Alarm system

I have an alarm system recently installed on a 2007 X3 . The car was prewired for alarm. The unit installed fine but the mechanic could only get it to chirp and flash lights when unlocking. I wanted it to chirp and flash lights on both lock and unlock. The dealer has tried to make this work as I desire and kept the car for a week the last time but to no avail.
To summarize;
locking - lights flash, no chirp - not good for me
unlocking - lights flash and chirp - good operation
locking with any fault ( door open, hood up , etc) lights flash and chirp occurs just fine

I just got my retrofitted and have the same symptoms. Do you know that it is even possible to get a chirp when locking?

Alex

Thanks for letting me know at least my car is not the odd one.
I failed to mention that once in a rare while - it will chirp upon lock.
I have asked another X3 owner to lock their's in my presence. It chirps. It was not an 07, I don't believe. I previously owned an X5 that chirped both on lock and unlock.
My recent loaner ( a 2012 335, chirped in both directions.
Seems like someone in BMW ought to understand this. I will try Mike Miller who writes in the Roundel and is very sharp. I'll let you know if anything comes of it.

You have to take it to the dealer or an Indy with a gt1 computer to code your car to chirp when lock. The default is lights only.

Plan $150 at a dealer.

I left mine at a dealer for a week and they couldn't get it to chirp on lock ?? They installed the alarm and they recognize they owe me to program it correctly . But apparently it will not respond to what should be the proper setting.

I realized, I asked Mike Miller the question before. here was his response;

Alarm: I believe it can be programmed either way but I could be wrong about that with regard to this particular vehicle. BMW changes the way things work all the time and they never tell anyone about it. It is possible that if you want it to chirp what you have now is all you can get -- that or totally silent. The Europeans (and many Americans) consider chirping car alarms to be extremely rude. However, I can see where "chirp-open" would help to locate a vehicle in a crowded parking lot.

It could be that BMW has changed the logic but it seem wild that the new loaner I had was not working that way.

I've been thinking about getting the alarm, but only for the "chirp on lock" feature. I'm thinking that way I'm less likely to absent-mindedly walk away from my car without locking it, which has happened too many times in the last few months.

But, hey, if that feature doesn't even work, no reason to buy the alarm system. The actual alarm is not something I need, I think the flashing clown nose is a sufficient deterrent.

I am getting an impression from reading the earlier posts that the chirp behavior is a coding issue. Since the retrofit alarm is only $400, you should inquire before letting them order parts for you if they can code it at the time of installation. I have not been aware of this issue and just assumes that X3 alarm will work just as 99% of cars on the market. Silly me.

Dealerships charge for coding (anywhere between $60 and $120, depending of the extent of work), but since they have to code the installation anyway, you should be able to get the lock chirp feature at no extra cost.

I did a self install and had my indie do the coding. Everything works just fine on mine. Somebody is missing something.

Originally Posted by Shuralee

I just got my retrofitted and have the same symptoms. Do you know that it is even possible to get a chirp when locking?

Alex

Yes, it should chirp unless the hatch, hood or door is left open. Then it will still lock but no chirp and the clown nose will blink like mad for a few seconds. As soon as the open door, hatch or hood is closed you'll get the chirp. Try locking with the hood up and then manually pressing the button near the battery jump terminal. If it chirps you've found your culprit.

Maybe the button isn't being depressed enough by the hood.

Originally Posted by usaret

I did a self install and had my indie do the coding. Everything works just fine on mine. Somebody is missing something.

Good, glad somebody has the "chirp on lock" feature working!

Originally Posted by spokelizard

Good, glad somebody has the "chirp on lock" feature working!

I guess I should give kudos to Mickey from Best Motor Works as he had mine working 100% in 20 minutes.

http://www.bestmotorworks.com/

I just spoke with BMWNA customer relations. My question to them was if there was an escalation path to a regional service person and then on to the national level. Apparently there is not. What I was advised to do was go to another dealer and ask them to fix the alarm system ( program it correctly). If that doesn't yield results to call back and customer relations will discuss the next steps.
On an earlier post. ( sorry , I didn't note the poster user name) the suggestion to lock the car with the hood up ( shouldn't chirp) and then push the hood sensor button to see if it chirps. The way mine is working, ANY fault ( hood up, door open, tailgate up) will have the chirp when locking, as long as the fault exists. If the fault is corrected, then it reverts to not chirping. Actually my hood switch and tailgate switches have been swapped and neither fixed the problem.