hello. just bought a 2003 Mini Cooper S, all was great so far until had to slam on the brakes a few days ago and a black box fell from under the steering column. I've been searching and could not find anything about this box. any help would be appreciated

 

Wonder if the car had a LO-JACK system installed.....
http://www.lojack.com/Cars-Trucks-An...hicle-Recovery

Since it has Just power cords.....
The inside should have a battery, about the size of a pack of cigarettes, a receiver that is basically a beeper (on the old style units) and a transmitter.
The system has changed in the last couple of years...but the system is usually installed when NEW.

Not sure WHICH company may have been selling a unit like this up north, but IMO it is likely.

 

hey Zippy. inside the box is really just another box with the wires soldered to it seems like a battery but it literally fills this box on it's own. it connects to a module that looks to have 2 coaxial connections

 

there's also this wire hanging. it'll be a few days before I can take it in to have it looked at. car seems to work fine with no issues. just wonder if anybody knew anything about this and where it should be mounted

 

sounds like a car retrieval system like a lojack.......
The batteries are usually a LEADACID backup, so the system can still work if the battery is removed from the car...
Bet it was installed with double sided tape..and the tape let go,,,after 10+ years!!
The box is likely protection, just in-case it were to corrode and leak,,,
Like I said, not sure WHICH companies were selling said units in Canada 10 years back..but sounds similar to the old style lojacks...

 

its a bomb don't touch it

 

exact thing happened to a friend of mine - it was under the dash on driver's side and it was a LoJack

Don't know what it looked like tho and I have not found any decent pictures of a LoJack device via Google . . .

On the flip side I had a friend who bought a used pickup. About a year later the truck was stolen and he reported it. Police called same day and said they'd found it via LoJack. He didn't know there was a LoJack in the truck and they police had passed the VIN on just a routine matter! (Miami if you are wondering...)

 

weird but I just noticed that my doors don't unlock or lock via the keyfob or the control in the car but it locks/unlocks the hatch. is it a coincidence that my actuators for both doors decided to go after this thing fell out? lol. I know they worked a couple of days ago. that black box is attached to this

 

IMO from what I know of Lojack, it is usually hidden in a place that can not be found that easy. IF it could be found as easy as being under the dash it would be easy for the thief to disconnect it. I bet this is from an aftermarket alarm, especially since you say the locks dont work from the keyfob. Just my 2 cents.

 

I'm assuming that the Lo jack system is an alarm system ? Or am I wrong ?
My key fob doesn't have a red button usually indicating the "panic" tone for an alarm so I'm guessing my car doesn't have an alarm ? Sorry if I changed the subject

 

Just like Zippy said The LoJack Stolen Vehicle Recovery Unit is a small unmarked Radio Frequency transceiver that is about the size of a deck of cards. The unit is installed by a certified LoJack technician and is randomly hidden in one of over 20 places in a vehicle, preventing even a professional thief from discovering and disarming it.

 

LoJack is a GPS tracking device and not an alarm.

 

ok so nobody else has these under their steering column then? so safe
to say it's something aftermarket. can anybody look? lol

 

Naw, it's OK to touch it, just don't snip the wires in the wrong sequence.

 

older LoJack was not GPS based ... and the box was bigger, and the one experience I had with one it WAS under the dash (when called, dealer said not to worry, it was the LoJack and come in so we can remount it) ... true they have multiple places they put them and are supposed to be hard to find etc etc ... but remember OP's car IS a 2003 so we're potentially talking 10 year old technology here. LoJack was (still is?) a low power transmitter that just sat there until the VIN was passed back to the company as stolen and a signal would be sent to the black box turning it on. Then police 'could' have a device that would hear an activated LoJack (very simplistic explain') Not all police vehicles had the equipment - sometimes only those dedicated to stolen car recovery . . . That was then ... I don't know how much the system has changed over the past 10 years but I suspect, plenty! I do recall they were just 1 part tho . . . black box and some power wires.

BUT the new picture says mutiple parts &

'other box' was 'tested' in 2006 &

and those coax cables???? Got me ... I dunno

I've poked around the steering col' area when hooking up factory driving light kits and don't recall seeing anything like this before.

OP - do you have the factory radio?

 

The company began to develop an optional enhancement for cars equipped with the LoJack unit: a LoJack Early Warning System that could notify car owners that their car had been moved so that they could immediately report the theft. By reducing the time between theft and notification, this improvement also reduced the amount of time for recovery. The company planned to introduce this option in selected markets in 2002.
Furthermore, the company signed an agreement with CSI Wireless, Inc., AirIQ, Inc., and Aeris.net, Inc. to develop and manufacture a state-of-the-art LoJack-branded product for the consumer and commercial markets. LoJack Corporation's strategy, wrote Chairman/CEO Daley in his last Annual Report, was to strengthen "its position in current markets and expand into new markets ... [by] extending the LoJack brand into other related products, such as Telematics." Telematics was an emerging technology that developed from the convergence of information and communications technologies. A new product addressing the safety and security needs of consumers and businesses was to complement the existing LoJack Unit by using Global Positioning System (GPS) technology to determine the location of a vehicle and to give a car Internet access as well as providing many services, such as automatic collision notification, roadside assistance, medical alert, door unlock, and starter disable.

 

How it works video on the company web site

http://vimeo.com/38964402

as an electronics type when not driving ships for USCG circa early 90's I got to work with very early GPS units before they were widely available to the public. We were especially interested in "automatic passive reporting of position" applications .... GPS was one positioning system capable of doing the position part and there were others that we were looking at as well. There had been a court order requiring continuous automatic tracking of certain fishing vessels. Unfortunately prior to ordering it, the judge did not bother to see if such systems existed at all, much less were available for purchase by the fisherman! We played with early satellite based trucking tracking systems for possible shipboard use and looked at LoJack long enough to determine it didn't work in the way we needed. (when the first Gulf war began we had to give our units back for use 'over there', that's how few there were. We didn't even have them on our ships yet)

of course today LoJack sells several different systems . . . even one for your laptop.

But like I said .... those two coax cables leave me stumped. Even a typical antenna would only have one . . .

 

My lojack from 2005 is the older type...the gps/phone system cost more $$$, for the same discount from the insurance company....also came with a monthly fee, rather than a onetime lifetime install cost...and a new battery every 5 years if you desired...

In a 10+ year old car, it is posdible many mods have been done/undone, and stuff abdanonded in place....it appears to be what you have.
To the op...i would just remount the box, and forget about it.no need to rip stuff out...who knows where it is tapped into....pull too hard and a powertap could snap or cut a wire....
So i would get some good 3m double sided mounting tape, clean off a spot with some prepaint or a cleaning pad, and stick it back in about the same spot....

sure, it may be a KGB tracking devise, or a tiny atomic bomb (would be great to have a pound of u-235 glued to the firewall, about 18 inches from your crotch huh?!), but up till now all is fine...so i'd play ostrich, and pretend it never happend.....in the words of the not do famous guard from the 70's tv show, "hogans hero's" , " i see nothing, i see nothing!!!".

 

...system cost more $$$, for the same discount from the insurance company...

Last time I checked with my insurance, having the VIN etched into all the glass on the vehicle qualified for the maximum 'theft prevention' discount, same as the best alarm or LoJack. Seems this highly visible marking decreases the value to the thief quickly.

you can buy a kit and DIY for $25

https://vinetcher.com/purchase/

who'd a thunk?

 

yes sir factory stereo with HK. I intend to just shove this stuff back in there. my only concern is again, coincidently after this fell out and hit the floor I noticed neither doors lock or unlock with the keyfob and or the switch inside the car. but the hatch does. just odd that both actuators decide to go at the same time if it is that.

 

Aftermarket coaxial cables....make sure everything seems snug and plugged in...
See if you can find the plug forthe loose orphan wire in the first post ...
I seem to remember hearing the antenna for the keyless entry is in the mirror (inside), and a box, tested by ED, makes it sound like a very non bmw/mini part...maybe the remains of a keyless remote start system too....in 10 years and multiple owners, lots of things may have been tried....

 

yes sir factory stereo with HK.

HK

all my bets pulled back . . .

 

yeah I'm not a fan of this HK crap. I've owned this a couple of weeks and it's starting to pop here and there then nons. womp womp there goes the amp.

 

The part that fell is the battery backup and the case with the coax connectors is a no name brand gps car tracker that most alarm installers sell as an add on.

Take the car to any alarm shop or best buy and they should be able to hook it back up or sell you something a little more modern or at least more secure in the car.

 

Ding Ding Ding and the prize goes to AJ.