Resetting the alarm

[lmcclain]

I went to get in my '95 540i to come home last night and the keyless entry system was dead. I could unlock the door with the key but the alarm went off and the car would not start. I had a similar problem several years ago and my dealer told me how to reset the alarm manually, by some sequence of putting the key in the ignition, turning it to a certain position and waiting until the alarm recycles, but I couldn't remember exactly what to do and couldn't get it to work last night. I called the dealer this morning but there is no one there old enough to remember how to do this on an E34! Do any of you guys know?

[mikell]

Search - several threads about the keyless and various fixes - passenger door lock, reprogramming, etc. It's all there.

[Qsilver7]

its kinda difficult for most of us to identify with your problem since the e34 540 has a different keyless entry system than the rest of the e34 models. (you guys have the EWS/DWS (immobilizing/anti-theft system) that's in the early e39 & e38 models.

I would have thought the alarm would go off when you stuck the key into the ignition. I vaguely remember reading something in my e38 owners' manual about what to do in this situation...do you have an owner's manual...and if so...you may want to check to see if there is a mention of what to do when the alarm is activated.

On my 95 525iT... if I lock the car with the keyless entry fob, but then open the door with the key...the alarm will go off and all I have to do is insert the key into the ignition , then turn the ignition to position 1 or 2. This shuts the alarm off and I can start the car. But again, my EWS/DWA system is slightly different than yours.

The only other thing I can think of is...is the battery in your key dead? I'm not sure if the chip embedded inside your key (that activates/deactivates the EWS/immobilizing system) needs power from the battery. If it does...maybe that's why your car won't start. If the key's battery goes completely dead...you probably will have to reinitialize the key...instructions for that is in your owners manual. When you press the button on the key...does the red LED light up?

You key looks like the one in the diagram below, right? And further below is the instructions on how to reinitialize your key.

http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/7/web/739000-739999/739005_63_full.jpg

http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/7/web/739000-739999/739005_49_full.jpg

[VentoGT]

Sorry to dig up an old thread--do you know if you can retrofit the e39-style alarm in a 1991 e34 [M5]? The key with multiple buttons would be nice, and having lock/unlock functionality would be great as well.

Thanks in advance!

[joshua43214]

This sytem gets buggy with age. It also has a lock out feature that activates after the system recieves a certain number of false attempts (1000 I believe). As the system ages, the keys and the reciever both seem to get buged, and will mis-interpret or mis-send the code to lock/unlock the door. eventualy the system just shuts down in whatever mode it was left in. So, if you routinely double lock the doors with the remote, it can lock up in double lock mode. you can over ride the door lock to enter the car but you will not be able to start it.

When this happened to me after a movie one evening, all attempts to initialize the key failed and I had to drive down with the dealer tool the following day to reset the system. Since the problem is both intermitant and the system is relatively primitive, positive diagnosis is not easy. I finaly after many resets confirmed the problem was in the reciever and not the key, but I had to break down a spend the big money on a new key to confirm it.

I advise you don't use the double lock feature until you get it sorted out.

As for retrofitting an e39 system, I doubt it is possible, but you should be able to retrofit the same abortion that the e34 540's had which came from the 7series.