E30 318i alarm fault

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   The alarm on my Wife's 1990 E30 3181 recently developed a fault. It's a BMW fitment mounted on the nearside inner wheel arch. It operates the central locking etc at the push of the single button on the remote control. Fortunately the alarm has a key switch to deactivate it. Anyway it's worked perfectly since buying the car. My wife parked it at work and locked it remotely. When she returned to the car she pushed the button the doors unlocked but the alarm went off too and wouldn't silence until the alarm was turned off completely using the key switch on the alarm unit itself. I tried disconnecting the battery to try and reset it but no luck. I messed about with the cabin sensors before deciding to bite the bullet and open the box of tricks under the bonnet. As soon as the lid was off it was obvious what was causing the problem. The Nicad battery used for alarm backup had literally blown its top off and was pushing various transitors on the circuit board out of place. It looked pretty ruined so I carefully cut away the remains of the battery from the circuit board. I then turned the alarm on and the siren went off and would not turn off using the remote control. So I took a deep breath and deliberated for a while as they do in the films before cutting the red wire to the siren. I turned the alarm on and silence, I started the engine with no problem and the remote control operates the door locks. The alarm system clearly doesn't incorporate an engine imobilizer. So there's no audible alarm but the remote control works the locks. Not perfect but the wife's happy. 
Has anyone else had this sort of problem with the genuine BMW alarm fitted to vehicles circa 1994 which according to the date sticker on the unit was when it was fitted? 
Cheers, 
Tag

Edited by tagbartok

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tagbartok Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 18-September-2005 Location: Staffordshire Status: Offline Points: 16	Topic: E30 318i alarm fault Posted: 30-April-2006 at 06:54
	The alarm on my Wife's 1990 E30 3181 recently developed a fault. It's a BMW fitment mounted on the nearside inner wheel arch. It operates the central locking etc at the push of the single button on the remote control. Fortunately the alarm has a key switch to deactivate it. Anyway it's worked perfectly since buying the car. My wife parked it at work and locked it remotely. When she returned to the car she pushed the button the doors unlocked but the alarm went off too and wouldn't silence until the alarm was turned off completely using the key switch on the alarm unit itself. I tried disconnecting the battery to try and reset it but no luck. I messed about with the cabin sensors before deciding to bite the bullet and open the box of tricks under the bonnet. As soon as the lid was off it was obvious what was causing the problem. The Nicad battery used for alarm backup had literally blown its top off and was pushing various transitors on the circuit board out of place. It looked pretty ruined so I carefully cut away the remains of the battery from the circuit board. I then turned the alarm on and the siren went off and would not turn off using the remote control. So I took a deep breath and deliberated for a while as they do in the films before cutting the red wire to the siren. I turned the alarm on and silence, I started the engine with no problem and the remote control operates the door locks. The alarm system clearly doesn't incorporate an engine imobilizer. So there's no audible alarm but the remote control works the locks. Not perfect but the wife's happy. Has anyone else had this sort of problem with the genuine BMW alarm fitted to vehicles circa 1994 which according to the date sticker on the unit was when it was fitted? Cheers, Tag Edited by tagbartok

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