[G'sf31]

Any body fit the autowatch ghost to there car and if so what do they think? . Key Signal jamming is becoming more common wondering is this the best solution?

[225]

Few people have I believe. Does look good but not warranty friendly and if someone wants the car that badly I have GAP.

[G'sf31]

I'm out of warranty now so might look in to this. I do agree if they want the car they will get it.

[gr4z]

I was going to but never got round to it. Must admit if they want my car I don't want a baseball bat or worse in my face demanding the start code.

[Watsey]

I have a Ghost on my car. Brilliant. Works flawlessly, can't be jammed, won't be found.

Am lucky enough not to live in a baseball bat area but if I did I'd just chuck them the key then take photos as they failed to work out why they couldn't drive away.

[G'sf31]

what kind of price u pay to have it installed

[Hugrov]

Yeah I've got it fitted too, has worked flawlessly since installation and cuts the car dead if PIN not entered after starting. No visible signs whatsoever that it is installed. Cost me around £400 installed by RAM Mobile in Wakefield. Car is still under warranty but that doesn't worry me too much to be fair.

[Soul_Glo]

So how does it work? Like obd portector?

[Watsey]

Originally Posted by Broken_Gearbox

So how does it work? Like obd portector?

I fail to see how it can stop key jamming when the fob signal encryption is unchanged.

It's a small electronic control unit which is wired into the CANBUS network in the car. Depending on the configuration you can either have the engine immobilised until the correct sequence of buttons is pressed in the car, or it will allow the engine to be started but the engine will stall if a gear is selected before the PIN is entered.

It also has Bluetooth : if the App is active on the 'phone and the 'phone is in range, there's no need for the PIN entry. Given the range of Bluetooth, I don't use tis feature.

[Hugrov]

No it's not an OBD protector. It's basically electronically connected to the ECU and relies on you entering a unique PIN (user configurable) once the car is started via your steering wheel buttons. If the PIN isn't entered the engine will cut out as soon as the ECU senses the wheels turn

[Watsey]

Originally Posted by Hugrov

No it's not an OBD protector. It's basically electronically connected to the ECU and relies on you entering a unique PIN (user configurable) once the car is started via your steering wheel buttons. If the PIN isn't entered the engine will cut out as soon as the ECU senses the wheels turn

That's not correct. If the Ghost is configured to allow the engine to be started without the PIN being entered, engine cut-out is triggered by the AT being put into gear not by sensing the wheels turning.

[Hugrov]

Mine's a manual

[Watsey]

Ah, didn't appreciate that.

[Soul_Glo]

So it's a bit like Clifford Black Jaxx but you're using the PIN to start the car rather than for anti-hijack or does it have that feature too?

If it does then I am in.

[willjames]

I enquired about the Ghost and it seems a really great product. The only thing that concerned me was that BMW told me that it may affect the warranty (because it's connected to the electronics of the car) when I rang them to ask their advice. However, some lads have it anyway. It depends on your personal take but as it goes there's probably not much out there that is effective as the Ghost...apart from Boris maybe!

[Watsey]

Originally Posted by willjames

I enquired about the Ghost and it seems a really great product. The only thing that concerned me was that BMW told me that it may affect the warranty (because it's connected to the electronics of the car) when I rang them to ask their advice. However, some lads have it anyway. It depends on your personal take but as it goes there's probably not much out there that is effective as the Ghost...apart from Boris maybe!

Mine was fitted by one of the AutoWatch filters (part of the management tea I think) and we spoke about reliability. Apparently they've had two units completely fail in around 17,000 fitted.

[Hugrov]

Originally Posted by Broken_Gearbox

So it's a bit like Clifford Black Jaxx but you're using the PIN to start the car rather than for anti-hijack or does it have that feature too?

If it does then I am in.

As far as I know it doesn't have a anti-hijack feature, once the PIN is entered and the GHOST disabled, the engine will keep running as normal until you switch the ignition off again. The GHOST also has a service mode so you don't have to give your PIN to the dealership.

[SO8]

If it is undetectable how could it affect the warranty

It's not quite like having a remap - there really is no trace of this as far as I know ?

I haven't got it but was considering it or a Cat 5 Tracker with driver recognition card to avoid key cloning - but with Trackers I think I am right in saying the car can be scanned by the thief to find out if there is a tracker as they emit a signal (? Quite happy to be proved wrong !)

[Mattt1]

Does it involve cutting the CANBUS wiring or fit into existing plugs?

[Hugrov]

Originally Posted by SO8

If it is undetectable how could it affect the warranty

It's not quite like having a remap - there really is no trace of this as far as I know ?

I haven't got it but was considering it or a Cat 5 Tracker with driver recognition card to avoid key cloning - but with Trackers I think I am right in saying the car can be scanned by the thief to find out if there is a tracker as they emit a signal (? Quite happy to be proved wrong !)

Only thing is that you would probably need to tell the dealership that it's installed just incase they test drove your car for some reason when/if it's with them. I can't remember the exact details but with the GHOST in service mode, the car can be driven but if it exceeds certain parameters (speed/time), the GHOST will revert to standard mode once the engine is switched off, this could leave the tech stranded and unable to move the car if he's switched off the ignition during the test drive, i.e. popping into Greggs for a cheeky sausage roll whilst he's out in your car.

As far as warranty is concerned my thinking was/is that a warranty is useless if the car is gone and I firmly believe that the chances of the GHOST causing any issues are negligible.

[Hugrov]

Originally Posted by Mattt1

Does it involve cutting the CANBUS wiring or fit into existing plugs?

I'm not sure tbh, personally I think it would involve splicing into the CANBUS lines but even BMW use wire taps in their own repair and retrofit kits, i.e. I'm fitting a OEM reversing camera kit which needs connecting to the CANBUS and that's done with wire taps.

[ajfoggy]

Originally Posted by gr4z

I was going to but never got round to it. Must admit if they want my car I don't want a baseball bat or worse in my face demanding the start code.

Exactly what I thought, they can take the car. I'll get a nice new one from my GAP policy