Instaling keyless remote

[Dazajj]

Hey guys I have a 1997 318i. I just purchased a two button keyless remote for the car.I've tried installing by following the directions, the whole open this, close this, turn it 5 times, open the door, do 10 push ups and run around the car 3 times. I think the reason why this is not working is because I don't have the car 'disarmed'. How do you do this!?

[Roofus]

In for the answer.

[E36 For Life]

Do 5 more push ups, one handed!

[Roofus]

It didn't work!!!

[//m320is]

Hey guys I have a 1997 318i. I just purchased a two button keyless remote for the car.I've tried installing by following the directions, the whole open this, close this, turn it 5 times, open the door, do 10 push ups and run around the car 3 times. I think the reason why this is not working is because I don't have the car 'disarmed'. How do you do this!?

Could you ask something a little broader? This is just a little too specific.

[Roofus]

Before you do the push ups and the Chinese fire drill, the car has to be in "disarmed" mode like your saying. From what I've read today, to get the car into disarmed mode you simply have to have the car unlocked. So get in the car and press the unlock button I guess, and just verify that both doors are unlocked.

I'm about to go through this later this week. I've ordered a key phob because my car didn't come with one. I've got the alarm installed. Checked under the glove box and she's all plugged in. I have tried the procedure without the phob just to see if it would chirp and was active, but I haven't had any luck yet. So hopefully there isn't another issue.

[328 Power 04]

http://www.mz3.net/articles/259.html

These were the instructions I used to program the factory 2 button remote on the 328 and the Z3. These are confirmed working for me. As far as disarmed goes, it just means that your car must not be locked. It must be completely unlocked with doors closed at start of "the dance" and hood/trunk switches must be in good working condition.


I have installed a factory brain and remote to the Z3 and I programmed the new remote to it like that. I was also playing around after that and put both remotes onto it, and did the same to the 328. It was quite annoying when 1 remote opens both cars though at the same time. But it was all out of curiosity.

[Dazajj]

328.. I will check it out later today. Thanks for your time!

[328 Power 04]

Good luck! You do have the factory alarm and LED installed right? Just making sure! Just because it says prewired on it, doesn't mean that it has the alarm brain. The tell tale sign would be if you see the LED inside your car.

[Roofus]

Cool. I just tested this again and got the alarm to chirp and the LED to light up. I must have just been moving too slow when I tried it before. So that makes me very excited to know that everything works and when my phob arrives later this week I will have working keyless entry! Woot!

[Dazajj]

Well I don't care much about the alarm, I just want to be able to open and close my doors. Whenever I close my car, there's a little red light/bulb that turns on and off. Is that the LED light?

[Roofus]

If it's on the dash, yes. If you want to take a picture of it I can verify. But more than likely yes.

When I finally got this to work I did it super fast. If you leave the trunk open for X number of seconds before you try the ignition thingy then it won't work. Make sure all your doors are unlocked. Just get in the car and hit your unlock button. Get out of the car, shut door. Then in like super fast running for the border speed, open the trunk, open the door, get in, shut door, ignition thingy 5x super fast. Do it 6 for good measure lol. And see if the light on your console comes on and if you get a chirp then.

[Dazajj]

Hummm it didn't work. Do you have to have an alarm installed for it to work?

[Roofus]

Well yeah. I sorta assumed you had an alarm. E36's didn't come with keyless entry until the last few months of the '99 M3. Which meant the only way to get keyless in an E36 was to have the dealership install the BMW alarm system after they took delivery of the vehicle.

There are some easy tell-tale signs to know if you have the alarm system. First check under the hood for a siren. It should be towards the front of the car near the headlight on the passengers side. Look for an LED installed on the center console in front of the sunglass holder and forward of the shifter.
Finally, you can pull off the press board panel from under the glove box. It's like three screws. Once you have that off the actual brains of the alarm will be plugged in under the dash and probably velcro'ed up there.

If you don't have any of that, your key phob you bought is useless. Send it back. getbmwparts.com and pelicanparts.com usually have the factory alarm system which is totally plug in play if your car is pre-wired for the system for not too much money. Usually there is a sticker or some sort of badge in the truck that shows what the car is pre-wired for, like alarm, telephone, etc.

[Dazajj]

Thanks for all the info roofus. I will look into it first thing tomorrow. I'll keep you updated.

[Dazajj]

Good news and bad news. I do have an alarm in the car and I do have the LED red bulb; I always wondered what that was.. But I still can't get it to work. The LED bulb does nothing. Doesn't light up or chirp.. Any ideas?

[Roofus]

Check the connections at the alarm control unit that everything is plugged up nice and tight.

Next thing to do is to check the hood and trunk sensors. My bet is that one of those is not operating correctly. For the alarm to work the car has to see those sensors. Since the trunk is supposed to be up during programing then the trunk sensor has to be seen by the control unit as being in fault. Which theoretically means that if the sensor was broken then it wouldn't matter because it would show a fault either way.
So if it is a sensor then my bet is your hood sensor is broken. You can probably check it with a voltage meter. If you get a reading on it, should be 12v, then it's working, so... at that point idk, and you'll probably have to take it to a dealership.

[328 Power 04]

If you truly have the alarm, I would try again a few times after checking fuses and all. I believe it will let you record a remote to it even if your hood sensor is bad. It just won't let you lock it thinking there's something open. That's how the Z3 was, I recorded the remote and then it wouldn't lock, but the car responded to the remote by going into panic when I held it. So then I checked the hood sensor and unplugged it for temporary usage.

For it to register you need good door sensors and good trunk sensors.

[randywalters]

Good news and bad news. I do have an alarm in the car and I do have the LED red bulb; I always wondered what that was.. But I still can't get it to work. The LED bulb does nothing. Doesn't light up or chirp.. Any ideas?

Presuming you do indeed have the factory system in the car, with the siren attached kinda above the right headlight and the LED in one of the console inserts ahead of the shifter, here is the confirmed procedure for programming the two button key fob for the 96-99 E36:

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum...4&postcount=15


Print this out and take it to your car:

1) Close all doors, hood, and trunk from outside the vehicle. Key must NOT be in the ignition. Alarm must be in Disarmed mode.

2) Open the trunk and leave it opened.

3) Open drivers door, get into the drivers seat, then close the door.

4) Insert key and turn on/off 5 times quickly (to position 2 only, don’t start engine). The Red LED on the console should come on solid and the siren should chirp once.

5) Remain seated and open then close the drivers door.

6) Push any button on the fob to have the system register the fob. The console LED should turn off momentarily.

7) Open the door and exit the vehicle, leaving the door open.

8) Close the trunk

9) Then close the drivers door from the outside

10) The siren will chirp twice and the LED will go off.


The key fob should now operate the alarm system normally. If it doesn't, you have some other problem.

Once you get it working, if you want to change from chirp mode to silent mode, press and hold both buttons simultaneously for about 3 seconds. Do it again to restore chirp mode.

This is the correct key fob for the 96-99 system. If this isn't the one you have, then you have the wrong one.

If you truly have the alarm, I would try again a few times after checking fuses and all. I believe it will let you record a remote to it even if your hood sensor is bad.

It won't. If the hood switch is inoperable, the system will think the hood is open and won't allow the key fob to register with the system. All switches and sensors must be in working condition for the procedure to work.

[richter]

How does the connection to the siren connector under the hood look like? because I bought a Stellar Alarm system and I don't see the connection for the siren. I'm lost because I connected the brains behind the glove box, and I tried the start up order still nothing.

[catull2000]

Thank you very much, this worked flawlessly for me and my 94 318i C.

I wasn't interested in the Alarm feature, only the keyless entry, so I did it without connecting anything other than the 12 pin Harness (i.e. left the hood switch, LED and siren disconnected), which meant I didn't get chirping or LED feedback, but when I completed the steps above the fob worked on my car.

One follow up question: Does anyone know whether there are newer FOB cases that I could transfer the inside of the 2-button OEM FOB into, maybe even ones attached to a key? (If so, where can I buy it?)

[Chamberlin]

Also want to add that on some newer installations such as my 2002 Z3 M Roadster, the 2 button alarm system is used, but the glass break microphone is installed along side the LED on the switch panel (a la older 3 button systems). In my case, they installed it in the rear panel set, near the convertible top operation switch. I took the module apart, and although there is a spot on the PCB for the built-in mic, it has a jumper wire connected in its place, and that jumper runs up to another spot on the PCB, and then to the main harness connection. From there,a mic pigtail comes out of the module connector. The pigtail has a female 1/8" mini-mono connector. The microphone wire has the male mono plug, making it easy to snake it through the console and connect up to the main harness. I am assuming this change was made to increase the efficacy/placement of the microphone...I can't imagine it picks up much sound buried behind the glove box facing down on a carpeted floor. Maybe this was a roadster only thing too...dunno.

Also, my hood switch is a sealed unit, unlike the one pictured above. Still trying to determine if it is hooked up yet. I can only get 3 chirps no matter what I do, but I think the problem is likely due to both main door locks are spinning in their tumblers causing an arming fault in the module.

[SRRobirds]

I have the same issue with my 2002 Z3 M Roadster as Chamberlin; 3 chirps no matter what I do. I've tried it with the hood switch open and closed (manually) with the same result. Programming per above didn't reset it. My locks are solid (not spinning). Any ideas, such as maybe having the module checked? And if so who does that sort of work?

Thanks for any help you can give me.

Scott

[flyfishvt]

Three chirps means the control module thinks a door is open or the trunk or hood are open. In e36 convertibles it can be triggered by the glovebox lock actuator. Only verts have the actuator in the glovebox. Your car is technically a e36 but it's not a traditional e36. On e36s the mist common cause of this issue us the hood switch. We have the ability to disconnect that switch in the engine bay. If you don't have that ability then you need to go back to the control module harness. There will be a green connector that plugs into the module. A black 12 pin connector that plugs into the car. A white 2 pin connector for the LED. A white 4 pin connector that doesn't seem to have a use in the e36. Lastly is a single wire connector that goes to the hood switch. Disconnect that single wire and the hood switch is completely and permanently disabled.

Keep in mind these instructions apply to e36s but may not apply to Z3s.

[Chamberlin]

Thanks for that-

Just to add, I've got my seats out, door panels off and the whole dash ripped out right now. I'm rebuilding the door locks, installing a full stereo system and installing seat bushings etc.. generally refreshing the entire car.
Once I start putting things back together, I will report back on how the alarm stuff comes together. I bought a OEM LED light that snaps into the small cut-out on the Z3 rear switch panel, which I will wire into the Alarm wire.
Much nicer and cleaner than the 'hole drilled' LED blank plate method. Ironically, I am moving the microphone to under the dash LOL.