X5 E53 theft prevention . .

[X5-D-Sport]

Recently there have been a spate of thefts from electronic entry into vehicles,
& theft of the whole vehicle around where I live unfortunately.

These toe-rags operate in silence at 2am and take what they like... & the Police are simply not interested & never come out.
My partner had her £55,000 AMG opened & all her music & I-pod stuff was taken even though none of it was on show, also several models of BMW, a Porsche & a few Fords too... all robbed, opened or taken completely.

I am aware there is a VERY simple method for gaining EASY entry into an E53.... then either robbing the contents or stealing it.
& some such that accessing wires under an arch or some place else or whatever, but I understand it is an easy task for a thief.

SO.... as I know very well that some of our members are well aware of the technique used, and can maybe advise me/us of a fix, or to insert a hidden switch connected to a specific wire/cable etc, that will prevent the starter from operating maybe, or specific wiring that needs to be buried or protected better ?

This issue was raised a couple of years ago, but instead of telling us how to protect our vehicles & sharing a fix, the topic was simply poo-poo'd by admin & deleted.

Personally, I have spent too much on this vehicle to allow some nasty little bastard to steal it with minimum effort....
So, I'm asking again.

[X5Sport]

I have taken the simple choice and use a 1980’s style Stoplock device over the steering wheel. It will certainly slow an attempted theft.

Alternatively you could put a reed switch or Hall effect switch in-line with the starter energise line off the back of the ignition switch (but locate it further away from the switch itself so it would not be obvious). It would remain open circuit unless a magnet was in place (you could 3D print a holder) to close the switch. Even a cloned key would not work as Pos2 is open circuit.

The wiring diagrams may show you where to interrupt the ignition lines (Key POS 1) that would inhibit the ECU and DDE meaning no ignition as the car would not enable the on board systems.

Thinking outside the box, what about interrupting the gearshift lock - is it electronic on the E53? - so it stays in Park unless you do something. I can’t remember what interlocks are in place to prevent the shift being moved without either power or a combination of brake pedal and something else? I know the later versions will lock in P without power (a complete pain in the event of a battery failure!).

PVR is good with computers and could devise something with a Raspberry PiZero to use a smartphone and the on-board Bluetooth chip to control summat using the GPIO ports to enable/disable functions but that’s getting too clever. Simple is best.



Newtis.info has the wiring diagrams.

[X5-D-Sport]

Hello again Richard - Long time no speak Sir.

I'm liking the idea of a secondary switch in series with the brake pedal switch, so that the vehicle remains in Park & cannot go anywhere unless you know where the switch is..... that would stop it going any where for sure..... but even better if the vehicle remained dead as a nail by making a break in another circuit some place....

There must be a single wire some where that disables the entire vehicle systems if not enabled ... or prevents the starter from turning.... & there is no way in hell of jump starting an Auto.
I could possibly fit a KEY activated alarm in the X5, so even if the OEM alarm is de-activated the secondary unit will kick up a fuss.

My 2005 X5 is worth sod all, but the inconvenience & agro of losing it or getting it broken into amounts to many many thousands of £££

On my partners AMG, bearing in mind the the damned thing is less than a year old & worth £55,000....
I learned that thieves can get a gizmo from ebay that will clone the remote locking signal for £65... hopeless !!
So I fitted a £25 1980's separate alarm that makes a terrible racket if it is also not disarmed & a door is opened.
this alarm fob has a short range of less than 8 ft from the vehicle so it won't be cloned by a toe rag in the corner of a car-park hunting for remote key-fob signals.

[marti]

I use to remove fuse # 47 ( 25A fuel pump relay) clear colour fuse

[X5-D-Sport]

where is this fuse located plz ?
fuse box in the rear right or in the glove box ?

[henrym3]

I have disabled the ecu with a "secret" switch on the m3 all the instrument lights light up but there’s no cranking when key turned. This post has made me think I should do something similar to the x.

[marti]

where is this fuse located plz ?
fuse box in the rear right or in the glove box ?

In the glove box fuseboard

[X5-D-Sport]

excellent - thank you.