E36 Central locking and alarm woes ?

[Martinaston]

Looking at an E36 4 door with factory alarm and the thing has a bad habit of failing to lock the drivers door from the fob.
Once its all unlocked the indicators just continue to flash even with the engine running.
Then to top it off if you plug the loom back into the siren it just emitts a continuous tone.

From what i can find on other forums its a known problem but the only solutions seem to be to rip the lot out, now being the resourceful bunch you are on here i'm sure there is a simpler solution.

Does anyone know the cure or at least where i should start looking ?

[bss325i]

Is it the 3T system? Do you have a hand book for it?

[Martinaston]

I have no idea, i was just finding out whats wrong with it for a friend.
Whats the T3 ? (nothing to do with skynet i hope)

[bss325i]

3T not T3.

Its the alarm system thats original BMW but dealer fit. It has a seperate fob.

There is also the factory fit system on late E36's which has the remote integral to the key.

[Martinaston]

It looked factory fit judging by the loom to the siren.

[bss325i]

The easiest way to tell is if it has a separate fob or not.

[Martinaston]

The fob was a similar shape to my E30 one, kind of rectangular with the corner chopped off but the E36 one has two buttons, one grey one red. Any help ?

[bss325i]

Its a dealer fit system.

It sounds like the alarm is constantly armed hence the indicators flashing and the siren sounding when plugged in.

Try change the batteries in the fob.

The control modules are also problematic.

[Martinaston]

It had two fobs, one was dead but the other worked ok and the led on it was nice and bright.

Would the engine still run if it was armed ?

Where would i find the control module?

[bss325i]

Yes the engine should still run as its just an alarm. The EWS takes care of the immobilisation.

The module is normally located behind the glove box.

[Martinaston]

So do you think i could just get away with replacing the module and drivers door actuator ?