[maxrev30]

So as I'm waiting here for the flat bed to show up I've been searching for others that may have had their m2 competition towed but couldn't find any. So I'll document my run through, as a big ass chunk of metal decided to shove its way through the center of my tire leaving me stuck here with a flat. My car has stock tires and wheels on it but it's lowered with the H&R springs and has full carbon fiber goodies on it. I had a buddy bring me his tow hook as i couldn't find the one that was supposed to come with the car (At least i think its supposed to come with one). So hopefully it will actually drag up onto the flat bed without me having to pull the front lip off.

Also on a separate note I've owned the car for a little under two months now and have already accumulated 5,000 miles on it. And all i have to say is this car is unbelievably amazing. I love it every time i look at it let alone drive it! I would upload some photos of it but for some reason my app errors out every time i try to upload photos.

[maxrev30]

Car needed wood blocks but was easily driven up onto the truck. also found out if you leave the car locked while on the truck the alarm goes off on it as soon as you try to move it. So i left the car unlocked in hopes of it not turning on the alarm. must be an anti theft thing when moving the vehicle when it's not on.

[Sarg33]

Sorry to hear about your flat, but thank you for the information. And I agree, these cars are amazing!

[BigKutta]

Yes, BMWs have motion sensors that are for this very reason...someone flatbedding your car to steal it. I believe there are also internal motion sensors. Been like this with BMW for quite a while.

[j23]

I read somewhere that you're not suppose to use the BMW bumper tow eye to pull and secure the car on the flatbed..

[jbtco]

It is easy to deactivate the motion sensors, after locking vehicle press lock button on key within 10 seconds, this locks car but deactivates the motion sensor.

I use overnight ferries a lot but don’t want the alarm triggered at sea but want the car locked.

[Zagnificent55]

Originally Posted by maxrev30

So as I'm waiting here for the flat bed to show up I've been searching for others that may have had their m2 competition towed but couldn't find any. So I'll document my run through, as a big ass chunk of metal decided to shove its way through the center of my tire leaving me stuck here with a flat. My car has stock tires and wheels on it but it's lowered with the H&R springs and has full carbon fiber goodies on it. I had a buddy bring me his tow hook as i couldn't find the one that was supposed to come with the car (At least i think its supposed to come with one). So hopefully it will actually drag up onto the flat bed without me having to pull the front lip off.

Also on a separate note I've owned the car for a little under two months now and have already accumulated 5,000 miles on it. And all i have to say is this car is unbelievably amazing. I love it every time i look at it let alone drive it! I would upload some photos of it but for some reason my app errors out every time i try to upload photos.

Sorry to hear about the need for a tow. I also have AAA and I have insurance through them. The OnBoard App is kinda cool too. It tracks you, but you can choose which trips are as a passenger, via public transport, or driving. As far as AAA is concerned, public transit where I am regularly goes over 90mph and brakes hard very regularly. Coincidentally, my driving is stellar and I’m projected to get a 28% rate discount next year

I can’t say enough good things about AAA.

[Caduceus]

Originally Posted by j23

I read somewhere that you're not suppose to use the BMW bumper tow eye to pull and secure the car on the flatbed..

If you can't use the tow hook to pull the car onto the tow truck, what good is it? I think you are mistaken.

But for the latter part, no, I wouldn't use it as a tie down point. That's a whole different force vector.

[maxrev30]

Originally Posted by Caduceus

If you can't use the tow hook to pull the car onto the tow truck, what good is it? I think you are mistaken.

But for the latter part, no, I wouldn't use it as a tie down point. That's a whole different force vector.

I've had a driver tell me prior that they don't want the cars driven onto the bed and will only tow them onto the bed so i had it just in case. luckily the lady that was driving this flat bed just said drive it up onto it and call it good. I also wouldn't recommend using the tow hook as a hold down point either. just the normal tire tie downs are plenty.

I purchased a new rear tire from tire rack at noon today and the estimated arrival of the new tire is tomorrow by 9pm. Dang that's quick haha

[2020m2c]

I've been an AAA member for a couple of decades. They were awesome for my lowered Lambo. Very careful and used wood blocks like the OP mentioned. AAA didn't hesitate to respond to a call for a pricey sports car. I know some other tow companies refuse and are worried about liability, etc.

He used the tow hook to pull it onto the flatbed. But you are correct — it's not to be used to secure the car. You secure the wheels / tires to the flatbed. Why? Because then the car can ride on it's own suspension. If you try to cinch it down by the tow hook or other "sprung" parts of the car it will come loose as the tow truck bounces down the road. I used to tow for a garage and you should never try to strap a car down by anything that is sprung. Same goes for motorcycles. Guys are always trying to ratchet the crap out of them to compress the forks and rear shocks. All that does is blow out seals and the load can still come loose.

On a side note, the tow driver was stoked to have a fun car to pick up. He sat in it so I could take his pic to send to his family back in Africa. Was a great experience all around.

[DanG]

Hmm. Why didn’t you use the BMW Assistance? They will tow you to the nearest BMW center for free.

[Poochie]

Originally Posted by BigKutta

Yes, BMWs have motion sensors that are for this very reason...someone flatbedding your car to steal it. I believe there are also internal motion sensors. Been like this with BMW for quite a while.

I cracked open a BMW alarm tilt sensor just to examine its make up and its MO is pretty cool. In simplistic terms, it has a ball in a diaphragm cup that detects movement, a real MacGyver-like design.

So the parked position of the ball is stored using the current longitudinal angle and transverse angle. The tilt sensor then regularly checks for new longitudinal and transverse angles i.e. movement of the ball from its original set position when the alarm was armed and if it moves, the sensor assumes the vehicle is being raised, for example; to steal the wheels or tow the vehicle away, thus, a message is sent to the vehicle's control unit to trigger the acoustic alarm, activate the hazard lights and "deadlocks" (disables) the doors handles and center unlock control button. However, due to liability reasons, the deadlocking feature is not applicable in US spec vehicles (S8TGA Thiefproofing device).

Although it might sound rudimentary in it's design, the (ball) tilt sensor algorithm is still designed to prevent a false alarms, even if the vehicle is rocked quite strongly. The alarm siren also has its own backup battery power, so even if you disconnect the vehicle's battery or cut any of the alarm's control wire(s), the sirens acoustic will still sound as usual.

[BigKutta]

Originally Posted by Poochie

I cracked open a BMW alarm tilt sensor just to examine its make up and its MO is pretty cool. In simplistic terms, it has a ball in a diaphragm cup that detects movement, a real MacGyver-like design.

So the parked position of the ball is stored using the current longitudinal angle and transverse angle. The tilt sensor then regularly checks for new longitudinal and transverse angles i.e. movement of the ball from its original set position when the alarm was armed and if it moves, the sensor assumes the vehicle is being raised, for example; to steal the wheels or tow the vehicle away, thus, a message is sent to the vehicle's control unit to trigger the acoustic alarm, activate the hazard lights and "deadlocks" (disables) the doors handles and center unlock control button. However, due to liability reasons, the deadlocking feature is not applicable in US spec vehicles (S8TGA Thiefproofing device).

Although it might sound rudimentary in it's design, the (ball) tilt sensor algorithm is still designed to prevent a false alarms, even if the vehicle is rocked quite strongly. The alarm siren also has its own backup battery power, so even if you disconnect the vehicle's battery or cut any of the alarm's control wire(s), the sirens acoustic will still sound as usual.

Poochie, as always you provide in-depth research and great BMW facts. I am a bit disappointed to learn that the motion sensor mechanism, no matter how rudimentary, wont trigger a "false" alarm in the event my parked car is hit by someone while they are parallel parking behind mine. I though an impactful bump would trigger an alarm, no?

[Pottah]

Originally Posted by BigKutta

Yes, BMWs have motion sensors that are for this very reason...someone flatbedding your car to steal it. I believe there are also internal motion sensors. Been like this with BMW for quite a while.

Found out about the internal motion sensors the other day when the car was off, parked, and locked. I went to slip something through the cracked window and the alarm went off. Pretty cool but definitely caught me off guard.