[vbb]

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I've heard about people having their cars vandalized for no good reason, but it hadn't happened to me until now.

It was a warm and nice Christmas eve in my area, so I took the M4 out for some last minute shopping at the local mall. I went early when they opened as to avoid crowds the best I could, and I parked kinda far away, by myself but not out of clear vision of the main entrance. I was in the mall for about an hour, hour and 15 mins tops. When I came out, the lot had filled up considerably, and I noticed a contractor's pickup truck parked right next to me and another car in front of mine. I did a cursory walk around to check for door dings or scratches, and seeing none, I got in and drove home.

When I pulled into my garage I did a more thorough look over, and saw a screw angled into my sidewall and threaded halfway down. Why??

Thankfully I happened to have a set of OEM P Zeros in my garage. Also, my PS4S rears were down to 4/32nds and in need of replacing anyway. But still... it really seems as if someone screwed me (literally) for no good reason. And no, I don't have any angry exes or anything like that, and I rarely go to the mall so nobody could have been waiting for me to park there.

There always seems to be the dilemma of parking alone to avoid door dings vs calling extra attention to yourself and making yourself a target for random acts of mischief. Thank goodness I have gated and video secured parking at work and park in the garage at home. I guess I don't really know if my car was targeted for a particular reason or if it was truly random. The whole situation is still annoying to say the least though.

[TopJimmy]

It sucks that some dickheads do sh!t like that. Karma will probably drop hot coffee on their balls…so try to get past it and go enjoy your car some more.

[Needsdecaf]

Sounds like the contractor who parked next to you decided to see how strong his screw gun was.

What a jackass.

[Forzanerazzurri]

I won't make a tire lottery joke.

Sorry to hear this OP. Some people suck.

[vbb]

Originally Posted by Forzanerazzurri

I won't make a tire lottery joke.

Sorry to hear this OP. Some people suck.

I went the other direction (started with Michelin PS4S now have Pirelli P Zeros). To be fair, the difference isn't going to be all that noticeable given I don't track at all or drive in the wet very often.

[Forzanerazzurri]

Originally Posted by vbb

I went the other direction (started with Michelin PS4S now have Pirelli P Zeros). To be fair, the difference isn't going to be all that noticeable given I don't track at all or drive in the wet very often.

Yeah I definitely prefer the Pzeros that's why I brought it up.

Good luck to you brother. Hopefully that vandalism crap is one and done.

[kgelfen360]

Sucks man. Sorry. But honestly tire is like easiest to deal with. If they used that screw on your paint it be a lot worse…
Get new tires enjoy the car. Can’t just look at in the garage.

[nosbocaj]

Sorry to hear that my man. At least it was just a tire. I had an issue a few years ago with my M2. Came outside to a huge dent in my fender. The collision guy I took it to figured that somebody horse kicked it. He said there was no way the damage came from a car, which makes sense due to where I was parked. A week after this somebody ripped off my carbon spoiler. It was then that I decided to finally clean my garage and park inside haha.

I'm REALLY worried about random acts of vandalism in my M3. The IOMG makes it a magnet for attention.

[GabesSlowM4]

Sorry to hear about this man! Hopefully it wasn't intentional. Just out of curiosity does our cars take pictures of the surrounding area via the myBMW app? Would this record such an incident? Or does it only turn on when you activate it?

[Niko1Devynios]

Originally Posted by GabesSlowM4

Sorry to hear about this man! Hopefully it wasn't intentional. Just out of curiosity does our cars take pictures of the surrounding area via the myBMW app? Would this record such an incident? Or does it only turn on when you activate it?

I think you have to activate it. I would love for it to be automatic.

While I haven't had any haters yet, I have had the experience of parking far away from the entrance, all alone with dozens of empty spaces nearby, only to come out and find that, for some reason, someone has parked right next to the car. Dent/ding searching ensues...but if there is a way to get a visual on what happens if someone touches the car, that'd be great.

[bri1042]

Originally Posted by nosbocaj

Sorry to hear that my man. At least it was just a tire. I had an issue a few years ago with my M2. Came outside to a huge dent in my fender. The collision guy I took it to figured that somebody horse kicked it. He said there was no way the damage came from a car, which makes sense due to where I was parked. A week after this somebody ripped off my carbon spoiler. It was then that I decided to finally clean my garage and park inside haha.

I'm REALLY worried about random acts of vandalism in my M3. The IOMG makes it a magnet for attention.

It also makes me nervous. Partially due to how much IOMG stands out in the sea of grey, white, and black that parking lots have become.

[yousefnjr]

Sure it wasn't already there or picked up on the road? The world is definitely full of morons and assholes but that sounds like a weird way to 'get a guy'. Easier, faster, and more effective just to stab a tire with a screwdriver rather than sit there and do some righty-tighty. Sounds like it didn't even cause a flat. A salty F80 guy would just scratch the paint, wipe his tears, and move on.

[vbb]

Originally Posted by yousefnjr

Sure it wasn't already there or picked up on the road? The world is definitely full of morons and assholes but that sounds like a weird way to 'get a guy'. Easier, faster, and more effective just to stab a tire with a screwdriver rather than sit there and do some righty-tighty. Sounds like it didn't even cause a flat. A salty F80 guy would just scratch the paint, wipe his tears, and move on.

I am 100% sure it wasn't there when I parked, but I am not 100% sure I didn't pick it up on my 4 mile drive home. That said, the angle and location where it was in my tire really made me (and the guys at the tire shop) question it.

You tell me what you think...

[TopJimmy]

The screw head is right by the tread. Likely you drove over it just right and the edge rolled the point upwards. If it were deliberate it would be screwed straight in perpendicular to the sidewall face.

[vbb]

Originally Posted by TopJimmy

The screw head is right by the tread. Likely you drove over it just right and the edge rolled the point upwards. If it were deliberate it would be screwed straight in perpendicular to the sidewall face.

Possibly. Also, could have been angled down into the tire from the top, which would have been easier than kneeling down to go straight in. It seemed much more sidewall than tread. But yes, I guess it is possible I could have picked up a screw that high. I think that is less likely than an intentional act, but possible.

[M4Lou]

Originally Posted by TopJimmy

The screw head is right by the tread. Likely you drove over it just right and the edge rolled the point upwards. If it were deliberate it would be screwed straight in perpendicular to the sidewall face.

Yeah - you can always tell the ones you pick up on the road. Always super scratched up like the one in your tire. Oh wait...

Seriously - park next to bikers. Those guys are super careful. Plus, half the world is afraid of them. The GF and I used to go to a hole in the wall biker pub and I loved parking around them. Place is now closed

[Lupeskew]

The haters always gonna hate and it's sad. Hopefully Karma catches all of em' ! I parked my 98 M Roadster at the theater. When I backed out there was a huge clunk and the car jarred. I got out and saw someone had stuck their disgusting old sneaker inside the tire and it pinched between my brake caliper. Thankfully nothing broke but it should have.

[BryanCO]

Originally Posted by TopJimmy

The screw head is right by the tread. Likely you drove over it just right and the edge rolled the point upwards. If it were deliberate it would be screwed straight in perpendicular to the sidewall face.

Originally Posted by M4Lou

Yeah - you can always tell the ones you pick up on the road. Always super scratched up like the one in your tire. Oh wait...

Seriously - park next to bikers. Those guys are super careful. Plus, half the world is afraid of them. The GF and I used to go to a hole in the wall biker pub and I loved parking around them. Place is now closed

Ya, I think you guys called it. Certainly could have been a person but just as likely just picked it up driving. Roughly how deep was the screw? I guess someone could try to push in the screw with their hand, foot, rock, etc. But if they had a screw driver, why not just jamb that into the tire. But picked it up in four miles?

Sucks either way.

Reminds me of a couple of years ago, about 9:30 pm, I’m taking the dog out. I’m in our driveway and an C Class Merc is driving by with an obvious flat tire. Young lady stops in front of our house. I go over to assist. Long story short, she has four flats all caused by a screwdriver….

[vbb]

Originally Posted by BryanCO

Ya, I think you guys called it. Certainly could have been a person but just as likely just picked it up driving. Roughly how deep was the screw? I guess someone could try to push in the screw with their hand, foot, rock, etc. But if they had a screw driver, why not just jamb that into the tire. But picked it up in four miles?

Sucks either way.

Reminds me of a couple of years ago, about 9:30 pm, I’m taking the dog out. I’m in our driveway and an C Class Merc is driving by with an obvious flat tire. Young lady stops in front of our house. I go over to assist. Long story short, she has four flats all caused by a screwdriver….

Not even 4 full miles and not through any construction zones. I will concede that it may not have been vandalism, but how incredibly unlucky and at such an odd angle if it wasn't intentional! The tire shop guys are the ones that said they've never seen a screw threaded down like that and in such an odd spot. They thought it looked intentional. I figure they've seen more things than any of us.

[Jimjamz]

Originally Posted by Niko1Devynios

I think you have to activate it. I would love for it to be automatic.

While I haven't had any haters yet, I have had the experience of parking far away from the entrance, all alone with dozens of empty spaces nearby, only to come out and find that, for some reason, someone has parked right next to the car. Dent/ding searching ensues...but if there is a way to get a visual on what happens if someone touches the car, that'd be great.

I have the BMW recorder enabled and on - it required about 5 mins of giving authority etc to record. Just because you pay for the option it still requires user activation to become operational. It records the 20 seconds before and after accident on all surround cameras. It should have picked this up.

[Mike02z]

Sorry this happened but I have seen some strange shit get lodged into a tire that did not involve vandalism. Yes, it could have been vandalism but it would be easier to key the car then spend time jamming a screw into your tire. Anyone can walk by a car and key it without anyone noticing but stopping, hovering around your tire to put a screw in seems unlikely. My bet is you picked up a screw while driving to the mall or on your way home.

[NicolasB]

I once had a car come into the shop I worked at, was a 911, that had a slow leak. I pulled the wheel and found some threads sticking out a little. After taking things apart, it ended up being a 10mm bolt 🔩 sticking out of the tire, but the head-end of the bolt had driven itself through the tread and only a few threads were left sticking out! Couldn't believe it.