Rear view mirror ? - BMW Forum

bfab3 · 03-08-2004, 10:32 PM

I just bought a 2001 330i and would like to know what the red thing is under the rear view mirror .

Thanks,
Bill

TECH · 03-08-2004, 10:48 PM

It's an alarm led indicator. It won't work unless an alarm system is installed and activated.

bfab3 · 03-08-2004, 10:55 PM

How much is an alarm system and how do I know if I have one?

I know this is a stupid ? ?

Thanks for the info.

TECH · 03-09-2004, 11:52 AM

Open your hood, and remove the microfilter that is located at the firewall, at the back of the engine. There are 3 twist tabs and the cover comes off, and then pull the filter out. Look down into the ac case area to the left, behind the firewall, and if you see an alarm siren mounted there, then you have an alarm. If not, you can get one installed. The dealer alarm is setup for the car, and is the best way to go without having to rig crap up. It's about $400 installed.

woobiee · 03-09-2004, 12:27 PM

nono there is a faster way:

look for the motion sensor in the cabin. its dead center on the ceiling of the headliner. just pry off the cover and see if you have a sensor..if not you dont have an alarm.

another thing you can check is the tilt sensor. look for a white box next to the battery in the trunk. the box is about 3 inch x 2 inch

OEM alarm is $225+ship at www.circlebmw.com

donutello · 03-09-2004, 01:30 PM

The "clown nose" on my recently bought 2001 325i blinks whenever the car is locked. It also responds by staying on for 1 second when I hit lock after arming the car (to disable the motion sensor and tilt alarm).

Does that mean my car has the alarm? Or do I have to look behind the microfilter to confirm?

woobiee · 03-09-2004, 04:24 PM

the clown nose is just a blinking LED light. it doesnt mean you 'have' an alarm.

here are the various situations: read carefully

1)if you lock your car with the remote key and it makes a 'chirp' sound: you have the alarm & it is activated.
2)if you lock your car with the remote key and it DOES NOT make a 'chirp' sound: EITHER you have the alarm but its not activated OR you DO NOT have the alarm.
3)if you lock your car with the remote key and it DOES NOT 'chirp' and if you HAVE the "MOTION SENSOR" or "TILT SENSOR" or "SIREN" (stated above): this means you HAVE the alarm, but it is not activated. Take it to the dealer for activation.
4)if you lock your car with the remote key and it DOES NOT 'chirp" and none of the items stated above are present (sirens, sensors, etc). This means you DO NOT have the alarm.

In some cases, if you lock/unlock your car and the turn signals blink and also the clown nose LED blinks: this means you DO NOT have the alarm. Even though it blinks and the turn signals blink when you unlock/lock the car, you do not have the alarm. This is actually an option. If you do not want an alarm, you can ask the dealer to activate the clown nose LED and the turn signal blinks when you lock/unlock the car. This option usually introduces fault codes (which you not need to worry about). Basically, the computer is tricking the car that it has an alarm and in doing so, it activates the clown nose and blinkers

Another simple way to see if you have the alarm is to lock the car. Hold down the TRUNK button on the key for 2-3 seconds. If the panic sirens goes off: you have the alarm and it is activated. If no sirens goes off: you do not have the alarm OR you do have the alarm but its not activated yet.