Z3/Z4 Alarm rip off

[sky-highatrist]

VERY IMPORTANT INFO FOR Z4 OWNERS
If you purchased a BMW factory alarm system with your Z4 did you know that there is no motion sensor? I found this out recently, when I bought my car I was told with the top down everything will be safe inside, including the centre glove box.

But try this out, lock your Z4 up with the remote, top down. If you reach in, the alarm won’t go off. If you climb in, the alarm won’t go off. Even if u turn on the radio, the damn alarm won’t go off.

And get a load of this, if u press the lock/unlock button (below the handbrake next to the hazard signal button) the centre glove box will unlock its self, you can grab everything inside and the alarm wont go off.

I took my car back and I had a lot of hassle convincing them it was their fault, cos the misrepresented the product. It took me a while but they finally agreed to get a motion sensor installed. They had to special order the parts from Germany.

So if your salesperson told u the same thing as me get the motion sensors installed, your stuff is not safe! Let me know how it goes.

Check out my ride http://www.cardomain.com/id/sukhz4

[gm3mtm]

Y is it always a hassel trying to get the dealer to do something reasonable? This will be my last BMW.

[325isBaby]

motion sensors are not installed in convertables because there is no good clear place to mount the UIS system so it can send out it's ultrasound without obstruction...on hard-topped cars the UIS is located on the center of the roof which is a good clear spot for the UIS to operate properly...european convertables apparently have a radar system set up for motion detection, but US regulations of the FCC say that it is too risky to let this system come over here...the thing that makes the convertable safe is when you put your vehicle in to valet mode it locks the trunk and the glove box at the same time...that's about it for interior protection. *it's too bad a bad experience at one BMW Center has affected the purchasing decision of a potential repeat customer go down the drain*

[sky-highatrist]

Originally posted by 325isBaby@Aug 15 2004, 11:05 PM
...the thing that makes the convertable safe is when you put your vehicle in to valet mode it locks the trunk and the glove box at the same time...

Thanks for the info. I thought the valet mode would secure the car too. My dealership said something about putting the trunk lock into the horizontal position and none of the glove boxes can be opens even with the remote. But when the tried to do it they were surprised that it didn’t work. Their reply was "huh, it works on the 3's and the 5's, don’t know why it doesn't work on the z4. Oh well when the motion sensors are in it'll be fine." the z4 trunk lock is diff from the 3's & 5's.
I’m taking it in for the motion sensors on the 20th so I’ll let everyone knows how it goes.