Serious alarm specialist for bimmer?

mick.fr

Hi,

I would be glad is somebody could point me out to a specialist in car alarm around Dublin who also work on BMW and ideally sell and install something compatible with them instead of taking my car upside down.

I want a high end alarm (remote startup of the engine and such..) as I am not satisfied with the OEM ones.

Thanks for your help

kdevitt

What year / model do you have? On newist cars, the OEM alarm is as good as it gets - the car can't be started without the key, and the doors are electrically deadlocked.

Sticking in remote start is a daft idea - you need to get a transponder from a key and have it stuck in the car permanently, so you'd be actually making the car easier to start.

mick.fr

OEM alarm can be hijacked pretty easily.
And regarding the key, give me your bimmer and I will be able to start it with my bimmer's key.
I need something more sophisticated.

Mr.Diagnostic

mick.fr wrote:

And regarding the key, give me your bimmer and I will be able to start it with my bimmer's key.

Not possible with any BMW that is equiped with EWS3.

kdevitt

mick.fr wrote:

OEM alarm can be hijacked pretty easily.
.

Bull**** - theres not a single recorded incident of a car being taken without the cars keys. Either the keys have been robbed from the owner, or someone has managed to order a duplicate key from a dealer.

mick.fr

Fair enough for the key this works for E36
But for newest, that is no problem at all, even with EWS3

http://hackedgadgets.com/2006/12/27/lockpicking-with-bmw-decoder-tool/

http://hondakey.en.ec21.com/product_detail.jsp?group_id=GC02060695&product_id=CA02097998&product_nm=Bmw_EWS3

A lot of bimmers are stolen every year, just check Ebay.co.uk you can get it back well part by part Check Estern EU countries, or even get it back in another country, as there is no EU database for stolen vehicules.

kdevitt

If you're that concerned about the car being robbed (you still haven't said what it is?), then I'd get a tracker fitted.

mick.fr

kdevitt wrote:

If you're that concerned about the car being robbed (you still haven't said what it is?), then I'd get a tracker fitted.

Well yes I would mind that my car might be stolen, not you? :-)
It is a E46 325i

kdevitt

Buy a tracker then... and buy the lock cover from a LHD car and remove the door lock from the drivers door. Only costs €8 or so.

Scrotes aren't going to try and rob your car - they'll be after Civics and Starlets, and other stuff which is easy to take. Anyone who is capable of taking your car will get it no matter what alarm you have on it. If you put the worlds most sophisticated alarm on it, they'd just hang around until you're near the car and stick a screwdriver in you to get it, or appear in your bedroom with some boiling water to pour over you or your partner unless you hand over the keys.

mick.fr

My car does not have any lock

When I say a sophisticated alarm I mean it...key is obsolete nowdays, that's what I am looking for my car.

Moving forward, anyone know an alarm specialist around Dublin, that do big brands ?

the_syco

kdevitt wrote:

If you put the worlds most sophisticated alarm on it, they'd just hang around until you're near the car and stick a screwdriver in you to get it, or appear in your bedroom with some boiling water to pour over you or your partner unless you hand over the keys.

I'm afraid he's right. Most car thefts are done by people taking the keys from the verious houses.

5500

You do realise your effectivly making your car easier to steal by adding remote start to it?Your factory immobilisor will have to be bypassed to fit it in the shape of a transponer box hidden in the car,your then going to be left with 1 or possibly 2 immobilisors that are onboard the alarm itself and believe me its 1000 times easier to bypass the aftermarket system than a factory one regardless of how well its wired or hidden once the person knows what there doing.

Eoin

the_syco wrote:

I'm afraid he's right. Most car thefts are done by people taking the keys from the verious houses.

And the guys with that hacker type kit are probably going to target higher profile BMWs than a 3 series saloon.

Etnies

http://icetronics.com/ Autopage 725 has starter feature if you want it, I had the Autopage 520 fitted recently. They are based in rathcoole. just ring and book it in first.

Mr.Diagnostic

mick.fr wrote:

Fair enough for the key this works for E36
But for newest, that is no problem at all, even with EWS3

http://hackedgadgets.com/2006/12/27/lockpicking-with-bmw-decoder-tool/

http://hondakey.en.ec21.com/product_detail.jsp?group_id=GC02060695&product_id=CA02097998&product_nm=Bmw_EWS3

A lot of bimmers are stolen every year, just check Ebay.co.uk you can get it back well part by part Check Estern EU countries, or even get it back in another country, as there is no EU database for stolen vehicules.

Hi,

I can see how you would be worried after seeing the video etc from the links you posted. The reality is far from the content you posted.

The equipment for copying the keys works well if you want to cut a new key but it only cuts a mechanical key which will open the door and turn the ignition. The immo (ews3) will still stop the car starting. If a low life really wants to open the door and turn the electrical ignition switch on they will just break the window and steering lock. Breaking in will take a lot less time than trying to cut a key. Besides this, can you imagine the average thief having the equipment to do this and wanting to spend the time involved just so as to set the alarm off without breaking anything!!

The EWS transponder programmer in you link may be able to write the correct code to a new chip but where does the correct code come from? I say may be able to because a lot of these tools cant do what they claim. It is actually possible to do this but it is so difficult to do that it will never happen in a theft situation.
The thief would need to break in, break the ignition or spend an hour cutting a key, access the correct transponder code, source a chip to write it to, write it, and then start the car. All this time the alarm will be roaring. Not gonna happen.

I have been a bit short on detail about where the thief can source the code because this is a public forum. Trust me, contacts of mine who are heavily involved in immobiliser software solutions have trouble with this. If you like and you have some understanding of embedded software I will show you a few screenshots to prove my points.

You can rest easily that your E46 is safe…as long as you know where the keys are!

I imagine a loyt of genuine BMW parts sellers on ebay would be very upset to hear that you think they are selling stolen parts

mick.fr

"I did not meant all Ebay sellers are selling stolen parts, but surely some stolen cars are sold on Ebay as dismantled parts"

Alright thank you for all your inputs guys.
So what should I do now? Not worry at all because I have EWS or still should I get an alarm?

I was thinking of getting this:
Clifford MATRIX 12.5X

Do you think this is useful or that this is a stupid idea ?

Mr.Diagnostic

mick.fr wrote:

"
I was thinking of getting this:
Clifford MATRIX 12.5X

Do you think this is useful or that this is a stupid idea ?

The most important thing is to keep the keys safe, but at the same time keep yourself safe. They will come into your house after the keys if they want the car so make a decision now about how you want to handle that.
My wife made me sell a car because of this a few years back. It is sad but she was right.

One thing that I do not get involved in is aftermarket alarms so I am not really qualified to comment on that. My way of looking at it would be if it will help deter the scumbags then it is worthwhile.
One thing I can tell you for sure is that any alarm is only as good as the install. If you buy one make sure it is well fitted.

5500

Dont buy an autopage alarm,there top model retails on ebay for about 20euro,i've seen there remote start function intermittently try to crank the car while the engine was already running,they really are awfull cheap alarms.

Matrix 12.5 isnt sold here only in the states,i doubt you'l find anyone here who'l fit it for you either with you supplying it yourself.Your better off looking towards the likes of a concept 650,it has more features the the matrix 12 and the addition of blakjax anti hijack.

Each time you get into the car or a door is opened within 20 seconds a pin has to be entered,if not entered or entered incorrectly the car dies and can be driven again untill the pin is put in.

kdevitt

mick.fr wrote:

So what should I do now? Not worry at all because I have EWS or still should I get an alarm?

I was thinking of getting this:
Clifford MATRIX 12.5X

Do you think this is useful or that this is a stupid idea ?

As I said above - is someone wants your car, they'll get it. They're not going to be able to rob your car without the keys as it is (unless they stick it on a tow truck, which has happened), so adding a different kind of alarm will leave you in the exact same situation - they'll still need your keys.

Fitting a decent tracker will allow you to listen in on the car, remotely shut it down etc, and get it back in one piece if the car is taken. It also means that if someone broke into your house and attacked you for your keys, you can give them what they want, and immoblise the car within a few minutes once the gardai are informed.

I know I'm repeating myself about the tracker - but the tracker and OEM alarm on my E46 M3 are more than enough to allow me to sleep soundly at night - and my car is a more likely target than a 325i.

kdevitt

By the way - I can put you in touch with the guy who does all the work on my car if you want, he's very good, and he's be more than happy to stick in any sort of alarm for you.

You're aware you can wire up a proximity sensor to the OEM alarm too?

Eoin

kdevitt wrote:

By the way - I can put you in touch with the guy who does all the work on my car if you want, he's very good, and he's be more than happy to stick in any sort of alarm for you.

Does he do ICE installs as well?

kdevitt

eoin_s wrote:

Does he do ICE installs as well?

Yep - he does the lot. Will have to get the missus to dig out his number for me though - its on my phone table, and I'm in Sydney at the mo.

Eoin

kdevitt wrote:

Yep - he does the lot. Will have to get the missus to dig out his number for me though - its on my phone table, and I'm in Sydney at the mo.

Was wondering about the early morning posts. At least you have an excuse! No rush on the number, won't need it for a good while I'd think.

Wibbs

eireal wrote:

You do realise your effectivly making your car easier to steal by adding remote start to it?Your factory immobilisor will have to be bypassed to fit it in the shape of a transponer box hidden in the car,your then going to be left with 1 or possibly 2 immobilisors that are onboard the alarm itself and believe me its 1000 times easier to bypass the aftermarket system than a factory one regardless of how well its wired or hidden once the person knows what there doing.

Very true and even if you don't install the remote start it's unbelievable how many alarm fitters will still bypass the built in immobiliser to fit their own. Bloody idiots.

It's all about how the alarm is fitted. I would far rather an entry level DEI brand alarm(clifford,python,viper etc) fitted really well than one of their top alarms that's fitted by the usual method.

Get a secondary peizo siren for the inside of the car to distract the scum. Get a backup battery siren and a backup battery for the alarm itself. Immobilise both the ignition and fuel pump and do it in hard to reach places. Same with the alarm brain itself. If you can get to it by just unscrewing a dashboard panel it's in the wrong place. Get an anti hijack fitted. You don't need to go mad money for the clifford either. There are cheaper alternatives that can be added as a seperate module to the main alarm, therefore slowing down the scum even more. Get a tilt switch sensor and fit it under the bonnet. That way it'll go off when the car is jacked up to nick the wheels or when the bonnets opened to bypass the bonnet alarm switch(easy to do). Shock sensors are usually pretty useless so it a proximity sensor too. You could also fit a hidden fuel cutoff switch. You can fit a tracker to complete the package. Have a good house alarm and arm it. Fit IR floodlights back and front and get your double glazing sealed and secured against easy removal. A car with the above security would be very hard to steal and would be too much bother for 90% of scum out there.

That's what you're trying to do. Slow them down so much that it's not worth the bother and they will move to the average person who spends more on their stereo than their alarm.

The "if they really want it they'll take it" crowd are self defeating and it's one of the reasons so many cars are stolen. Yes given enough time or enough hard neck, they can take any car, but the more the odds are on your side the more likely your car will be still there the next morning.