www.motortrend.com/features/a...ay_protection/


I had an alarm once years ago which also had a backup battery and random other features. I was also parked in a "secure" garage of a building. I still ended up with a smashed window, complete audio system with subs stolen and the entire car ransacked. The only thing the alarm did was make them cut up more wires to get it to stop making noise. I wouldn't waste my money on an alarm anymore. Car alarms going off are more of an annoyance than causing others to suspect your car is getting broken into. This is probably due to the level of false alarms that always go off so people are desensitized to it.

[DanG]

Originally Posted by five3three

What I have found is that insurance already considers this car as having a security system since it comes with a passive immobilizer so the extra alarm option makes no difference.

I wouldn't spend money on this option. Alarms don't work. Nobody gives a second look at a car alarm going off and it doesn't keep someone out who either wants to break in quickly or knows what they are doing.

With that said, a passive immobilizer is good since it stops your everyday person from stealing the car. Plus there's no physical key to start the car so this with the immobilizer is plenty of a deterrent.

A thief with some knowledge of alarms will be able to shut the alarm up within 30 seconds if it isn't just a smash and grab. These vehicles can also be remotely located so at the end of the day you're just paying for noise.

If you want the car to beep when you lock and unlock your doors and value that at $400, then get the option.

Coded Driveaway Protection is now standard on these vehicles:
http://www.motortrend.com/features/a...ay_protection/

+1

[Sportstick]

This is the options page on the BMW website for building a 2 Series (in this case, 228i Sportline). Where is the antitheft system?

[five3three]

Originally Posted by Sportstick

This is the options page on the BMW website for building a 2 Series (in this case, 228i Sportline). Where is the antitheft system?

I guess it's only a 235 option?

[1Mike1]

Originally Posted by Sportstick

This is the options page on the BMW website for building a 2 Series (in this case, 228i Sportline). Where is the antitheft system?

When I ordered my 228i, the dealer asked me if I wanted it and my car's sticker has it.

It's $400 on the 228i.

[darkerosxx]

I had a convertible for years and got used to not keeping anything valuable in the main cabin of the vehicle, so having the unique keys and remote immobilizer means an alarm is almost pointless outside of the red blinking light.

[ska///235i]

Alarms are useless in this day and age, a thief can disable an alarm if they target you.

Now can insurance save you $400 over the course of your ownership???

[Dr. Indiana Jones]

IMHO $400 is really cheap for an OEM alarm (vs. $1K for a good aftermarket one), and will deter 95% of the amateurs out there, so it's a no brainer. All of the latest tech mentioned above will not stop professionals from stealing your car.

[tccox]

Originally Posted by Dr. Indiana Jones

IMHO $400 is really cheap for an OEM alarm (vs. $1K for a good aftermarket one), and will deter 95% of the amateurs out there, so it's a no brainer. All of the latest tech mentioned above will not stop professionals from stealing your car.

Also, having a manual transmission will deter 95% of the amateurs out there

[five3three]

I believe alarms don't deter anybody who wants something in your car. These cars don't really get stolen much (unless you leave your car running) so it's just people breaking in to steal stuff out of it. If somebody sees something in your car, how many seconds would that really take to smash and run? Alarms are just a false sense of security these days.

Last summer in my neighborhood at like 3 a.m. woke up to what I thought was glass being broken and heard a car alarm going off. I went right back to sleep.

Three cars had been broken into and random junk stolen. Apparently others heard the same but nobody bothered to get out of bed, including myself.

We're too desensitized to alarms going off. My old Acura's alarm used to go off randomly so much so that I used to park it far from my house so it wouldn't annoy me when going off late at night.

For insurance purposes, when I got insurance quotes for the M235i, the alarm option was automatically provided a discount without giving me an option to select or deselect anything. The standard system is more than enough for insurance discounts.

[ssstraub]

There's no reason to pay extra for a car alarm in modern times. The ignition immobilizer stops car thefts and NOTHING stops smash and grabs other than 24/7 armed guards. Ask your local police and I bet they'd tell you the exact same thing.

Ok, there is one reason for car alarms: You get some kind of perverse joy out of annoying your neighbors with every false alarm.

[DanG]

Originally Posted by ssstraub

There's no reason to pay extra for a car alarm in modern times. The ignition immobilizer stops car thefts and NOTHING stops smash and grabs other than 24/7 armed guards. Ask your local police and I bet they'd tell you the exact same thing.

Ok, there is one reason for car alarms: You get some kind of perverse joy out of annoying your neighbors with every false alarm.

As my police say, alarms just give thieves one more thing to steal. It doesn't stop anyone.

[th1rd3y3]

I honestly didn't even realize I ordered my car without it until I took delivery of the car. I can't say that I regret not getting it though other than missing having an audible beep when the car is locked.

That said, it's kind of silly that you can buy a $50k+ vehicle that doesn't have an alarm.

[Scotlac]

Originally Posted by ssstraub

The ignition immobilizer stops car thefts

I apologize for my ignorance but is this something that's built into the keyless ignition system in the car or is it an after market solution?

TIA

[darkerosxx]

Built-in to the system. Also has a remote immobilizer if its stolen and you have BMW assist.

[Scotlac]

Originally Posted by darkerosxx

Built-in to the system. Also has a remote immobilizer if its stolen and you have BMW assist.

Very nice, thank you!!!

I will be a first time BMW owner in about 7-10 days.