Alarm Programming ? some help needed

[scott 4991]

Reprogramming the Alarm : So on the E34 web there is the following directions:

1. Remove the rear seat bottom section. You will see an alpine alarm box located on the driver side.
2. Remove the two Phillips head screws that hold the box over and you will see an access door.
3. Open the door carefully: you will see a small black button and a small slot where the remote chip (eprom) is placed.
4. Remove the 2 Phillips head screws from your remote fob. You will see a small circuit board, a battery ad a chip. This looks like a very small ram chip on a PC. Carefully remove the chip from the remote and plug it into the empty chip slot on the alpine alarm box.
5. Put your key in the ignition and turn it to the 1st accessory position (Do not start the car). Go back to the alpine alarm box and hold the black button down for 10 seconds. Remove your key from the ignition.
6. Remove the chip from the alpine alarm box and put it back into the remote fob.
7. Re-mount the alarm box and seat bottom. This is it.

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I removed my seat and you can see what I 'see' (picture) - I do not see a Alpine Alarm box?? I have ordered the remote - and can still cancel it if necessary, but I'd like to replace the one I lost years ago - Any ideas what to look for here? where else to look?

Thanks for any help.

sc

[Kalevera]

The alpine alarm only applies to ~ MY '93 cars and up.

Earlier cars (and some euro MY '93/'94 cars) use an inferior infrared system if the car was optioned with it, and very few were.

The alpine box can be retrofitted onto earlier cars (at least, the keyless part of it can) -- http://www.bimmer.info/forum/showthread.php?t=28780

My guess is that you're not seeing an (alpine) alarm because the car never had one to begin with.

[shrike071]

Did the car ever have the factory alarm?

The alarm was an option, not standard. If your car didn't have the alarm installed at the factory, the box isn't going to be there..

[scott 4991]

Yes, the car has a alarm - it locked and unlocked the doors as well as set the alarm. The alarm horn is under the hood. My son lost the key with the alarm with a master key about 5 years ago. Not sure if it was an aftermarket alarm or BMW 'brand' - but for sure it was a 3 button alarm on the key-ring.

sc

[shogun]

I assume it is an aftermarket unit. The early models had IR systems.

The Alpine unit looks like this.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v736/suzpectx/alpinealarm1.jpg
And the original switchblade IR system looks like this
http://bmwe32.masscom.net/johan/remote_locking/remote_locking.html
And that is the new style IR BMW unit
http://bmwe32.masscom.net/ivo/remote_install/remote_install.html

So just compare the components and see what you have. But the IR module I cannot see in your pic.

[scott 4991]

Thanks, this does look like mine.. but I'll have to check to see if I have the IR receiver in the car. I don't think I do, but I need to check.

Thanks for the inputs.

sc

[BMWCCA1]

I don't remember any E34 other than the 540i that used the infrared with the buttons on the key. I recall the earlier cars (535i) using the one-button rectangular Alpine remote fob with a similar control unit box with swappable code chips. If that's what you've got, I may have a spare fob or even a spare control unit. I think they needed an installed chip set to operate—matching chips for the control box and the fob so you'll need a set—unlike the three-button version where you just put the remote chip into the control unit for programming. But I've been wrong before!

[scott 4991]

I'll take a closer look at mine to see what unit I have. It may be mounted under the dash - drivers side, as there is a loose red fuse holder that falls down once in a while.

sc

[BMWCCA1]

If it's a "factory" (actually BMW North America port-installed) Alpine it looks like this with three buttons, or the exact same shape with only the top button for the older units.
http://images.google.com/images?q=tbn:_7sb27mU6ge08M:http://thumbs.ebaystatic.com/pict/3200072115658080_0.jpg

[scott 4991]

Took my car to the BMW dealership - they verified it's not a standard BMW alarm - some aftermarket. They gave me a contact name who can possibly help.

Thanks for all the replies.

Scott