[.Slug]

In case there is any new M2C/BMW buyer out there who's getting ready to pull the trigger on a new one. Keep an eye out for a dealer mark up add on titled "S.W.A.T." for GPS tracking. The dealer who sold me my M2C had this as a $1,000 add on (I asked them to remove it and they did). I've found yesterday after installing the MyBMW app that the car has GPS tracking built in from the BMW factory, therefore making this feature completely redundant and useless.

It seems like this should be incredibly well known by all BMW dealers and if a dealer is add this on, they are literally trying to scam you IMO.

The stock vehicle gps location feature itself seems to be incredbily accurate in my case. You can turn it on and off in the vehicle settings from the iDrive system.

[chris719]

What dealer tried this on an M2C?

[.Slug]

Originally Posted by chris719

What dealer tried this on an M2C?

BMW of Escondido in California.

[pz619]

Originally Posted by .Slug

BMW of Escondido in California.

Ha! Doesn't surprise me in the least.

[selmeralto]

Originally Posted by chris719

What dealer tried this on an M2C?

BMW of Mt. Laurel (NJ) made a similar push for Stargard, arguing that Stargard added a layer of protection for a highly desirable and stealable car.

[Henry428]

Ugh, fell for it and bought SWAT at Escondido just last week for my M2C. I didn't realize that I could have asked for them to include it.

[jkoral]

Originally Posted by .Slug

You can turn it on and off in the vehicle settings from the iDrive system.

I assume the SWAT device is for anti-theft and can't be turned off through iDrive.

Keep in mind that myBMW requires a yearly subscription (either $50 or $150) once your factory warranty expires.

[.Slug]

Originally Posted by jkoral

I assume the SWAT device is for anti-theft and can't be turned off through iDrive.

Keep in mind that myBMW requires a yearly subscription (either $50 or $150) once your factory warranty expires.

Good to know, thanks!

You are right, the S.W.A.T. device is for tracking during theft. I'm not sure of the other particulars, but charging $1000 for install and the device seems excessive.

I have car insurance for theft. I don't care if the car is unrecoverable or not when all is said and done if it was stolen. Id more prefer it was unrecoverable if stolen so I can avoid the whole tainted titled situation which would destroy the resale value of the car.

My insurance doesn't give me a discount for having the device (I think some insurance companies do, but it depends). So, there was no benefit to me there either.

[.Slug]

Originally Posted by Henry428

Ugh, fell for it and bought SWAT at Escondido just last week for my M2C. I didn't realize that I could have asked for them to include it.

They didn't like that I was telling them to not install it and remove the charge. They had a manager contact me and still tried to convice me to keep it. I still said no and they agreed to provide other things for the same mark up, but I agreed because I saw value in the other things. I think if you told them no, they would have still tried to get the $1K out of you somehow as they did me. lol

[nioh_lbbm2]

Originally Posted by .Slug

They didn't like that I was telling them to not install it and remove the charge. They had a manager contact me and still tried to convice me to keep it. I still said no and they agreed to provide other things for the same mark up, but I agreed because I saw value in the other things. I think if you told them no, they would have still tried to get the $1K out of you somehow as they did me. lol

$1k seems to be in line with these types of devices. LoJack is also similar around $800. They offer more than the built in BMW gps locater since they offer guarantees on recovery and many insurers offer discounts since they recognize it as a recovery device whereas they won't recognize the BMW service as a recovery device. Many of the recovery devices also operate on a frequency that have better penetration than standard gps does in addition to being used by police agencies.

That's said I also told my dealer to not install it when I bought the car. BMW of San Diego for what it's worth. Generally comprehensive insurance it way more than enough peace of mind

[Wheeldog63]

I was insistent that mine not come with any aftermarket alarm/tracking/LoJack stuff when I got mine from Encinitas last year. I believe they got my car from San Diego and it didn’t have anything else installed on it. I was going to go with Escondido but they sold the car I was going to buy literally an hour before I got there, at the time the window sticker didn’t list anything else added and it had sat on the lot for a week or 2, maybe it’s something they are pushing now that inventory is low.

[Bumpinjeep]

Don't let the dealership disrespect your family! SWAT OR NO SWAT!

[chris719]

Originally Posted by nioh_lbbm2

Many of the recovery devices also operate on a frequency that have better penetration than standard gps does in addition to being used by police agencies.

They are mostly junk using off-the-shelf cellular + GPS radio modules from Telit, U-Blox, etc. and a small microcontroller. They probably hold the last GPS coordinates and send it via GPRS (LTE for new ones). Two potato chip bags are all you need to completely defeat these little boxes.



For example, if you look up the FCC ID of the above SWAT? box, you will see that it's not even a unique FCC ID. It's the ID of the radio module they use, which you can get away with depending on how you implement it in your product. They typically have abysmal GPS RX performance, FWIW.

https://fccid.io/XMR201312UC20

The box probably costs $50-100 if we are being generous. M2M data plans are super cheap for this kind of stuff, too.

[COChris]

Originally Posted by Bumpinjeep

Don't let the dealership disrespect your family! SWAT OR NO SWAT!
[IMG]https://y.yarn.co/fb61484d-98c2-4799...screenshot.jpg[/IMG]

It's certainly too heavy for Race Wars.

[KevinC]

Originally Posted by nioh_lbbm2

They offer more than the built in BMW gps locater since they offer guarantees on recovery and many insurers offer discounts since they recognize it as a recovery device whereas they won't recognize the BMW service as a recovery device. Many of the recovery devices also operate on a frequency that have better penetration than standard gps does in addition to being used by police agencies.

Do you work for one of these companies? Or are you an F&I guy making a fat living off this garbage? I don't believe for a second that any of this garbage has "better penetration than standard GPS", what is your source for that claim?

[nioh_lbbm2]

Originally Posted by KevinC

[/b]

[img]https://media.giphy.com/media/YPKVNt...JKPu/giphy.gif[/img]

Do you work for one of these companies? Or are you an F&I guy making a fat living off this garbage? I don't believe for a second that any of this garbage has "better penetration than standard GPS", what is your source for that claim?

no lol. I literally said they aren't worth it at the end of my post and that insurance is enough. It's just a different tracking possibility (supposedly). I never said it was worth it to buy. Calm down.

[Robin_NL]

Nine out of ten insurancecompanies overhere ask for such a tracking device for this kind of car, otherwise they will not insure you....

Cheers
Robin

[speedsnice]

Those devices are garbage, they have a very slow refresh rate on the GPS signal and are not real time. Another issue is that they do not give an exact location, they give you an approximate location. I have worked with systems that require you to be on the phone with a representative and also the OG LoJack that will give you a tracking tool installed in the police vehicle.

I have been in the game for the last 17 years, recently we were tracking a newer Subaru Crosstrek with the STARLINK GPS tracker (Subaru’s version) and we kept missing the car, we would go to locations that it had been, we finally gave up on the tracking and just looked for the color and model and came across the car with multiple juveniles inside that had stolen the car and committed a robbery while driving it around.
With LoJack we would get stolen vehicle signals on a regular basis, I work in a City and it’s easy to get false readings for LoJack, it’s more suited for a rural area.

[chris719]

I also feel like, why would I care if my car gets recovered if stolen? I have insurance. Better it disappear than be found all messed up. I’m sure the insurance company would rather recover it, of course.

[tom @ eas]

Wouldn't an Apple AirTag do the same thing for $29?

[ALX_B]

Originally Posted by pz619

Ha! Doesn't surprise me in the least.

Funny.. they tried it with me also when I was hunting allocations.

After a conversation it was clear they were... how shall we say.. somewhat 'dense'

For that reason alone I went with another dealer who had an allocation at the same time.

[blkonblk]

It was already installed on the car at the day of purchase, I had them remove and deduct it before I wrote them a check.