Next up, remote start for the touring.

[demetk]

Yes that's sure to work excellently!

Srsly any decent locksmith joint should be able to cut a blank for you... they'll whinge on about how its never going to work because of the immob programming but you should have that covered.

A really good place will read the key with a computer that then identifies the shape digitally, and then cuts the new key accordingly, aka the new one will be better than the old one which has worn. Definitely better than the tracer-cutter hardware-store type key making.

Now that you mention it, I need only one dremel and one pointer to trace the old key like the hardware-store type. Digitizing a key on a computer and then having some type of plot device cut the new key would be an interesting project. I may enlist the help of my neighbor who's into robotics to brainstorm this one.

In this small town there is nothing, but New Haven which is close by should have a least one locksmith that can cut a key.

[djb2]

No, a Dremel won't successfully cut a key blank. You can't get a rigid enough mount or cutting stage.

I tried for a while, then eventually gave up and bought a Defu cutting machine. The cutting bits have a 6mm (1/4"?) shank, which is needed to eliminate chatter.

[demetk]

No, a Dremel won't successfully cut a key blank. You can't get a rigid enough mount or cutting stage.

I tried for a while, then eventually gave up and bought a Defu cutting machine. The cutting bits have a 6mm (1/4"?) shank, which is needed to eliminate chatter.

Set back. Which model did you get?

[djb2]

Set back. Which model did you get?

I bought a Defu 368A from a vendor on AliExpress. It was a 120V version (many are 220V), with several types of cutting tools/stylus and a spare belt (some sellers remove accessories and sell separately).

Most people are better off finding a locksmith.

[demetk]

Thanks. I Bought the same one a couple of days ago. A lot of us around here are not like most people. I like to get my hands dirty, learn new things, attempt stuff I have not done before. I wonder if the key cutting business is a lucrative one.

[demetk]

After a year playing around with this car, I finally finished my install of my Excalibur RS-351 remote start system that has remote start and central locking functions. The install on the 2001 525it went surprisingly smoothly.

I connected to the following 5 wires at the ignition switch:

• Two of the three red wires for constant power
• Black wire for the starter trigger. Since my dme has EWS and SAP delete I don't have to worry about having to use the DEI 556U immobilizer interface module.
• Green wire for ignition ON power
• Purple wire for accessory power

The only other inputs I needed from the car were:

• brake light switch wire - brown/grey
• central locking lock wire - blue/red in the driver's door
• central locking unlock wire - black/white in the driver's door
• shifter park signal input. I haven't connected this yet because the car has a shifter interlock that prevents the shifter from being anywhere but in the park position when the key is out.

Then I ran 4 wires out the harness boot beside the power brake booster. I thought to use them for

• flashing the parking lights - turns out I didn't need this because the central locking system does that for me.
• tach signal - turns out I didn't feel like pulling a signal from one of the coils so I simply used the tachless option on the remote start module.
• siren neg wire
• siren pos wire

The remote start only had negative pulses for the lock/unlock signals so I used 2 relays and converted them to positive pulses. Fishing the wires from the door and through the door harness boot was the trickiest part.

I had already converted my fogs and angle eyes to DRL functionality that turn on whenever the engine runs so having them turn on with the remote start is a nice feature.

I had read that some needed a bunch of relays in order to power up the various systems. Not sure why that was the case as everything seems to run just fine without any additional relays.

I'm going to put away the diamond key and use a simple key with no buttons and the remote start fob because it's range is 50 times that of the original key. I plan on cutting a key myself.

cheers

[Bmwe39528i1998]

I also installed the remote and it's working well.
How do people figure out the wires inside the car and on connectors? How to identify all the wires?
The ignition switch wiring was easy enough.
But what wire needs to be tapped for the parking lights as well as these?

[demetk]

This what I found for the locks.

Power Lock blue/red + door module in driver door
Power Unlock BLACK/ white + door module in driver door

And this for the parking lights,

Parking Lights- black headlight switch
Notes: Cutting this wire turns on the parking lights. Use a relay to interrupt the wire to flash the parking lights. See DirectFax document 1055 for wiring information.

[Bmwe39528i1998]

The main question is where to tap those wires...like, what's the location?
I had to take apart my door because of stuck actuator. But here's what the connectors look like

There are 2 red and blue wires. I'm not sure which one to use.

Btw why did you fish your wires through door harness boot? I'm confused.

I imagine all those wire end up right here


How do people figure out which wire is which? There must be some kind of software?

[demetk]

The main question is where to tap those wires...like, what's the location?

I imagine all those wire end up right here


How do people figure out which wire is which? There must be some kind of software?

Let me know if you find the lock wires in that harness. I tried looking for them but didn't. Maybe I missed them. I used a test light to identify them.

[Samsam15]

NewTIS.info.

[Bmwe39528i1998]

I'm trying to figure out how to look for them.
I've looked at diagrams on newtis.info
I also have BMW Wiring Diagram System running.
Very few have actual pictures and pinouts.
And based on the diagrams, it's kind of hard to figure out where the wires go.

For example, here is driver's door central locking:
https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/e...s-door/a2QiAsh

How to actually know which is the wire in that harness that I posted?

[Bmwe39528i1998]

I guess the information is there, just gotta know how to find it.

So this is a proper pin out for the door module

https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/e39-528i-lim/ZTiIM1z

Looks like pin 7 locks drivers door, and pin 9 unlocks driver's door.
This is on X1129
https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/e39-528i-lim/WF2SldF

S32 is the button for central locking system. X1292 is the connector.
The wire seems to be going to the glovebox and under the carpet, based on the diagram
https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/e...button/a68yxG6
But where does it go after that?
I'm sure the wire passes in the harness that I posted or somewhere around there...

[demetk]

But where does it go after that?
I'm sure the wire passes in the harness that I posted or somewhere around there...

I don't think those wires pass through the door harness. Each door module and the general module communicate via the P-Bus so there's no need for those analog wires to go anywhere but to the driver's door module. To verify what I'm saying see if you can find those wires.

[Bmwe39528i1998]

Ok so this central locking system, it seems it only has a signal to close the doors
https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/e39-528i-lim/ZIofGZB
So it would activate when I clicked "closed lock" on the remote fob.
What should I be connecting to open the door?

I'm having a little bit of hard time figuring out where to connect all these since I'm not sure that they mean.

2 Brown - lock output.
Should this one be connected to X1292?

[Bmwe39528i1998]

This button doesn't do anything for me.
Maybe has to do something with me removing/breaking front door modules to get the actuators unstuck.
However the rear doors do lock with the remote key, but not with this central locking button.

I think I found your heated seats
https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/e39-528i-lim/VN00BfR

I figure pin 1 is for drivers seat and pin 13 for passenger