Z3 Alarm triggered by passing Taxis

yangbrucey · Post by **yangbrucey** » Thu 23 Oct, 2008 10:43

Hello everyone, I recently bought my first Z3 roadster, a 3.0 litre in silver from an independent garage. It's a real hoot to drive and I wish I had bought one years ago. The only problem I have with the car is that the alarm is set off by passing Hackney cabs. I've read through the previous posts on alarm problems and found that the alarm is sensitive to RF from taxis. I phoned my local BMW dealer who were aware of the problem, and they said they can replace the alarm module with a new one unaffected by RF for £240 + VAT. My car is 8 years old and is obviously well outside it's warranty, but surely if BMW are aware that this is a problem they should either replace the part free of charge or maybe just charge for labour? Does anyone else have any experience of this? Thanks.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu 23 Oct, 2008 11:06

Strange as it seems, BMW (GB) is not a philanthropic institution!

Goodwill claims are only accepted by them if you have had the car from new (putting money into their pockets) and have a full dealer service history (putting money into the delaer's pockets) and the car is not too far out of warranty.

They don't have much goodwill at the best of times, but for a used, eight year old car - forget it.

In the BMW motorcycle world there is a problem which has affected some of their smaller bikes, the portion of the forks carrying the front wheel cracking away, and the wheel falling off. People have been badly injured by this, but BMW are refusing all liability on seven year old machines.

Against that background, a nuisance type of problem will just be filed under B for bin.

Bracey · Post by **Bracey** » Thu 23 Oct, 2008 13:28

I'd say its definately worth a haggle on the price they quoted you. A bit off topic, but I wanted an oil change on my Seat Ibiza. National Tyres wanted £28, the local Seat dealer wanted £70-odd and included a valet.

One phone call to Seat, who put me on hold for 10 seconds to speak to the manager, and they matched National Tyres price of £28. AND I got the free valet too!

Moral of the story... Nag BMW until you get money off!

Bluecar · Post by **Bluecar** » Thu 23 Oct, 2008 21:54

Really big problem for me too yangbrucey, keeps happening and seems there is nothing to do about it. My Z is 9 years old so I can forget BMW getting involved. I just lock it with the key at the weekends when there are more cabs about.

phb10186 · Post by **phb10186** » Thu 23 Oct, 2008 22:18

Mike Fishwick wrote: In the BMW motorcycle world there is a problem which has affected some of their smaller bikes, the portion of the forks carrying the front wheel cracking away, and the wheel falling off. People have been badly injured by this, but BMW are refusing all liability on seven year old machines.

Admitting liability for this would open up the floodgates for injury claims. But then again, if someone has suffered injury due to a part malfunction, it doesn't really matter if they accept liability or not, as it will eventually end up in court, and a jury will decide.

TBH - BMW are not too bad with their goodwill settlements, other companies are far worse. Pretty much every week someone writes in to Honest John's page in the Telegraph about a Reanult or Citroen auto gearbox failure that the manufacturer will not pay for.

It goes in swings and round-abouts, some people abuse things so badly, it's not surprising that things break.

I've just had my Yaris D4D in for a service (costs more than the Z3 by far.... lots of silly bushes and filters on it, but 65MPG at the end of the day)... anyway I got a 1.6 auto Citroen C4 as a loan car - well I can see why the gearboxex fail every 15000 miles, they really are that bad. I can;t remember driving a worse car, the gearbox doesn't know what it's doing, and it's all over the place.

I think that understanding and apperciating good mechanicals is a lucky attribute, a bit like understanding fine wine, or art. It's just something that you engage with and enjoy. But I feel sorry for those who have to put up with poor vehicles, like the C4 auto, after paying good money for them.

I suppose I am at a cultural loss because I don't fully apreciate art in most ways, I'd rather listen to AC/DC in the car while on a drive in the country and have a bacon sandwich!

yangbrucey · Post by **yangbrucey** » Fri 24 Oct, 2008 11:06

I've been in touch with my local BMW dealer again, and the part required is 65756974631 Module Radar Burglar Alarm.
It costs £128 + VAT, i.e. £150.40.
I've been assured that this replacement part is not affected by radio frequencies.
Being new to BMW's, is there anywhere else that could maybe supply me this part cheaper than a dealer?

jollyassassin · Post by **jollyassassin** » Fri 24 Oct, 2008 11:35

AC/DC & a bacon sarnie, life dosen't get any better

yangbrucey · Post by **yangbrucey** » Sat 08 Nov, 2008 16:32

Folks, an update on the alarm problem. I phoned 5 local car alarm/electrics specialists as well as a couple of independent BMW specialists and none of them had heard of this problem! Also, none of them said they would fit the replacement alarm module if I supplied it and I'd be better going to the dealer. Ended up submitting and going to the local dealer as the alarm was driving me and my neighbours mad. They found the alarm had been triggered 22 times by radio frequencies, but had problems replacing the module as the wiring loom had to be extended by a metre. I ended up being charged £308 in total. I suppose it was cheaper than getting a decent alarm retrofitted.........

SCORPION · Post by **SCORPION** » Sun 09 Nov, 2008 17:14

I have to confess that my car triggers alarms occasionally. It's usually when I am moving slowly passed parked cars at the side of the road or in a car park (I know I should not move slowly !). The alarms are set off by my exhausts (Scorpions) which burble rather loudly at slow speed.

zroadster.net

Z3 Alarm triggered by passing Taxis

Z3 Alarm triggered by passing Taxis

Goodwill

Re: Goodwill