z3 1997 3g ews alarm - failed to repair, what now?

PetertheFox · Post by **PetertheFox** » Sat 09 Apr, 2011 14:26

Hi all,

Yesterday evening my z3 decided that it wouldn't allow my alarm remote to de-activate the alarm/unlock the car - fortunately I found that the alarm stopped after a while so I could drive it home - however I missed out on a top down drive on a very sunny day due to worrying about the alarm rather than putting the roof down :/

Anyway - today after finding some good information in this thread (http://www.zroadster.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4959) I had a go at re-syncing the fob - So Far I have tried:

1) Turning the ignition to 1, then off then doing the combination of holding one button and pressing the other 3 times etc. - I have also tried variations of this
2) Tried the coder switch and the arm then disarm button on the remote with no luck - Then various combinations of the coder switch and the remote buttons but still no luck.
3) Shorting out pins 1 and 6/8 while locked in the car, then various other combinations - I also attempted to short out 1-6 with 8 as suggested in the thread above.

Basically, I give up (and I'm probably annoying people because I don't have the key to turn off the siren)

BMW quoted £90 if it takes 1hour to fix but I'll shop around

Is it possible to turn off the siren without the siren key?

hornel Z3M · Post by **hornel Z3M** » Sat 09 Apr, 2011 16:59

have you tried new batteries in the fob? No you need the special key to turn the alarm off under the bonnet.

aj2007 · Post by **aj2007** » Sun 10 Apr, 2011 10:55

http://www.bimmerforums.co.uk/forum/f3/ ... ws-t39173/

PetertheFox · Post by **PetertheFox** » Sun 10 Apr, 2011 15:44

Thanks for the replies!

I tried the battery in the fob but still no luck - the light on the fob stays on when you press a button so it seems ok. I guess it makes sense that you can't disable the siren without the key :P

Well, I decided to drive to a slightly more remote location to try out the pin shorting thing again - since most of the time that just sets the alarm off. I didn't really make any progress with that and considered unplugging the whole alarm unit, but I wasn't sure if that would make it worse so I brought the car back home..

Anyway! After reading the info from aj's link (Thanks!) I decided I'd have a go at unplugging/plugging it back in and trying the re-coding again - It didn't seem to unlock/lock the car when replacing the receiver and the re-coding didn't work. However I am pleased that the alarm has finally been disabled (albeit permanently until repair) after leaving it unplugged and can use the car without worrying about annoying people :P

Decided to take a pic of the z while I was out too, off-topic but here it is ;)

Yep, the indicators are illuminated due the the alarm going off :P