Yet again I got to my car (BMW E39) this morning to find it unlocked. It's
parked in the street. And a couple of things stolen. The couple of quid in
change I keep in a closed cubbyhole for parking etc, and the box of
tissues in the door pocket.

This has happened many times in the 12 years or so I've owned the car -
and at first I thought I'd perhaps not locked it and someone had just been
trying all cars doors in the street. But it's not happened to my other car.

On this occasion I'm certain it was locked as I went out to it last night
to put the shopping bags in the boot ready for today.

Think I remember reading thumping the car to replicate an accident makes
the central locking unlock. But I've never been able to replicate this.
And there's never any sign of this having been done.

--
*If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
Yet again I got to my car (BMW E39) this morning to find it unlocked. It's
parked in the street. And a couple of things stolen. The couple of quid in
change I keep in a closed cubbyhole for parking etc, and the box of
tissues in the door pocket.

This has happened many times in the 12 years or so I've owned the car -
and at first I thought I'd perhaps not locked it and someone had just been
trying all cars doors in the street. But it's not happened to my other car.

I've often inadvertently locked or unlocked my car when getting the
house keys out of the same pocket as the radio key fob.

On this occasion I'm certain it was locked as I went out to it last night
to put the shopping bags in the boot ready for today.

Think I remember reading thumping the car to replicate an accident makes
the central locking unlock. But I've never been able to replicate this.
And there's never any sign of this having been done.

club hammer on the front bumper for old jaguars IIRC :-)
But airbags came along and they were getting too many complaints.


--
Ineptocracy

(in-ep-toc-ra-cy) €“ a system of government where the least capable to
lead are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the
members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed, are
rewarded with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a
diminishing number of producers.

In article ,
"Dave Plowman (News)" writes:
Yet again I got to my car (BMW E39) this morning to find it unlocked. It's
parked in the street. And a couple of things stolen. The couple of quid in
change I keep in a closed cubbyhole for parking etc, and the box of
tissues in the door pocket.

This has happened many times in the 12 years or so I've owned the car -
and at first I thought I'd perhaps not locked it and someone had just been
trying all cars doors in the street. But it's not happened to my other car.

On this occasion I'm certain it was locked as I went out to it last night
to put the shopping bags in the boot ready for today.

Could you have operated the remote accidentally somehow?
When I changed cars, I found myself doing that until I moved
the car keys to a separate key ring.

I wounder if you could somehow disable the unlocking part of the
central locking system?

Think I remember reading thumping the car to replicate an accident makes
the central locking unlock. But I've never been able to replicate this.
And there's never any sign of this having been done.

Saw the AA do this with a Fiat in the early '90's. Some Italian
colleagues had driven over from Rome to work with us, and managed
to lock themselves out of the Fiat in the work car park. We
all stood around chatting in the car park until the AA turned up,
and even then, most of us were paying no attention. One of the
Italians screams, at which point we look around. The AA man has
just dot a hammer out of the back of his van, and the Italian
guy obviously thinks he's about to smash the window, and even
we were somewhat puzzled. The AA man reaches under the front
wheel arch and taps something with the hammer, and all 4 door
lock buttons pop up. Oh, how we laughed...

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

"Andrew Gabriel" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"Dave Plowman (News)" writes:
Yet again I got to my car (BMW E39) this morning to find it unlocked.
It's
parked in the street. And a couple of things stolen. The couple of quid
in
change I keep in a closed cubbyhole for parking etc, and the box of
tissues in the door pocket.

This has happened many times in the 12 years or so I've owned the car -
and at first I thought I'd perhaps not locked it and someone had just
been
trying all cars doors in the street. But it's not happened to my other
car.

On this occasion I'm certain it was locked as I went out to it last night
to put the shopping bags in the boot ready for today.

Could you have operated the remote accidentally somehow?
When I changed cars, I found myself doing that until I moved
the car keys to a separate key ring.

I wounder if you could somehow disable the unlocking part of the
central locking system?

Think I remember reading thumping the car to replicate an accident makes
the central locking unlock. But I've never been able to replicate this.
And there's never any sign of this having been done.

Saw the AA do this with a Fiat in the early '90's. Some Italian
colleagues had driven over from Rome to work with us, and managed
to lock themselves out of the Fiat in the work car park. We
all stood around chatting in the car park until the AA turned up,
and even then, most of us were paying no attention. One of the
Italians screams, at which point we look around. The AA man has
just dot a hammer out of the back of his van, and the Italian
guy obviously thinks he's about to smash the window, and even
we were somewhat puzzled. The AA man reaches under the front
wheel arch and taps something with the hammer, and all 4 door
lock buttons pop up. Oh, how we laughed...

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

I know that on some Fords (no idea about other makes), there's a little
inertia switch in that area that cuts off the petrol in the case of
collision or inversion. I wonder if it would open the doors, too?

On 20/08/2012 13:24, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
Yet again I got to my car (BMW E39) this morning to find it unlocked. It's
parked in the street. And a couple of things stolen. The couple of quid in
change I keep in a closed cubbyhole for parking etc, and the box of
tissues in the door pocket.

This has happened many times in the 12 years or so I've owned the car -
and at first I thought I'd perhaps not locked it and someone had just been
trying all cars doors in the street. But it's not happened to my other car.

On this occasion I'm certain it was locked as I went out to it last night
to put the shopping bags in the boot ready for today.


Could be that an rf jammer was used to block the remote central lock
signal, so as you walked away thinking you'd locked it...

e.g. http://preview.tinyurl.com/9q2auk8

I know that on some Fords (no idea about other makes), there's a little
inertia switch in that area that cuts off the petrol in the case of
collision or inversion. I wonder if it would open the doors, too?

Some cars use central locking that is operated with air pressure.
Thieves carry half a tennis ball around with them. Never tried it, but
it sounds plausible.

On Aug 20, 2:28*pm, GB wrote:

Some cars use central locking that is operated with air pressure.

Mercedes

Thieves carry half a tennis ball around with them.

In the faint hope of finding one of these systems that still works.

On 20/08/2012 13:44, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
Yet again I got to my car (BMW E39) this morning to find it unlocked.
It's
parked in the street. And a couple of things stolen. The couple of
quid in
change I keep in a closed cubbyhole for parking etc, and the box of
tissues in the door pocket.

This has happened many times in the 12 years or so I've owned the car -
and at first I thought I'd perhaps not locked it and someone had just
been
trying all cars doors in the street. But it's not happened to my other
car.

I've often inadvertently locked or unlocked my car when getting the
house keys out of the same pocket as the radio key fob.

Mine will automatically re-lock if no door is opened within a short
period of them being unlocked.

Colin Bignell

On 20/08/2012 13:24, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
Yet again I got to my car (BMW E39) this morning to find it unlocked. It's
parked in the street. And a couple of things stolen. The couple of quid in
change I keep in a closed cubbyhole for parking etc, and the box of
tissues in the door pocket.

This has happened many times in the 12 years or so I've owned the car -
and at first I thought I'd perhaps not locked it and someone had just been
trying all cars doors in the street. But it's not happened to my other car.

On this occasion I'm certain it was locked as I went out to it last night
to put the shopping bags in the boot ready for today.

Think I remember reading thumping the car to replicate an accident makes
the central locking unlock. But I've never been able to replicate this.
And there's never any sign of this having been done.


A few guesses:- A door /boot/bonnet not always closing properly or at
least not reliably operating the associated switches due to wear or
maladjustment. Water ingress incl to the locks or through damaged
sheathing on cables which flex at the edges of doors.

It might be worth trying to lock the car with a door not fully shut to
see whether it locks or just what you should be looking or listening for
if it doesn't . Of course if you need to be sure the car is locked you
could always pull the CL fuse and do it manually although you would
loose the deadlock feature. BTW if you don't normally deadlock it might
be worth using it because there might be some faults which may disappear
by doing so...

j

On 20/08/2012 13:24, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
BMW E39

My car (Audi) has an option that locks the car if you unlock it and then
don't open any of the doors or boot, so if you accidentally unlock it,
it would lock its self again shortly thereafter (takes about 2 minutes I
think).

Other features I have set on mine are are auto lock when the car starts
moving (it then unlocks when I take the key out the ignition), and
selective unlock, so the car will open only the drivers door when you
press the unlock on the fob once, for anti-hijack.

Have a look on-line, you can probably get software and a cable to do
this yourself, if it is an option or speak to the dealer, or an
independent that does BMW programming.

might be a good idea to call the dealer to see if it can be done before
you go to the trouble of looking it up and downloading software and
buying cables.

Quick look on eBay shows this cable and software suable fro the E39
120970701197 but make sure you can actually do something useful with it
first!


--
Toby...
Remove pants to reply

On 20/08/2012 15:36, Toby wrote:
On 20/08/2012 13:24, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
BMW E39

My car (Audi) has an option that locks the car if you unlock it and then
don't open any of the doors or boot, so if you accidentally unlock it,
it would lock its self again shortly thereafter (takes about 2 minutes I
think).

Other features I have set on mine are are auto lock when the car starts
moving (it then unlocks when I take the key out the ignition), and
selective unlock, so the car will open only the drivers door when you
press the unlock on the fob once, for anti-hijack.

Have a look on-line, you can probably get software and a cable to do
this yourself, if it is an option or speak to the dealer, or an
independent that does BMW programming.

might be a good idea to call the dealer to see if it can be done before
you go to the trouble of looking it up and downloading software and
buying cables.

Quick look on eBay shows this cable and software suable fro the E39
120970701197 but make sure you can actually do something useful with it
first!



Also just to add, on mine I have set it to beep when it locks, so I can
also hear if it has locked or not when I press the button.

--
Toby...
Remove pants to reply

On Monday, August 20, 2012 1:24:36 PM UTC+1, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
Yet again I got to my car (BMW E39) this morning to find it unlocked.

One possibility that has not been mentioned yet: did you buy it second hand? Has the previous owner retained a key?

Another thought: can people record the RF "squawk" that the keys emit? I guess there is some system to foil this. It used to happne with early mobile phones.


Robert

A number of older Citreons suffer from this universal unlocking syndrome.
Its either a dodgy contact or crimp connector on those, but I'd have though
VW used better parts. Its that old single point of failure issue again.
Brian

--
Brian Gaff....Note, this account does not accept Bcc: email.
graphics are great, but the blind can't hear them
Email:
__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________


"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
Yet again I got to my car (BMW E39) this morning to find it unlocked. It's
parked in the street. And a couple of things stolen. The couple of quid in
change I keep in a closed cubbyhole for parking etc, and the box of
tissues in the door pocket.

This has happened many times in the 12 years or so I've owned the car -
and at first I thought I'd perhaps not locked it and someone had just been
trying all cars doors in the street. But it's not happened to my other
car.

On this occasion I'm certain it was locked as I went out to it last night
to put the shopping bags in the boot ready for today.

Think I remember reading thumping the car to replicate an accident makes
the central locking unlock. But I've never been able to replicate this.
And there's never any sign of this having been done.

--
*If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On Mon, 20 Aug 2012 15:37:11 +0100, Toby wrote:

Other features I have set on mine are are auto lock when the car
starts moving ...

Hate that, had it turned it off on my car.

... selective unlock, so the car will open only the drivers door when
you press the unlock on the fob once, for anti-hijack.

That's OK.

Also just to add, on mine I have set it to beep when it locks, so I can
also hear if it has locked or not when I press the button.

The servos and things make enough noise for that indication and of course
the indicators flash. I have mine set to beep if it mislocks due to a
door not being fully shut.

--
Cheers
Dave.

In article , gogmagog wrote:
I know that on some Fords (no idea about other makes), there's a little
inertia switch in that area that cuts off the petrol in the case of
collision or inversion. I wonder if it would open the doors, too?

Someone I used to work with years ago had his XR4i stolen, used as a getaway
vehicle, abandoned, and recovered by the police, several times.
According the police, yes, hitting it in the right place opened the doors....

(Might have been an XR4x4. It's been a while. I assume security has improved
in the meantime.)

In article , RobertL wrote:
Another thought: can people record the RF "squawk" that the keys emit? I guess there is some system to foil this. It used to happne with early mobile phones.

With very old keys, yes. With newer ones, maybe, for some of them.
(It's not a simple replay attack though - those are blocked.)
http://www.snopes.com/autos/techno/lockcode.asp
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KeeLoq#Cryptanalysis
http://www.cosic.esat.kuleuven.be/keeloq/

On Mon, 20 Aug 2012 15:59:33 +0100, Dave Liquorice wrote:


Also just to add, on mine I have set it to beep when it locks, so I can
also hear if it has locked or not when I press the button.

The servos and things make enough noise for that indication and of
course the indicators flash. I have mine set to beep if it mislocks due
to a door not being fully shut.

My S-Max has electric folding door mirrors (we live in an area where they
are often vandalised). They also make a good indication of whether the
car is locked, although it's pretty audible anyway.

--
Use the BIG mirror service in the UK:
http://www.mirrorservice.org

*lightning protection* - a w_tom conductor

On 20/08/2012 15:48, RobertL wrote:
On Monday, August 20, 2012 1:24:36 PM UTC+1, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
Yet again I got to my car (BMW E39) this morning to find it unlocked.

One possibility that has not been mentioned yet: did you buy it second hand? Has the previous owner retained a key?

Another thought: can people record the RF "squawk" that the keys emit? I guess there is some system to foil this. It used to happne with early mobile phones.

Unfortunately yes and for some models the cryptography has been broken.
A description of the hardware trick went past in a computer discussion
group not long since I think from China. Essentially it grabs the code
when you lock the car and knows the next one to use to unlock it.

A secondary and very loud internal motion sensor alarm might help you
catch whoever is opening your car illicitly or a Tanyhidden pencam.

Regards,
Martin Brown

On Aug 20, 4:30*pm, (Alan Braggins) wrote:

With very old keys, yes. With newer ones, maybe, for some of them.

It's _much_ easier for new "high security" keys. With old radio keys,
the tea leaf needed competence. Nowadays they just need a web browser
and some bitcoins to order the ready-made gadgetry with.

"Andy Dingley" wrote in message
...
On Aug 20, 2:28 pm, GB wrote:

Some cars use central locking that is operated with air pressure.

Mercedes

Thieves carry half a tennis ball around with them.

In the faint hope of finding one of these systems that still works.



In the faint hope of finding the other HALF ?
Dave

djornsk wrote:
On 20/08/2012 13:24, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
Yet again I got to my car (BMW E39) this morning to find it
unlocked. It's parked in the street. And a couple of things stolen.
The couple of quid in change I keep in a closed cubbyhole for
parking etc, and the box of tissues in the door pocket.

This has happened many times in the 12 years or so I've owned the
car - and at first I thought I'd perhaps not locked it and someone
had just been trying all cars doors in the street. But it's not
happened to my other car. On this occasion I'm certain it was locked as
I went out to it last
night to put the shopping bags in the boot ready for today.

Think I remember reading thumping the car to replicate an accident
makes the central locking unlock. But I've never been able to
replicate this. And there's never any sign of this having been done.


A few guesses:- A door /boot/bonnet not always closing properly or at
least not reliably operating the associated switches due to wear or
maladjustment. Water ingress incl to the locks or through damaged
sheathing on cables which flex at the edges of doors.

Now my van doors can do that. It can work both ways.

1. A door is left unlocked

or

2. It locks and then refuses to unlock.

I know walk around the van and physically check that the doors are locked.

--
Adam

In article ,
djornsk wrote:
A few guesses:- A door /boot/bonnet not always closing properly or at
least not reliably operating the associated switches due to wear or
maladjustment. Water ingress incl to the locks or through damaged
sheathing on cables which flex at the edges of doors.

No.

It might be worth trying to lock the car with a door not fully shut to
see whether it locks or just what you should be looking or listening for
if it doesn't . Of course if you need to be sure the car is locked you
could always pull the CL fuse and do it manually although you would
loose the deadlock feature. BTW if you don't normally deadlock it might
be worth using it because there might be some faults which may disappear
by doing so...

All the doors and boot were properly shut.

--
*Would a fly without wings be called a walk?

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

In article ,
RobertL wrote:
On Monday, August 20, 2012 1:24:36 PM UTC+1, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
Yet again I got to my car (BMW E39) this morning to find it unlocked.

One possibility that has not been mentioned yet: did you buy it second
hand? Has the previous owner retained a key?

Since I bought it near new and the thefts are pennies, I somehow doubt one
who could afford 40 grand for a car could be bothered. But I have all the
keys as supplied new.

Another thought: can people record the RF "squawk" that the keys emit?
I guess there is some system to foil this. It used to happne with early
mobile phones.

Why would they go to the bother for such a small amount?


Robert

--
*Can vegetarians eat animal crackers?

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On 20/08/2012 15:54, Brian Gaff wrote:
A number of older Citreons suffer from this universal unlocking syndrome.
Its either a dodgy contact or crimp connector on those, but I'd have though
VW used better parts. Its that old single point of failure issue again.
Brian

I had the opposite on a BMW a few years back ..it wouldnt open
(ocassionaly)..It turned out to be a hairline crack although not sure
now if it was in the wiring or a component. I didnt take much interest
in it as it was a company car.

On 20/08/2012 14:20, Capn Nemo wrote:
On 20/08/2012 13:24, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
Yet again I got to my car (BMW E39) this morning to find it unlocked.
It's
parked in the street. And a couple of things stolen. The couple of
quid in
change I keep in a closed cubbyhole for parking etc, and the box of
tissues in the door pocket.

This has happened many times in the 12 years or so I've owned the car -
and at first I thought I'd perhaps not locked it and someone had just
been
trying all cars doors in the street. But it's not happened to my other
car.

On this occasion I'm certain it was locked as I went out to it last night
to put the shopping bags in the boot ready for today.


Could be that an rf jammer was used to block the remote central lock
signal, so as you walked away thinking you'd locked it...

e.g. http://preview.tinyurl.com/9q2auk8

That wouldn't work for me as I would hear that it hadn't locked. I'm so
used to the sound of the door locks that I can immediately tell whether
it has failed to do anything; locked and then deadlocked; or locked and
unlocked as a door isn't properly shut. The flashing of the indicators
as it deadlocks is entirely superfluous.

SteveW

BMW Central locking - My fav subject.

It is highly unusual for the E39 to randomly unlock it self. If it happens on a regular basis, try wrapping your key in tin foil. This creates a faraday cage preventing the radio signals reaching the car. I guarantee that it is the key that is unlocking the car.

The E39 can be set to autolock after 2mins if you don't touch the car after unlocking. As standard it will flash the indicators on lock. It can also be set to flash twice on unlock. The former option may be of use to you.

Sorry Dave,

Should have included the reply to the usenet group. Please fee free to post my last message.

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...


Think I remember reading thumping the car to replicate an accident makes
the central locking unlock. But I've never been able to replicate this.
And there's never any sign of this having been done.

Do you have problems locking/unlocking the car at times?
If you do it may be interference from some low life scum transmitting codes
and waiting for a car to unlock.
apparently some of the "random" code sequences aren't very random or it
wouldn't work.
Some of the newer cars can be set *not* to flash when they are unlocked so
the scum can't see if its worked when they are sitting in the middle of a
car park and they auto relock after a minute or so if no doors are opened.

In article , Capn Nemo
scribeth thus
On 20/08/2012 13:24, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
Yet again I got to my car (BMW E39) this morning to find it unlocked. It's
parked in the street. And a couple of things stolen. The couple of quid in
change I keep in a closed cubbyhole for parking etc, and the box of
tissues in the door pocket.

This has happened many times in the 12 years or so I've owned the car -
and at first I thought I'd perhaps not locked it and someone had just been
trying all cars doors in the street. But it's not happened to my other car.

On this occasion I'm certain it was locked as I went out to it last night
to put the shopping bags in the boot ready for today.


Could be that an rf jammer was used to block the remote central lock
signal, so as you walked away thinking you'd locked it...

e.g. http://preview.tinyurl.com/9q2auk8

315 MHz eh?, not a lorra use in the UK methinks;!...

--
Tony Sayer

In article , Martin Brown |||newspam
scribeth thus
On 20/08/2012 15:48, RobertL wrote:
On Monday, August 20, 2012 1:24:36 PM UTC+1, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
Yet again I got to my car (BMW E39) this morning to find it unlocked.

One possibility that has not been mentioned yet: did you buy it second hand?
Has the previous owner retained a key?

Another thought: can people record the RF "squawk" that the keys emit? I
guess there is some system to foil this. It used to happne with early mobile
phones.

Unfortunately yes and for some models the cryptography has been broken.
A description of the hardware trick went past in a computer discussion
group not long since I think from China. Essentially it grabs the code
when you lock the car and knows the next one to use to unlock it.

A secondary and very loud internal motion sensor alarm might help you
catch whoever is opening your car illicitly or a Tanyhidden pencam.

Regards,
Martin Brown


I'm quite surprised that they don't use an almost contact less system or
very short range infra red near the door, so very much harder to anyone
to intercept rather than broadcasting it around the neighbourhood for
anyone else to pick up;!..

--
Tony Sayer

On Aug 20, 1:24*pm, "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote:
Yet again I got to my car (BMW E39) this morning to find it unlocked. It's
parked in the street. And a couple of things stolen. The couple of quid in
change I keep in a closed cubbyhole for parking etc, and the box of
tissues in the door pocket.

This has happened many times in the 12 years or so I've owned the car -
and at first I thought I'd perhaps not locked it and someone had just been
trying all cars doors in the street. But it's not happened to my other car.

In article
..com, Andy Dingley scribeth thus
On Aug 20, 10:04*pm, tony sayer wrote:
I'm quite surprised that they don't use an almost contact less system

They do. The latest systems are using NFC (near field, same as
Barclaycards) and a phone app.

Some of the developers even understand crypto.

Perhaps then an app thats tied up with the credit/debit card or
something very unique on the phone?..

--
Tony Sayer

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
Yet again I got to my car (BMW E39) this morning to find it unlocked. It's
parked in the street. And a couple of things stolen. The couple of quid in
change I keep in a closed cubbyhole for parking etc, and the box of
tissues in the door pocket.

This has happened many times in the 12 years or so I've owned the car -
and at first I thought I'd perhaps not locked it and someone had just been
trying all cars doors in the street. But it's not happened to my other car.

On this occasion I'm certain it was locked as I went out to it last night
to put the shopping bags in the boot ready for today.

Think I remember reading thumping the car to replicate an accident makes
the central locking unlock. But I've never been able to replicate this.
And there's never any sign of this having been done.

Any of your kids needing pocket money ?

In article m, F Murtz
wrote:
Think I remember reading thumping the car to replicate an accident
makes the central locking unlock. But I've never been able to
replicate this. And there's never any sign of this having been done.

Any of your kids needing pocket money ?

Heh heh. That would be the logical explanation - except that I live on my
own.

--
*Black holes are where God divided by zero *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

In article ,
Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article m, F Murtz
wrote:
Think I remember reading thumping the car to replicate an accident
makes the central locking unlock. But I've never been able to
replicate this. And there's never any sign of this having been done.

Any of your kids needing pocket money ?

Heh heh. That would be the logical explanation - except that I live on my
own.

what's that got to do with it?

--
From KT24

Using a RISC OS computer running v5.18

On Aug 21, 9:41*am, tony sayer wrote:

Perhaps then an app thats tied up with the credit/debit card or
something very unique on the phone?..

Well one thing you can do with this is city car clubs, where booking a
shared car is just a phone app and there's no need to pick up
(physical) keys. You can book online, the phone app (and phone's
onboard GPS) leads you to where the car's parked, the car knows you're
on the way because the server has sent it some SMS and your phone acts
as a carkey.

In article ,
charles wrote:
Any of your kids needing pocket money ?

Heh heh. That would be the logical explanation - except that I live on
my own.

what's that got to do with it?

It would suggest someone has access to the keys. Which they don't.

--
*Happiness is seeing your mother-in-law on a milk carton

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Occasionally, when carrying lots of bags/boxes, I can't lock the car when
I park on the drive, and do it when I get inside (press the keyfob).

Presumably there must have been times when I have forgotten. However,
back in March I went to go out, and found that someone had been into the
car and stolen the sat nav. Only that. It left me wondering if there were
gangs roaming the street looking for unlocked cars, or if someone had
clocked that I hadn't locked the car. Since we live in a cul de sac it
seems a bit far fetched.

Going OT, amazingly enough I had a call from the local nick last week -
they had recovered the Sat Nav ! All the more amazing, since I hadn't
bothered to report it !!!! Turns out they consulted the manufacturers
database which did list it as stolen (to prevent the scrotes trying to
remove the Garmin Lock). All they would tell me is they had arrested a
local youth and a search of his premises revealed a crateful of SatNavs,
the only one of which they could show was stolen was mine.

On Mon, 20 Aug 2012 18:17:00 +0100, ARWadsworth wrote:
A few guesses:- A door /boot/bonnet not always closing properly or at
least not reliably operating the associated switches due to wear or
maladjustment. Water ingress incl to the locks or through damaged
sheathing on cables which flex at the edges of doors.

Now my van doors can do that. It can work both ways.

1. A door is left unlocked

Same with one of the doors on my van. All the rest of the electrics are
so complicated that I don't know why they can't detect that the user has
requested for the doors to be locked, but the mechanism in one of the
doors hasn't shown to have engaged. It's not like it would be difficult...

On Mon, 20 Aug 2012 22:04:48 +0100, tony sayer wrote:
I'm quite surprised that they don't use an almost contact less system or
very short range infra red near the door, so very much harder to anyone
to intercept rather than broadcasting it around the neighbourhood for
anyone else to pick up;!..

But the main benefit of remote entry is that you can unlock/lock from a
significant distance, surely? If it needs to be right next to the
vehicle, then may as well just use a physical key than the complexity of
something that transmits wirelessly.