[B-737]

Ive been struggling with this choice for a few days... my poor installer tech... im driving him mad i cant make up my mind, so im going to throw this out there for comment.

I was foolish and did not buy an alarm with my car. if i had factory BMW alarm or prewire, none of this would be an issue.

I can choose one of two routes. both are the same $$

1) basic DEI CAN-Bus alarm keeping factory remote, custom wired to blink clown nose LED. Very very basic features, door, shock monitoring, thats all i want. No chirping on lock. Then have the car coded for window rollup, mirrors ect

OR

2) have the RK+ installed by itself

doing both 1 & 2 i think is redundant. I think alarms are kind of gimmicky, i feel the real deterrent, if anything, is going to be the LED. Both are relatively non invasive. The dealer was on board with either one being 'safe' when i spoke with them.

I have visions of the alarm driving me nuts, going off at the wrong times, being set off in my garage/driveway, dumb stuff that alarms just do... will it draw attention at work where we have security patrols? maybe... but then again, its so noisy there, at times 15 car alarms going off at once when an old DC9 takes off (thanks delta).

RemoteKey+ fakes it all out, adds features that i can EASILY customize and update simply by hooking up to my laptop, the inner geek in me likes that. No chance of false sirens.

my past cars have had flashing LEDs, and i have never had a problem. One did not, and it was broken into. one of them that did have an alarm i cut the wires to the siren but kept the led because it simply wouldnt stop acting up granted this was a long time ago...

I'm just not sure which path to take here

gonna have the work done on monday

[jimk]

For the DEI option, do they wire the DEI LED into the LED nose and remove the factory LED or do they tap in the factory LED wiring? I would go with the DEI if I only wanted an alarm.

[B-737]

AFAIK, he's going to tap into the stock LED

[fdriller9]

Personally I would go as close to OEM as possible....so no Remote Key for me.

[VP Electricity]

So you don't want actual security monitoring - you just want a Brinks sign on your lawn?

[B-737]

Originally Posted by VP Electricity

So you don't want actual security monitoring - you just want a Brinks sign on your lawn?

lol! good point VP!

[joelc73]

I'm in a similar boat. Would the cost be similar on the two?

[B-737]

yes they are within about $100 of each other... I might have additional labor cost incurred while we figure out how to custom wire the DEI to blink the clown nose LED. I totally accept that.

The RK+ instructions gets us in the ballpark on how to blink the mirror LED. The LED for the DEI is integrated into the valet switch (push button). I'm assuming the LED leads to that valet switch can be put to the mirror LED, while the push button function of the valet switch is kept and stashed someplace else.

Joel, our cars are going to be like sisters

[taibanl]

Did you see the group buy on coding at AK motorwerk, in your area i think.

40 for coding as long as you buy by friday, can enable remote mirrors, etc.

[david @ eas]

Originally Posted by VP Electricity

So you don't want actual security monitoring - you just want a Brinks sign on your lawn?

If it works as a deterrent, most times a thief will simply move to an easier target.

If an experienced thief wants your car, there is nothing stopping him from having it.

[B-737]

I ended having both done. Both systems work very well together (the DEI and RK+)
I agree, if someone wants something there's no stopping them. It's like locks, they're only to keep the honest ppl out

[stuknnj]

Does the alarm lock the doors once you get out of the car?

[B-737]

This particular alarm won't do anything unless you tell it to w the factory remote. It's very basic.