Installing Aftermarket Alarm Tips for e36

[dhinez]

I just got finished installing a Crimestopper alarm into my '96 328i using the pre-wired 12 pin plug. Made installation so easy. I used the following diagram to help.

Black 12 Pin Layout located in the glove box (not the Plug-N-Play harness for factory alarm which has a green end and black end):

Locking Tab
1...2...3...4...5...6
7...8...9.10.11.12

Pin#.............Function......................... ........Wire Color

1..................Constant 12VDC....................Red/Green or Red/Gray
2..................Ignition 12VDC.......................Violet/White
3..................Chassis Ground......................Brown/Orange or Brown
4..................(-) Driver Door Trigger............Brown/Gray
5..................(-) Passenger Door.................Brown/Blue
6..................(-) Rear Door...........................Brown/Black or Brown/Violet
7..................(+) Horn Trigger......................Black/Blue
8 Not Used
9..................(+) Lock...................................White/Red
10................(+) Unlock................................Blue/Red or Blue/Brown
11................(-) Trunk Trigger......................Brown/White or White/Brown
12 Not Used




Black 1 Pin Layout:

White/Red......................(-) Hood Pin Trigger



In my case I found out pin 12 was used for the (+) trigger for the oem siren. I believe it was Gray/Black (Will confirm wire color tomorrow). This made the installing so much quicker.

I did lots of searches on connecting the parking lights. One searched resulted in someone tapping into the hazard lights wire which yeild a (-) negative polarity which means you would have to use a relay to change polarity. Another result yeilded someone tapping into the parking light wire using the pre-wired oem alarm harness. This was what I was going to do but the wire was (-) negative polarity. In most aftermarket alarms systems the parking light output is (+) positive polarity. In my case I found it easier to tap into the parking lights at the headlight switch using both gray/yellow and gray/purple wires which are (+) positive polarity. This way you don't have to use a relay to change polarity. You do have to diode isolate each wire. I will post a diagram of how I did the connection.

Parking Light Connection.jpg

I thought doing the double lock on the alarm was doing to be difficult, but it was actually easy. I used the Understeer instruction to do this. Here is the link:

http://www.understeer.com/doublelock.shtml

This feature is nice to have. It basically disables all exiting and entering of the car until the alarm is disarmed. You can lock someone in the car if you wanted to.

Remember to diode Isolate the door triggers which if a sedan is 3 wires (pins 4,5,6) and coupe being 2 wires (pins 4 and 5). These are negative triggered. (see wire layout).

The unlock/lock polarity are (+) positive. You may have to purchase (2) relays or a door lock module to convert it to (-) negative polarity if your alarm does not have this built into it.

Any input will be added. I hope this can help and eliminate questions about alarm installation. If I come up with more updates I will post. Enjoy.

[dhinez]

Diagram added and wire confirmed.

[neptronix]

you are the friggin' man. I was wondering about this harness, but couldn't find any info on it.

guess i'll be installing my own alarm... ^__^

thanks

[dhinez]

you are the friggin' man. I was wondering about this harness, but couldn't find any info on it.

guess i'll be installing my own alarm... ^__^

thanks

No problem. I was in the same boat as you. I looked everywhere for the wire layout and came across it in a search. I decided to post this info because I know there were several questions about alarm installation in the past weeks. Any question let me know. I will get you an answer.

Updated some info in post #1.

[finebykris]

hey.... so My keyless entry brain is switchable to -negative parking lights... where could I easily find those wires/what color are they? EDIT: NVM Pin 8 is the hazards!

oh, also. you say the horn is postive output. My brain will only do negative.... how can i wire this?

Edit: i retardedly connected 12v positive to it... horn made a dying noise... no horn now. Fuse is fine. Any ideas?

[dhinez]

hey.... so My keyless entry brain is switchable to -negative parking lights... where could I easily find those wires/what color are they? EDIT: NVM Pin 8 is the hazards!

oh, also. you say the horn is postive output. My brain will only do negative.... how can i wire this?

Edit: i retardedly connected 12v positive to it... horn made a dying noise... no horn now. Fuse is fine. Any ideas?

The horn is negative polarity. But in my case the horn would only work if the ignition was switched on. Pin 12 in my car was the oem siren. This needed a positive trigger from the alarm (siren wire).

Do you have an oem factory siren on your car? If not you may have to run a wire through the fire wall to where you might mount the siren. Check your horn relays. Also you may want to test your horn.

[finebykris]

In your original post you said the horn was positive.

could you tell me how to/where to test my horn relays/the horn itself?

EDIT:

ok whats weird is i turned the ignition on and the horn works by pressing the wheel..... strange.

my unit is a negative trigger hork output, so it should work perfectly just by connecting it.. no relay required....

[dhinez]

In your original post you said the horn was positive.

could you tell me how to/where to test my horn relays/the horn itself?

EDIT:

ok whats weird is i turned the ignition on and the horn works by pressing the wheel..... strange.

my unit is a negative trigger hork output, so it should work perfectly just by connecting it.. no relay required....

I know thats funny. I tried to use the horn wire at the pin but it didn't work unless the car was on. Do you have a factory siren? I really don't know how you would get the horn to work with the car off unless you re-wire it to constant 12v power. I really would like my horn to function with my alarm. I will have to investigate more into this. You can use a relay to switch the negative horn wire from your alarm to positive output with a relay. I can post a diagram is you need this.

[finebykris]

alright... its dark now, so tomorrow i plan on finally wiring in my alarm... my car has been in peices for over a week because there was a gnarly old aftermarket alarm in there before i took it out and i couldnt find the prewired port.....

anyways.

Just wondering what you connected pins 4-6 to? are they necessary for lock/unlocking?

[dhinez]

alright... its dark now, so tomorrow i plan on finally wiring in my alarm... my car has been in peices for over a week because there was a gnarly old aftermarket alarm in there before i took it out and i couldnt find the prewired port.....

anyways.

Just wondering what you connected pins 4-6 to? are they necessary for lock/unlocking?

Pins 4-6 are you door trigger wires. These trigger the alarm when the doors are opened while the alarm is armed

[finebykris]

ive just got a keyless entry system so they wouldnt be of any use to me, am i correct?

[dhinez]

Keyless entry and no alarm? If this is the issue then, no you don't need these wires.

[ClayMan]

Excellent tips. There is some misinformation going around about the pin-outs and this looks to be the correct one. Very helpful in planning my CompuStar installation. BTW for anyone else doing the same thing, CompuStar offers a (-) and a (+) parking light output - it would be easiest to use the (-) with the pin from the alarm harness.

Question though: Do our E36s have a keysense wire? (Triggers when there is a key inserted into the ignition) And has anyone used a DEI 556UW transponder bypass? Not sure whether to use the ring that comes with the bypass or to directly splice into the wiring to the EWS module.

[atlantisvip]

This should be in the DIYs .. Good write up.

[benemorius]

Question though: Do our E36s have a keysense wire?

Yes, although you won't find it in the alarm harness.

[owwwch]

so this pin connector is in the glove box? or is it behind the glove box?

sorry for my ignorance

[finebykris]

so this pin connector is in the glove box? or is it behind the glove box?

sorry for my ignorance

It would be behind the glove box... and more than likely a bit to the left.

[Alpine6And7]

I just ordered a Plug in play alarm for my M3... should have it soon I'll let you guy know!

[ClayMan]

Yes, although you won't find it in the alarm harness.

Care to elaborate where I would find this bad boy?

Also for anyone else installing a CompuStar, they have a $5 module to reverse the polarity of the lock/unlock wires - DM-600

[Jasey25]

Hi guys
I think I've found the right thread for this question.
I'm trying to add in a remote central locking kit and have had no success.

there are three wires to lock and three wires to unlock.
each of these wires is marked as
NC (normally Closed)
NO (Normally Open) or
COM (common)
then a power and a ground wire a wire for light output and finally a trunk release wire.
I would post a picture of the wiring diagram if I knew how if you think you can help let me know and I'll mail you a picture.

Really really struggling with this so would be very grateful for any help or advice.

Thanks a lot

[finebykris]

@Jasey25

Those would be the wires that tell your alarm (or keyless entry) whether or not the doors are opened or closed/locked/unlocked.

The COM you refer to should be 2 separate wires, one lock, one unlock. They are positively triggered in the E36's so most keyless entry/alarms should be able to connect to this with no diodes necessary.

The first thing you need to do is locate for 12 pin factory alarm port. Its usually behind the glove box and a little to the left. Then find a wiring diagram for this port and splice the wires from your diagram into this port.

When I installed mine, I ignored all of the NO/NC wires and just used the common. Obviously I have a keyless entry unit and no alarm. Alarms take hte reading of these NO/NC wires and when it detects a change... it triggers.

I hope I helped a little.

[Jasey25]

Thanks Finebykris
that hasn't sorted it, I'm not even sure I'm looking at the right module anymore as I think I have tried every combination of wires possible and have blown more fuses than I care to mention.

The module I'm looking at is http://www.bimmerdiy.com/diy/e36s50alarm/ picture number 6 it's the unit to the left of the green and yellow units above the blue and yellow units, is that the correct module? If yes do the wires correspond to the OP's original plan i.e.

Locking Tab
1...2...3...4...5...6
7...8...9.10.11.12

Pin#.............Function......................... ........Wire Color

1..................Constant 12VDC....................Red/Green or Red/Gray
2..................Ignition 12VDC.......................Violet/White
3..................Chassis Ground......................Brown/Orange or Brown
4..................(-) Driver Door Trigger............Brown/Gray
5..................(-) Passenger Door.................Brown/Blue
6..................(-) Rear Door...........................Brown/Black or Brown/Violet
7..................(+) Horn Trigger......................Black/Blue
8 Not Used
9..................(+) Lock...................................White/Red
10................(+) Unlock................................Blue/Red or Blue/Brown
11................(-) Trunk Trigger......................Brown/White or White/Brown
12 Not Used

if so what am I doing wrong, I am really getting hacked off with this and am begging for any help please!!!!

[dhinez]

Thanks Finebykris
that hasn't sorted it, I'm not even sure I'm looking at the right module anymore as I think I have tried every combination of wires possible and have blown more fuses than I care to mention.

The module I'm looking at is http://www.bimmerdiy.com/diy/e36s50alarm/ picture number 6 it's the unit to the left of the green and yellow units above the blue and yellow units, is that the correct module? If yes do the wires correspond to the OP's original plan i.e.

Locking Tab
1...2...3...4...5...6
7...8...9.10.11.12

Pin#.............Function......................... ........Wire Color

1..................Constant 12VDC....................Red/Green or Red/Gray
2..................Ignition 12VDC.......................Violet/White
3..................Chassis Ground......................Brown/Orange or Brown
4..................(-) Driver Door Trigger............Brown/Gray
5..................(-) Passenger Door.................Brown/Blue
6..................(-) Rear Door...........................Brown/Black or Brown/Violet
7..................(+) Horn Trigger......................Black/Blue
8 Not Used
9..................(+) Lock...................................White/Red
10................(+) Unlock................................Blue/Red or Blue/Brown
11................(-) Trunk Trigger......................Brown/White or White/Brown
12 Not Used

if so what am I doing wrong, I am really getting hacked off with this and am begging for any help please!!!!

Here is a pic of the harness location. If I can find a better picture I will post that to.

Alarm Plug.JPG

I finally found another diagram that may help. I found this in a search a long time ago just couldn't figure out how to post it.

OEM Harness layout.jpg

[Jasey25]

Hi Dhinez

Thanks for your post, looks like there's an additional module to the ones I've got, the one in your photo seems to be next to the blue module and under the one I thought it was.
Does anyone have any idea where this might be tucked away if not there?
There's a grouping of wires that disappear behind the speaker in the passenger footwell is it likely to be there?

Last chance if I can't get an answer soon I'm binning the kit :<

Thanks for trying guys

[benemorius]

No, you won't find it as far down as the footwell. It ought to be tucked away right in that area as the wires aren't very long.

Care to elaborate where I would find this bad boy?

I don't recall exactly. Obviously you can find it at the ignition cylinder. I suspect it only runs right down to the chime module so I doubt you'll find it anywhere else in the car.