Posted on 03/06/2022 8:48:25 PM PST by lowbridge
Recording crash data for 5 minutes or so isn’t an issue. It stays in the car’s ECM. You’re acting like that is an issue at debate here. issue is Modern cars farming information and phoning it home, and its not all data that can be used on diagnostics. I don’t mind them collecting data for product improvement. I have an issue with them attaching vin numbers and sending GPS coordinates.
This kind of technology is the backbone in CA’s new carb diesel laws. They want you to hook a device up at your expense, and have it report to Carb all info on the vehicle, vin included, so they can nail you fines when your diesel truck throws a MIL and you don’t stop driving.
These systems either use bluetooth linked phones and apps to send the data, with your phone as a medium, or it has to have some form of radio chip. if they stash it in a UCM then I’ll go cut the sucker out. Unless they layer them like a Mopar PDC off a ram, It shouldn’t be an issue. I’ve had plenty of time to tear into bad modules I’ve removed over the years. Fun ones are Occupant restraint modules.
Love when people get snarky with me because I used a generic term like a “module”
“Unless they layer them like a Mopar PDC off a ram, It shouldn’t be an issue.”
More and more manufacturers have just been integrating it into the body computer or ECM of late, since Toyota first did it in the mid 2000s, so they’re not easy to remove and many will not work if their comms chip has been removed. About the best you can do is remove/disconnect their cell antenna on a lot of the newer cars, unless you want to start replacing the entire system with custom control units. I’ve been on some projects to do that. Can be fun, can be frustrating.
Also, to cite one example, if you have a 2014+ BMW or Mini, crash data *doesn’t* stay in the ECM. If enough of the vehicle survives, it phones home through the BMW/Mini Assist system with the crash data. Even if your Assist subscription has lapsed. If the Assist cell transceiver is inop, it tries your phone. And if *that* doesn’t work, if it’s dragged close enough by a BMW dealer, it will connect to the service department Wifi and squirt data that way. BMW dealers started getting dedicated Wifi networks for that around the time of the E65, such that when an E65 rolled in, it would automatically get software updates.
That said, many here make exactly your statement and mean “If my car records me at all for any reason,” and thinking it’s actually something new, hence my reply. Having a crash recorder function isn’t new, and most people just don’t know that.
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