I don't know whether this will help this particular problem , Stainless steel tie-wraps are virtually impossible to undo and need to be cut off with an angle grinder. Never, jokingly, put one on your finger and tighten it......imagine the pain getting it off.
Ted
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A good selection of security fasteners. Unfortunately, according to their website, they don't sell to Joe Public.
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What is wrong with this country?
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Where do you start? :-(((
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Uninsured drivers come to mind ..
;-)
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I knew someone who had all his leather seats stolen from his Scorpio.Bought a set he saw advertized-he was 99% certain that they were the seats he'd had taken.
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Years ago a mate of mine had the bonnet from his Rover P6 3500 stolen whilst it stood in a multi-storey car park. Car crime has always been an aspect of car ownership in the UK. I don't know anyone who has never had their car broken into or stolen and it's definitely not a new phenomenon.
What's new is what the thieves are prepared to take and their ingenuity appears boundless. A few years ago it was Ford stereos because there was an urban myth that the chipsets could be used to decode Pay TV channels. Now it seems to be bits of bodywork that can be easily removed and recycled through eBay. The reason these bits and pieces are easily removable is to reduce repair time in the event of an accident and therefore reduce insurance premiums.
One of the posters above seems to think that BMW should take responsibility. I would have thought it makes more sense to hold the thieves, or possibly eBay accountable. I just checked on eBay.co.uk and there are 29 people selling bumpers for the BMW E90, one guy has 5. There are also several complete interiors for M3s for sale.
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spot on bagpuss- There is a lot of shady stuff on Ebay. People's desire for a bargain will often override concerns about source.
I daresay with the economic situation, this sort of thing will only increase in frequency.>> Years ago a mate of mine had the bonnet from his Rover P6 3500 stolen
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What is wrong with this country?
Moral standards started to fall when the do-gooders said it wasn't acceptable for disobedient children to be smacked by their parents, have their knuckles rapped by the edge of a wooden rule (or be caned) at school, or be given a clip round the ear by the local police constable.
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I can almost hear the strains of Jerusalem in the background there, L'escargot :-)
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Last week my house was burgled in broad daylight!!
None was at home, they broke my garden fence and broke the locks on patio door (rendering it useless & I have to replace it completely). When they entered in my home, the burglar alarm sounded and my neighbor noticed them. She promptly rang the police and the scums ran away (didn't take anything from house)
But I'm left with broken fence and door - claiming from insurance.
>> What is wrong with this country?
Providing PS3 & Xbox in jails.
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Moral standards started to fall when the do-gooders said it wasn't acceptable for disobedient children to be smacked by their parents
But it's still legal and very much up to the parents (who are the people I actually blame for much of society's ills, and even more so since becoming a parent myself). Take this and drugs out of the equation, and society would be far more pleasant.
I think the rot is set in long before the legal system has anything to do with people like this. Ask yourself if you've ever relied on the law to stop you stealing a car or breaking into someone's house, or whether you've automatically not done it because it offends the basic sense of right and wrong your parents instilled in you from an early age. I agree the legal system is rubbish, but it's not the root cause.
I grew up in an area where joyriding was something you just did at 15-16 yrs old. If you weren't knocking the big ends out of someone's Astra GTE or Golf GTI down the local shops of a Saturday night you were nobody. I was 15, into cars and at face value would have loved the opportunity to race around in cars. All the kids I knew who did it never got caught, so there was no hassle on that front.
The only difference between me and them was that their parents couldn't care less what they got up to, and mine could. That's what stopped me, and the like minded people I hung around with. A free go in a hot hatch to a 15 yr old petrolhead makes even well brought up kids think.
At the end of the day, the law and consequences are irrelevant to a 15yr old brain, particularly in the heat of the moment. You need the deeper guidance of good parenting and a concept of what's right and wrong that started when you suffered for clumping your sister for her sweets when you were 4. The kids without this are the ones I used to see nicking cars, who deal drugs and burgle houses now, and cause the kind of problems referred to in this thread.
All IMHO of course.
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>> Moral standards started to fall when the do-gooders ........>>
Agreed, nice to hear something other than politically correct bull excrement.
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In the mid eighties I was still living in the north west and going out with a local girl whose younger brother went to a well known fee paying school. In one year there were at least 2 major incidents I can remember involving pupils at that particular school. One was when a 14 year old pupil was picked up by the police driving his Dad's Volvo (motoring connection). The other was when a pupil ended in hospital having stolen and used his Dad's cocaine.
My comprehensive school background, where smoking and the odd can of Carlsberg Special Brew were considered potential grounds for suspension, had not prepared me for the sort of antics of these upcoming captains of industry. The rot in British society set in a long time ago and affects all social classes, not just those on sink estates.
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>>Last week my house was burgled in broad daylight!!
I turned up at BILs house when it was empty with a ladder and a double sized bed sheet on which was painted 'happy birthday'. I fixed the sheet to the open bedroom windows with some string.
The neighbours never noticed a thing!
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they did but burglers dont leave happy birthday signs.
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>The rot in British society set in a long time ago and affects all social classes, not just those >on sink estates.
Yes quite some time ago - about 300 -900 years or so. Think highwaymen, think footpads, cut throats, pickpockets, thieves. In every country in the world. every crime you can think of.
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Sink Estates - Surely Sink Tourers in this context (i.e. BMW related motoring)
Edited by Pugugly on 16/01/2009 at 18:21
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very well put DP.... and IMO hits the nail squarely on the head
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The bumper on my e39 5 series sport has just been stolen for the second time in six weeks.
If this has happened to you, then you have my sympathy.
I propose two very simple courses of action:
1. I will write to the Met police car crime team and outline my concern, which is principally that people on eBay are selling complete front ends for BMWs. I fail to see how they can be sourced in any other way than theft; I am sure you would agree.
2. I will write to BMW UK to request a solution. Sourcing anti-tamper bolts would be an excellent act of customer goodwill; I for one would be prepared to pay for them if BMW UK sourced them.
To be effective I need your support, for which I think the following will be helpful:
- your model type (eg e46 3 series)
- the number of times your bumper has been stolen
- your general location (eg SW London)
I undertake to publish both letters to the police and BMW and the responses I get back.
To be as visible as possible I am posting this message on a number of relevant car forums, so please don't be surprised if you see this message in different places.
Many thanks,
Fred Brown
fredbrownprivate@mac.com
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Fred, a thought- you say:
"1. I will write to the Met police car crime team and outline my concern, which is principally that people on eBay are selling complete front ends for BMWs. I fail to see how they can be sourced in any other way than theft; I am sure you would agree."
Couldn't they be buying them legit then selling them? After all, you managed to source a legit set. Or from a scrapyard?
Your campaign will have more weight if you consider this, I feel.
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Thank you for your thought - and I completely take your point. There are a number of legit sources I feel, including:
- breakers
- people / firms selling non-OEM parts
- people who have them from another legit source
The owner of one of the UK's largest BMW breakers was kind enough to deliver my replacement bumper last night, and we discussed the problem. I would prefer him to speak for himself, but I will relay one comment, which was that he comes across maybe 2 or 3 complete front ends a year - because most of the cars he breaks have been crashed, and usually it is the front end that is damaged.
On that basis, whilst I completely accept that some of the bumpers for sale are legit, people on eBay with low numbers of feedback, who are able to source an M5 bumper once a week, are at the very least worth investigating...
That said, having had a read around on various forums, a lot of bumpers are getting stolen - so if you have any other ideas as to where they end up (other than eBay) then I'd be interested in your thoughts, and will incorporate them in my letter to the police.
Again, if anyone has had this happen to them please let me know...
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