Quick Advice: Car Sale

ChrisQP09

ChrisQP09

Member
Messages
2,998
So I'm selling my BMW 6 Series, its kinda sought after given its spec but an interested party wants to connect his own computer to the diag port.

I'm saying only a BMW MD is allowed to access the data, again he insists on doing it himself. This started alarm bells, I'm I about to throw away a potential sale or have I got real concern?

I think it matters that he is not a native, speaks broken English as he does not seem to appreciate cars are sold as seen in most cases. He knows car drives perfect, backed up by a full MD service history and its visually excellent so is'nt this enough?
 
Andyk

Andyk

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61,174
Selling Chris.....that was quick you have only had her two minutes haven't you?
 
CatmanV2

CatmanV2

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48,841
There will be another buyer along shortly.

No idea how true they are (maybe Drew has more info) but there are stories about cloning keys having been able to link to the diagnostics.

That would be a nope from me

C
 
Wack61

Wack61

Member
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8,798
Guy on another forum had his M5 stolen after they distracted him and accessed the obd port , sat watching TV and saw it drive past the window a few hours later

Bit odd to ask for access though but you won't know what he's doing while he's in there so a definite no
 
Mr K

Mr K

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321
Bl**dy ****! My first thoughts were it should be OK. I have VCDS which covers VWs & Audis, etc and I'd want to plug it in. You can read error codes and how could anything go wrong so long as they don't change anything? Wrong!

Found this which confirms what Darren says:
http://www.clifford.co.uk/BMW_OBD_Theft.html

I'd like to think the Police would be interested. Could be some good intel to pass on to them (phone numbers used, etc).
 
Steve GS

Steve GS

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1,526
If he wants to check your car out thoroughly tell him you welcome an inspiration from a reputable garage. At buyers cost.
 
redsonnylee

redsonnylee

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1,550
That's a strange request ask want he wants to know. I've had an M5 stolen and I had all the keys, they just drove it away.
 
jayblue

jayblue

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452
Having spent quite a lot of money on fitting an after market alarm system and several anti key cloning measures to my old 335i I would recommend against letting anyone near the OBD port. It only takes a few seconds to clone a key with the right tools and then they can come back and take the car whenever they like!
 
ChrisQP09

ChrisQP09

Member
Messages
2,998
Told him I wasn't interested in allowing anyone access to the port, bar the MD. He apparently doesn't buy cars without checking diags and my reply was I've bought and sold cars worth 10 times more and never asked private sellers for access to the port.

Thanks for all the time guys, not sure if he was a scammer but gut feelings are there for a reason!
 
Wack61

Wack61

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Messages
8,798
ChrisQP09 said:
Told him I wasn't interested in allowing anyone access to the port, bar the MD. He apparently doesn't buy cars without checking diags and my reply was I've bought and sold cars worth 10 times more and never asked private sellers for access to the port.

Thanks for all the time guys, not sure if he was a scammer but gut feelings are there for a reason!
Click to expand...

Sounds like BS to me, if there were anything seriously wrong with the car one of the warning lights would be on.
 
steamer

steamer

Junior Member
Messages
209
I have the VCDS for some work vans, When I looked at a Bentley before the GS I plugged it in to have a look as it does some Bentleys.- No lights on but several errors and faults stored in the ecu. Spoke to a specialist and it would have cost a few grand to sort the faults.

I don't blame you for not letting him do it as you have offered to take it to a MD but its always worth checking the codes.
 
Ryandoc

Ryandoc

Member
Messages
1,846
No chance, let's just clone a key or remove the BMW security update (assuming you have it). If he's that keen he'd understand you saying no chance
 
drewf

drewf

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Messages
7,159
ChrisQP09 said:
So I'm selling my BMW 6 Series, its kinda sought after given its spec but an interested party wants to connect his own computer to the diag port.

I'm saying only a BMW MD is allowed to access the data, again he insists on doing it himself. This started alarm bells, I'm I about to throw away a potential sale or have I got real concern?

I think it matters that he is not a native, speaks broken English as he does not seem to appreciate cars are sold as seen in most cases. He knows car drives perfect, backed up by a full MD service history and its visually excellent so is'nt this enough?
Click to expand...

CatmanV2 said:
There will be another buyer along shortly.

No idea how true they are (maybe Drew has more info) but there are stories about cloning keys having been able to link to the diagnostics.

That would be a nope from me

C
Click to expand...

Spot on.

Rob Vandenbrink presented a paper at SANS Tech Institute detailing just what can be done via the OBD port. Essentially the original idea was to allow MDs the ability to get the genuine owners back on the road when they had lost their keys. That tech was copied, packaged into simple to use hardware and sold to crooks. Means they can clone your key in seconds - about 10s is plenty... The tools are easy to purchase for less than £20 from Eastern Europe and China.

Please report any information you have on this chap to the police - there's a slim chance he's just innocently looking to read any logged fault codes before buying an expensive car, but the reality is likely to be different.

The OBD ports are a huge security problem; both the USA and European rule makers have mandated that the systems are open. Manufacturers are not allowed to close them to outside operators. Means we can all read the codes on our own cars (it might cost a lot of money to buy the kit for certain cars, but that's not the point).
 
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