Car monitoring - preventing abuse from dealers

[E90potentialbuyer]

Guys,

How many times have we seen threads where the dealer has taken the car out for a joyride. Latest one being this http://f10.m5post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1137672

Is there any device(s) that we can install which log the trip / route that was taken? Also, even better, can location boundaries be set and if the car exceeds those boundaries, email alerts etc. are sent out using the car's telematics? I understand latter will require cellular connection which is not always possible.

Are there any good ways to prevent the dealer abuse that has is reported all too common on these forums?

[frisky]

There's a small but growing list of startups that are creating good telemetry apps to retrofit into your car. The best and most-heavily backed by VCs of them is this: https://www.automatic.com/

Havent tried it, but seems like it will do exactly what you want it to do.

Best thing about it is that it hooks into IFTTT for extendability. I already use IFTTT to send me a text with the geo-location of my car where I park. ;-)

If you do try it out, do let us know how you get on.
f.

[E90potentialbuyer]

Originally Posted by frisky

There's a small but growing list of startups that are creating good telemetry apps to retrofit into your car. The best and most-heavily backed by VCs of them is this: https://www.automatic.com/

Havent tried it, but seems like it will do exactly what you want it to do.

Best thing about it is that it hooks into IFTTT for extendability. I already use IFTTT to send me a text with the geo-location of my car where I park. ;-)

If you do try it out, do let us know how you get on.
f.

Thanks F. I came across them in my research. M5 is not a supported car on their list. https://www.automatic.com/cars/ I Have sent them an email asking for why is it not supported on 5/6/M5/M6 lines.

[frisky]

That makes sense, as the M5 and newer cars are pretty much computer systems in their own right.

You could hack it: Meaning just put a GPS tracker somewhere in the car and that would, at least give you peace of mind of where the car is, and whether its being taken for a joy ride. Of course that only gives you proof after the fact.

f.

[RPiM5]

Hey I got your PM.

Yes there is such a thing in existence today. It is called Geo-Fencing. Nowadays you can buy a device that you can hide in the M5 and you connect to it via an app on your phone or something. It will alert you if the device has traveled outside a geographic location that you specify.

Here is an example of one:

http://www.amazon.com/Fence-Tracking.../dp/B00897ZXHQ

I just use a hidden dash cam in my M5 for security. If I suspect something is not right after I get my car back then I review the tape. Geo-Fencing would be great though as it is real-time.

[WJSM5]

This would be awesome. Really could have used it on my car after my last dealer visit. I checked out my tires, there's 300 miles on them. They look worn down way past 300 miles, I will measure later. I suspect someone was doing some burn outs and having a nice ride around town. 120 miles worth of fun.

Maybe something with a camera like they do on those shows where they nail those crappy muffler shops?

[E90potentialbuyer]

Originally Posted by RPiM5

Hey I got your PM.

Yes there is such a thing in existence today. It is called Geo-Fencing. Nowadays you can buy a device that you can hide in the M5 and you connect to it via an app on your phone or something. It will alert you if the device has traveled outside a geographic location that you specify.

Here is an example of one:

http://www.amazon.com/Fence-Tracking.../dp/B00897ZXHQ

I just use a hidden dash cam in my M5 for security. If I suspect something is not right after I get my car back then I review the tape. Geo-Fencing would be great though as it is real-time.

It's a good start but doesn't have the interface. For anyone outside of comp science it's probably a bit too much.
Seriously is there nothing like Automatic that logs every trip you take? I would take automatic one step further and have cellular connection built into it to have live monitoring.

My ideal solution would:
- log all trips for past 60 days.
- for each trip, have summary of average speed, minimum speed, maximum speed, average RPM, max RPM
- ability to configure allowable radius for car using a graphical GUI. If the car goes outside of that limit, email / text alerts are sent.
- ability to turn off all audible alerts.
- also have a dashcam that be embedded in the rear view mirror - or somewhere else. Takes the picture of driver everytime engine is started and emails the picture.
- live monitoring is the key

What would you guys add / change in this setup? Maybe we can make a good business case for someone to develop / patch it together from existing things?

[frisky]

Ideally this would be a BMW ConnectedDrive app.

I thought of another hackish solution: use a dropcam wireless somewhere in the car and that way you can monitor the car in real time. :-)

https://www.dropcam.com/dropcam-pro

f.

[E90potentialbuyer]

Right but Dropcam can't record in the devise as it uploads to Dropcam servers and records there - needs a wifi connection to upload for live transmitting. I use a couple of them at home. Something like that which is activate upon motion detection and have a cellular connection is awesome.

[E90potentialbuyer]

Just heard back from awesome customer service of Automatic. Here's the response for why it won't work with M5:

"Thank you for contacting us and for your interest in Automatic. The reason the Automatic adapter isn't supported for your vehicle is because when anything is plugged into your car's OBD port, it wakes up the car's computer and goes into a "diagnostic mode". When that happens the car's computer basically just stays turned on and kills your battery. This has been an ongoing problem that has lasted since Automatic started, you can read more on our Community here: https://community.automatic.com/auto...lter_by%5D=all
and here: https://community.automatic.com/auto...-supported-bmw
Although many of these posts mention X5 or X1, they all share the exact same problem. We are working on resolving the issue, but until we do we can't recommend using the Automatic adapter. I wish I had better news!"

[WJSM5]

Originally Posted by E90potentialbuyer

It's a good start but doesn't have the interface. For anyone outside of comp science it's probably a bit too much.
Seriously is there nothing like Automatic that logs every trip you take? I would take automatic one step further and have cellular connection built into it to have live monitoring.

My ideal solution would:
- log all trips for past 60 days.
- for each trip, have summary of average speed, minimum speed, maximum speed, average RPM, max RPM
- ability to configure allowable radius for car using a graphical GUI. If the car goes outside of that limit, email / text alerts are sent.
- ability to turn off all audible alerts.
- also have a dashcam that be embedded in the rear view mirror - or somewhere else. Takes the picture of driver everytime engine is started and emails the picture.
- live monitoring is the key

What would you guys add / change in this setup? Maybe we can make a good business case for someone to develop / patch it together from existing things?

Sounds like a good idea. You've got my backing

[boots]

He said when anything is plugged in the obll port the computer stays on. Hum? that means anyone who uses a can tool is draining the battery. I had mine plugged in for months w no drain problems.

[E90potentialbuyer]

Originally Posted by boots

He said when anything is plugged in the obll port the computer stays on. Hum? that means anyone who uses a can tool is draining the battery. I had mine plugged in for months w no drain problems.

Yes. I followed up asking

"Thanks. Can I remove the device from OBD port everytime I shut down the car? Would that resolve the issue?"

Response: "That would solve the problem, but I can't say that it would be supported and you would be using it at your own risk"

Yea I think it's a no go. Won't address the point. I have signed up for updates when device is ready for M5.

[Spinny02]

I also have my obd tool always plugged in with no issue. Even leaving my car for 30+ days often. They only bad thing about an obd option is the dealer will unplug it to work on the car via their obd tools. Who's to say they will plug it back in before they go for the joy ride ? Much better to have a hidden hard wired version. I use the escort entourage, it's really made by blackline gps, I would not buy it again because the app is very weak but it gets the job done. The computer interface is more powerful. They have not updated the app in years.

[E90potentialbuyer]

Originally Posted by Spinny02

I also have my obd tool always plugged in with no issue. Even leaving my car for 30+ days often. They only bad thing about an obd option is the dealer will unplug it to work on the car via their obd tools. Who's to say they will plug it back in before they go for the joy ride ? Much better to have a hidden hard wired version. I use the escort entourage, it's really made by blackline gps, I would not buy it again because the app is very weak but it gets the job done. The computer interface is more powerful. They have not updated the app in years.

Spinny - do you have any screenshots that you can post? Where does it plug in the car?

[Dr. Happy]

All,

A primary component of my brand loyalty is the trust I’ve built with my dealership. With all the phenomenal car’s in the market place today I often contemplate migrating to a new mark (Porsche, Audi, MB, etc.). That said, I always come back to the confidence and trust I have with my BMW dealership.

I can’t believe number of concerns being voiced with regard to owners trusting their dealerships to do the right thing.

Bottom-line, BMW North America needs to be clued into the issues of abuse! The head honcho’s have zero tolerance for any action that would / could tarnish the brand. Additionally if you truly don’t trust your dealership it time to change dealers!

[E90potentialbuyer]

Originally Posted by Dr. Happy

All,

A primary component of my brand loyalty is the trust Ive built with my dealership. With all the phenomenal cars in the market place today I often contemplate migrating to a new mark (Porsche, Audi, MB, etc.). That said, I always come back to the confidence and trust I have with my BMW dealership.

I cant believe number of concerns being voiced with regard to owners trusting their dealerships to do the right thing.

Bottom-line, BMW North America needs to be clued into the issues of abuse! The head honchos have zero tolerance for any action that would / could tarnish the brand. Additionally if you truly dont trust your dealership it time to change dealers!

It's a pity that amongst a largely good dealership network there are some scumbags who would let such kind of abuse go on and worse, not fess up and remedy the issues.

Part of it maybe that BMW is a mainstream brand with a couple of supercar like models (M5, M6, i8). So the dealerships don't normally have this issue of mechanics taking cars for joyrides and therefore don't have policies and procedures in place to prevent this (no camera, check in check out, logging miles before and after test drives etc.) Some asshole mechanics abuse this and take customers car for a ride (literally).

Also, the clientele at BMW dealerships is middle class and upper middle class - not the most affluent (relative to Porsche and Ferrari customers). Probably mostly working professionals, easier to be bogged down with legal issues, and therefore not bother with legal system and don't have lawyers on their speed dial. So dealers know this and treat the customers with little respect knowing that there will be little, if any, legal repercussions. It may sound ludicrous and it may well be. But that's just what I was thinking about yesterday to justify why such behavior would happen. What do you guys think?

I wonder if Porsche and Ferrari customers have similar issues?

[gmfive]

Originally Posted by RPiM5

Hey I got your PM.

Yes there is such a thing in existence today. It is called Geo-Fencing. Nowadays you can buy a device that you can hide in the M5 and you connect to it via an app on your phone or something. It will alert you if the device has traveled outside a geographic location that you specify.

Here is an example of one:

http://www.amazon.com/Fence-Tracking.../dp/B00897ZXHQ

I just use a hidden dash cam in my M5 for security. If I suspect something is not right after I get my car back then I review the tape. Geo-Fencing would be great though as it is real-time.

@RPiM5 please share a picture of your hidden dashcam setup. I'm very interested in replicating it.