Hi All, I’m just looking opinions. I’ve owned my car for almost 2 years now, bought approved used just shy of 3 years old from BMW. I was installing a Brink tow bar and just had the final connections to tidy away when I found a strange device which I now believe to be a GPS antenna. I followed the wiring back to a main module hidden under some carpeting. I don’t believe this to be malicious in any way. I also don’t believe BMW knew anything about it. It’s most likely a security tracker (without any markings). Can I just disconnect this and remove? It’s hard wired in so I don’t really want to go ripping everything apart to remove a couple of wires. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
That’s a trackstar unit. If all is ok with it then you could register it with them if you wanted, bloody costly though. When I was fitting my dash cam I spotted the wiring in the fuse box and guessed where it was. Decided to disconnect it to stop it draining my battery for no reason then found the battery in it was badly swollen so that went.
Yeah, I just went ahead and removed it from the car. I left the power plug in the car and tidied it away behind the fuse box. They aren’t worth much on eBay, would be more hassle than it’s worth to remove the plug. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Thread resurrection.. When I collected my G26 M440i from the dealer last October they gave me a blue fob with the keys and said that the car had a tracker fitted. As I don't need it for insurance and I can track the car from the app if required I have not used. When I have not used the car for 3 days + I get an error on the idrive saying something is draining the battery when it is shutdown. I suspect the tracker is causing a parasitic drain.. Any ideas where the tracker could be located? I don't want to start ripping the car apart. It is a Trackstar unit I believe, Couldn't see anything obvious next to the battery in the boot. Supplying dealer who have offered to look are the other side of the country so if I can easily locate I am hoping I could unplug it.. Any ideas / advice greatly received.
I had a Trackstar fitted on the M2, it was there when I bought the car, the dealer didn't know about it, I found a leaflet in the book pack hence me finding out. I did re-activate the tracker while I owned the car, didn't make any difference to the insurance, but it gave me a little extra security. As to finding one, as far as I have researched, there are many, many possible places for them to be fitted. The whole point is to make them difficult to find. Not even sure that Trackstar are even allowed to tell you?
Thanks for the reply. I have spoken to Trackstar who have confirmed there is one fitted but it has not been active since September last year - I would assume even though not active it must draw some battery as they can reactivate if required. They did say that they do have records of where it is fitted but for obvious reasons they would only tell a BMW dealer.. Will see if my local dealer are willing / able to help. The warning only happens when the car has been left for a couple of days untouched and the car starts fine. Will have a think on what to do.
Spoke to the supplying dealer who have said if I take the car to them they will look to remove the tracker although that is a good two hour drive away and it looks likely they would potentially need the car for longer than a day so potentially two return trips - they are saying it would be good will. My local dealer have said that via remote diagnostics they can see a drain but they cannot do anything via AUC warranty as the Trackstar unit is aftermarket (even though fitted from new by BMW). In my position what would you all do? - Leave it or get it removed potentially at a cost? Pretty sure it is causing a drain but it only shows up on the idrive if stood idle for 3 days or more. It says 'increased power consumption when stationary due to a fault when shutting down vehicle electronics' start engine. The car starts fast and easily. Maybe I am unduly worrying about nothing? I imagine it is a small drain and at 3 years old the battery should be pretty good - what are the collective thoughts - not keen on getting my car taken apart in the hunt for a hidden tracker.
Given that the tracker unit will be buried in the car, unless Tracker and BMW know where it is, I wouldn’t be having them pulling the car apart in the hope of finding it. If I were in your shoes I’d probably pop a CTEK on the car when not in use and maybe pay for a one year subscription to see if an active unit reduces the drain. I left my M2 for eleven days when I went on holiday and didn’t have any drain issues. That had an active Trackstar.
It’s a tricky one, personally I’d have a snoop round the fuse boxes for additional wires connected into the back. One thing to consider is, I’m not sure what the units are like these days but they used to have one of those annoying little batteries that looks like it’s in a bag and they go faulty and swell, if it’s the same it would be best out and disposed of.
Thanks for the replies gents. There is nothing obvious at the main battery in the boot. Will have a look near the OBD and behind the glove box to see if anything is hidden there, if nothing I am inclined to leave it or possibly get it re-activated. The supplying dealer in the lakes will only do it at their site since it is goodwill they will not even authorise one of their Newcastle sites to do it (much closer). Vertu in Durham have said they cannot help under AUC if the drain is caused by the tracker. The car will be idle for 2.5 weeks in June while I am on an Italian road trip - that will be a good test of how much draw the tracker is taking if I have not removed or reactivated!
I hope you get it sorted, they do hide them in the most ingenious places. During the fitting of an accessory when our motor home was a few weeks old, I found the antenna for the Tracker Monitor that we had installed. On replacing the unit for the second time earlier this year (they only have a guaranteed shelf life of six years apparently) I realised where it was likely located due to the components he had removed when I took him out a cup of tea. He also had a roll of loom tape out and a soldering iron on the go, so the proper units aren't easy to spot with that level of covertness. He shooed me away quite quickly too ! We certainly have had value from the one-off lifetime subscription, now had the van fourteen years ! A side note, the battery drain is fairly noticeable and I have a Ctek socket wired to the vehicle battery and plug him in when stood for over ten days or so as is recommended. Likely the reason he is also on his third battery too now.
Trackstars were and probably still are much easier to find than trackers as they used fakra connections for the aerials etc. wiring will almost certainly just be wired to the back of the fusebox.
Spoke to Trackstar again about the tracker. While they say a deactivated tracker should not draw any current I am not convinced - if it draws no current how can they possibly see it and reactivate it if I wanted to subscribe.. anyway I asked about disconnecting / removing it. They have fitters around the country who can come out and remove for a princely sum of £118. (The fitter is given details of where it is) At this price I am inclined to get them to come out rather than taking it back to the dealer to pull my car apart to sort.
It's just something else to go wrong and cause problems in the future. I would definitely get it removed.
