Opinions on Alarms / Immobilisers Please

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Mr-Lachs
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Post Mon Jan 18, 2016 1:36 pm

Hi all hope we are well. Looking to have an alarm / immobiliser (with remote locking) fitted to my 325i. Back about 2003-2008 i always used to have a Toad Ai606 fitted to any car i had (one or two!!) i always really liked them and found them to be a good Thatcham 1 setup. Before i decide on this again what i would be interested to hear is if anyone has any experience of modern alarm systems, have things moved on since the Toad unit or is it still a good setup? How do equivalent offerings from the likes of Clifford, Scorpion stack up etc?

Thanks in adcance

Kind Regards

Mr-Lachs
Mr-Lachs
1988 BMW E30 325iSE Auto, 4 Door, Lachs Silver (Fair Weather Machine)
2012 Vauxhall Insignia 1.8 Exclusiv, Technical Grey, (The Daily)
DanThe
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Post Mon Jan 18, 2016 1:47 pm

Ive had an Ai606 for 10 years now, its been in two cars and never had an issue, high quality build too unlike the £30 stuff you see people going on about :)
You can also add functions to it like tilt sensors and what not
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Brianmoooore
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Post Mon Jan 18, 2016 1:54 pm

ALL OE BMW E30 immobilisers fitted according to BMWs instructions can be defeated in two seconds more than it takes to open the bonnet. Some aftermarket immobilisers, fitted so as to disable the fuel pump as well, take a little longer, but not much.
Unless the alarm has its own power supply, it too can also be disabled in a couple of seconds, not that anyone takes any notice of a car alarm.
The most effective immobiliser you can fit to an E30 will be a hidden, or blatantly obvious (amongst the other switches) switch that SHORT CIRCUITS the fuel pump feed after the fuse.
pukar
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Post Mon Jan 18, 2016 4:22 pm

....and then they roll your car away..... :cry:
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Mr-Lachs
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Post Tue Jan 19, 2016 5:55 am

Thanks all much appreciated for the input. Glad your still happy with it Dan, always a good sign, I'll prob just have another. Yes that's very true Brian and Pukar, if they want your car they will take it eh. Like the Idea of a hidden immobilisation setup. Kind Regards, Mr-Lachs
Mr-Lachs
1988 BMW E30 325iSE Auto, 4 Door, Lachs Silver (Fair Weather Machine)
2012 Vauxhall Insignia 1.8 Exclusiv, Technical Grey, (The Daily)
DanThe
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Post Tue Jan 19, 2016 9:17 am

The best advice regarding an alarm is to get somebody that knows an E30 to fit it, not an alarm installer.
Anybody that knows an E30 (thief) will know where alarms are fitted and the wires broken into to disable the car.

Also, a nice 120db siren inside the car can usually be more effective than a siren under the bonnet :)