The two vehicles are owned by the dealership and are not customer vehicles, police said, although five of the ones discovered stolen before were customer cars. The two recently discovered models are  2011 535XI, color black. The total collective value of the two vehicles is approximately $100,000, bringing the grand total of the theft to a half million dollars.

The dealership was burglarized sometime during the overnight and early morning hours of Thursday, Aug. 23. The dealership’s alarm was activated, but police were not notified of the alarm. Stamford security company, Securitas, responded to the shop, but did not see anything suspicious, said Darien Police Capt. Fred Komm. Another alarm was activated, yet police were still not notified.

Komm said it is not unusual for alarm companies to function autonomously from police.

The thieves pried open a locked door to enter the service bay, police said, where one of the vehicles was stolen. The other five were stolen from a fenced-in lot that had been locked with a padlock, although thieves were able to “defeat” the locking mechanism, Komm said.

Komm said the thieves gained “access to the keys and drove them out” of the dealership. It’s unclear where the keys were or if any employees are under investigation.

The vehicles — five SUVs and one sedan — were all BMWs. The vehicles ranged in color from blue to black to gray. Five were customer-owned vehicles in for service, and one was owned by the dealer. Police did not release information on the cars initially, and waited until the owners were informed. The vehicles ranged in model year from 2010 to 2013.

Cameras on site did not capture much helpful footage to the investigation, police said. Police are still investigating whether the cars were equipped with GPS or other tracking devices.

Similar auto thefts have happened in other towns, Komm said.

“This is a very sophisticated operation,” he said.

The Darien detective division is investigating the incident and is working in concert with the statewide auto theft task force. Anyone who might have seen suspicious activity near BMW of Darien last Thursday is encouraged to contact the Darien Detective Division at 203-662-5330.

Originally published in The Darien Times.