Can the alarm chirp fade?

The question is for real. Can the chirp when locking/unlocking the car start to fade? Because I believe mine isn't that loud anymore. I think it's considerably quieter.
Does that horn that is in the right rear wheel well wear out?

Have you had your ears flushed lately?

+1, ear wax problem!

Actually, yes, horns do degrade. The horn on my daughter's Civic gave up the ghost. Usually they just fail suddenly but this one got progressively quieter and quieter. And the tone changed. Since this horn has no major functional purpose, I'd ignore the problem. Just look at the car when pressing the key button and the flashing light will tell you it is locking properly.

Originally Posted by Fudman

+1, ear wax problem!

Actually, yes, horns do degrade. The horn on my daughter's Civic gave up the ghost. Usually they just fail suddenly but this one got progressively quieter and quieter. And the tone changed. Since this horn has no major functional purpose, I'd ignore the problem. Just look at the car when pressing the key button and the flashing light will tell you it is locking properly.

Fudman, that is an accurate description on what happens on my car: it gets progressively quieter. If you lock the car from the passenger side, you can still hear the chirp. If you lock it on the driver side, now you can barely hear it.
Any idea what "degrades"? I read somwhere that the alarm horn has an integrated battery. If so, can this be the cause? And if yes, can one replace that battery? Or you need to buy a new alarm horn?
The reason I want this, a loud alarm is helpful if someone tries to mess with your car.

http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/arc.../t-529609.html

Dorin: Looks like you need a complete siren and not just a battery.

The internal battery is only for backup in case the car battery is disconnected. This ensures the siren will still sound for some time.

Mine suddenly quit working, and I replaced it. Opened the old one up, and found the battery still healthy.

Originally Posted by Fudman

http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/arc.../t-529609.html

Dorin: Looks like you need a complete siren and not just a battery.

Thanks for the linky Fudman. Somehow I omitted it.
Well, this will be a spring-summer DIY. Too cold to crawl under the car now.

Hey Doru--mines so old now ,only one light will flash when I hit the button and the horn just sighs--sometimes--LOL

My hearing isn't what it used to be, but I noticed that sometimes I wouldn't hear the chirp. I also noticed that one of the lock actuators was operating after the others.

I was having an intermittent brake light failure, so I cleaned the grounds in the right rear side. Then I checked the wiring harness that goes through the rubber tube into the trunk. I found a wire on which the insulation was broken. This was the red/black wire that supplies power to the trunk lock through fuse 53. I wrapped some tape around the wire and the whole harness.

I don't know if it was wrapping the wire or cleaning the grounds or something else or just luck, but since then the locking and the chirp and actuators work like normal.