alarms!

[Cypriotgeeza]

Ok one of the first things i want to get for my new E30 is a good alarm system!

What do you have and would recommend to me?

(Not a big fan of clifford alarms)

thanx peeps!

[pukar]

....and, (sorry to jump in, but it might be relevant) can you fit your own and have it valid for insurance? i have seen some toad alarms on ebay for about £150 for the hardware, but about £500+ fitted.

[pukar]

oh, ......and cue brian moore for a most sensible sugggestion

[Cypriotgeeza]

....and, (sorry to jump in, but it might be relevant) can you fit your own and have it valid for insurance? i have seen some toad alarms on ebay for about £150 for the hardware, but about £500+ fitted.

good point because i think you have to be certified and approved for it to be valid for insurance if i remember correctly..if not ill buy one and do it myself!

[pac1982]

insurance discount on alarms is not really that great anyway I pay around £200 a year insurance on my cab with non Thatcham approved alarm fitted by myself.

I cant see having a Thatcham approved alarm fitted by a professional giving me much more of a discount on the cheap price I already pay for insurance. Plus given the fact that the fitting and supply of a decent approved alarm will be around £300-£500 its gonna take a few years before that cost is balanced against the discount on my insurance.

My current cheapo alarm does everything i need of it, goes off when it needs to and immobilizes the car with a few added luxury's like full closure for my windows & remote central locking

[Cypriotgeeza]

insurance discount on alarms is not really that great anyway I pay around £200 a year insurance on my cab with non Thatcham approved alarm fitted by myself.

I cant see having a Thatcham approved alarm fitted by a professional giving me much more of a discount on the cheap price I already pay for insurance. Plus given the fact that the fitting and supply of a decent approved alarm will be around £300-£500 its gonna take a few years before that cost is balanced against the discount on my insurance.

My current cheapo alarm does everything i need of it, goes off when it needs to and immobilizes the car with a few added luxury's like full closure for my windows & remote central locking

Ill be honest im not even interested in insurance being cheaper im just worried about it being stolen..specially with all the recent E30's being stolen recently!

and it being a cabby makes it all the more easier for someone to get in to it!

[pac1982]

and it being a cabby makes it all the more easier for someone to get in to it!

make sure what ever system you go for has a decent microwave sensor, when i was looking in to alarms apparently microwave sensors instead of ultrasonics are the way to go on a cabby

I would like to get a snap off steering wheel too but dont want to loose my OE wheel and not sure if the snap off boss will work on a standard steering wheel

[Cypriotgeeza]

and it being a cabby makes it all the more easier for someone to get in to it!

make sure what ever system you go for has a decent microwave sensor, when i was looking in to alarms apparently microwave sensors instead of ultrasonics are the way to go on a cabby

I would like to get a snap off steering wheel too but dont want to loose my OE wheel and not sure if the snap off boss will work on a standard steering wheel

yea microwave senses movement in the car which makes more sense then an ultrasonic sensor

[pukar]

i've heard good things about these,

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TOAD-Ai606-TH ... 43a3c64150

but the alarm world is pretty complicated...i am worried if fitted by an amateur that it will constantly be going off when it shouldn't (like a clifford). does anyone on here actually fit them/offer a fitting service? if you are getting it done, how can you tell an expert from a bodger?

[Brianmoooore]

if you are getting it done, how can you tell an expert from a bodger?

If he starts messing with wires around the steering column, he's a bodger.
If he starts digging his way into the locking ECU's location, he's a bodger.
If he starts connecting wires behind the hazard warning switch, he's a bodger.
If he has a stock of 'scotch locks' he's a bodger.
If he starts removing the panel above the glovebox, then you might be lucky, but the fact will still remain that any immobiliser fitted to an E30, connected in any way I've ever seen, will just be a slight inconvenience to a determined prospective thief at best!
If you want an effective immobiliser, then you need to fit a M5x engine with EWS II, although my fuse 11 blowing secret switch will come a poor second on any other E30.

[Cypriotgeeza]

Its true..especially after top gear showed how easy it is to steal one of these using a hammer and screwdriver

I think i may go for a toad (still going to do a bit of research) just need something nice and loud as a deterent and hope it does the trick!

[Brianmoooore]

The Top Gear theatrics was just staged bo**ox! No hammer or screwdriver (not for what they used it for, anyway) required, and you don't bypass the ignition/starter by breaking open the steering column. Twenty seconds would have been long enough to get any of those running, and the only damage would have been to the steering locks to be able to drive them away.

[Cypriotgeeza]

The Top Gear theatrics was just staged bo**ox! No hammer or screwdriver (not for what they used it for, anyway) required, and you don't bypass the ignition/starter by breaking open the steering column. Twenty seconds would have been long enough to get any of those running, and the only damage would have been to the steering locks to be able to drive them away.

Top gear = bollox in general lol

[Jozi]

I have a Rclick alarm I'm fitting along with EWS from the M52 and I plan on using Brians blowing fuse trick also.

And because I have the whole car stripped I'll probably endup putting the alarm box somewhere not to easy to reach behind the dash.

[Cypriotgeeza]

Good idea if you ask me!

[pac1982]

tbh anywhere behind the dash is a bad idea for an alarm system its the first place a thief will look i'm not gonna say where mine is but its no where near the dash

[Cypriotgeeza]

Depends how buried it is in the dash tbh!

[pac1982]

Depends how buried it is in the dash tbh!

there's not many places you cant reach behind an e30 dash simply by removing a few bits

[Jozi]

tbh anywhere behind the dash is a bad idea for an alarm system its the first place a thief will look i'm not gonna say where mine is but its no where near the dash

Care to let me in on where you have it via pm? I've to much spent on the car to make it easy for anyone to get away with her so every little helps.

[J4CK05EE30]

whats peoples opinion on trackers?

[Jozi]

whats peoples opinion on trackers?

You can get anti theft software for android phones which can use gps to locate the mobile, I'd say this would work just as well?

[cypriot_boy_2k7]

Depends how buried it is in the dash tbh!

there's not many places you cant reach behind an e30 dash simply by removing a few bits

i wish it was that easy to do the heater matrix

[cypriot_boy_2k7]

....and, (sorry to jump in, but it might be relevant) can you fit your own and have it valid for insurance? i have seen some toad alarms on ebay for about £150 for the hardware, but about £500+ fitted.

I think if you clear it with your insurance first they should be fine, at the most they may ask you to take it to a garage to get it approved that it works.

[pac1982]

tbh anywhere behind the dash is a bad idea for an alarm system its the first place a thief will look i'm not gonna say where mine is but its no where near the dash

Care to let me in on where you have it via pm? I've to much spent on the car to make it easy for anyone to get away with her so every little helps.

sorry bud no can do, its not hard to find a place to hide your alarm box the only hassle is extending all the wires

[1001000010]

whats peoples opinion on trackers?

Bloody brilliant for tracking your vechicle , I have 1 + 2 RFID's on my bike. Which keep in contact by wireless networks. Only down side is the history of your movements (which is ok) but also a history of you speed is Kept by the Tracker.

I usually pull it before going riding with the boys tho.

I was thinking to put some folding steel posts, but usually i stick my missus 320d Compact in front of mine every night (on driveway). She cannot stop laughing at me quoting "who would want to steal that POS.

Truth is if someone wants it, unless its behind a massive obstacle they will have it.

[Jozi]

Best you can do is make it so it takes them longer to get away with it.

[Cypriotgeeza]

Best you can do is make it so it takes them longer to get away with it.

thats the plan, that and make a nice loud siren for someone in the house to come out with the baseball bat lol

[Cypriotgeeza]

Holy thread revival!

Ok I'm still on the hunt for a good alarm system and I've narrowed it down to these:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Cobra-A4138HF ... 486885a939

Or

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TOAD-Ai606-TH ... 48369c8d4d

With

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Toad-Alarm-DU ... 4846757488

Does anyone have any experience with these?

Also this looks interesting:
http://car-alarm-review.toptenreviews.c ... eview.html

Would be nice to link my alarm to my phone!

[daimlerman]

What do you want to do?

A) Stop lowlife breaking into your car?
B) Stop lowlife pinching your car?

Very little that you can do to stop the determined guy who rocks up with a trailer or beaverback with a winch.
But;
A)Fit a visible deterant such as a device that locks the steering wheel to the clutch pedal,or the gear lever to the handbrake.
B) Fit a Mr Mooooooooooooooooore type switch in the fuel pump feed.

Both cheaper,and probably more effective than the cheapest 'alarm' that you linked to.

[Cypriotgeeza]

What do you want to do?

A) Stop lowlife breaking into your car?
B) Stop lowlife pinching your car?

Very little that you can do to stop the determined guy who rocks up with a trailer or beaverback with a winch.
But;
A)Fit a visible deterant such as a device that locks the steering wheel to the clutch pedal,or the gear lever to the handbrake.
B) Fit a Mr Mooooooooooooooooore type switch in the fuel pump feed.

Both cheaper,and probably more effective than the cheapest 'alarm' that you linked to.

I already have a disklok and am planning to fit a switch in the fuel line but even that switch wont raise attention if it is being trailered away.

Im fully aware that a determined theif will get into it etc im just trying to attract as much attention to the situation as possible.

Price isnt really an issue when it comes to the safety of my E30 im asking if anyone has any experience with an Alarm that either i have put up or that they can recomend

[Kos]

Park it with the front to a wall and wheels pointing to the right. Make sure streeing is locked and it will be a right royal PITA for anyone looking to lift it with a spec or drag it on to a beaver tail or flat bead

[e30Passion]

I'm still waiting for the upportunity to install a original BMW ultrasonic alarm system i got laying around. Handy when some low life smashes a window to try and steal your radio but honestly its more for OEM originality as you can not rely on those old systems to prevent you car from getting nicked. So when the time comes to install it a GPS tracker will also be added.

You can install alarm systems all you want but if they get it immobilesed somehow and trailer your pride and joy away while your sleeping you can at least always find out where it is as soon as you wake up. All you have to do is request the exact location with your phone which will be shown on google maps. It will even show you the route to where they took it and how fast they where trailering it so you can report to authorities on the whereabouts of your stolen car and get it back the very same day!

That's in case you don't wake up when the tracker system calls you up in the middle of the night to tell you the car has been moved as you can also lock position. It really doesn't get any better then that!

[Jozi]

I've thought of using an old android phone instead of a tracker. I've got an anti theft app on my phone that you can track the phone with. Hook it up to a charger somewhere hidden and forget its there, top it up every now and then or when you have to track it, login online and you can track it pretty accurately.

[Cypriotgeeza]

Some good ideas here!

[TriggerFish]

Like Jozi's phone idea, there's also these:

http://www.fastbikesmag.com/fastbikes-f ... .php?t=441