Theft Recovery
Theft recovery is an additional subscription service BMW Assist offers. This service is capable of tracking the location of the car via the car computer and GPS system.
Most BMW owners who are concerned about theft employ third party tracking options. These devices have many advantages, and disadvantages. Most devices are small, and can be placed virtually anywhere in the vehicle. Some higher end devices also contain small power sources. These devices may take longer for the thief to detect, and may be more difficult to disable. The BMW system however is tied into the car's computer system and cannot be removed without rendering the vehicle immobile. Additionally, the BMW system utilizes the car's power reserve to amplify the cellular signal to three Watts. Further signal gains are attributed to the use of the vehicle's large antenna which is several magnitudes larger than a cellphone antenna.
The BMW Assist system has an excellent track record if the theft is discovered within a short period of time. Several bureaucratic policies of BMW may hinder this advantage, since they require a police report be filled out prior to tracking. In some parts of North America this process can take several hours or even days.
Read more about this topic: BMW Assist
Famous quotes containing the words theft and/or recovery:
“The childless experts on child raising also bring tears of laughter to my eyes when they say, “I love children because they’re so honest.” There is not an agent in the CIA or the KGB who knows how to conceal the theft of food, how to fake being asleep, or how to forge a parent’s signature like a child.”
—Bill Cosby (20th century)
“It’s even pleasant to be sick when you know that there are people who await your recovery as they might await a holiday.”
—Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (1860–1904)