# 545 Alarm Has Mind of Its Own



## 545iSport (Jan 24, 2005)

Within an hour of my coming home from work and locking the car with my key button, the alarm on my brand new 545i goes off -- nightly. This may happen at other times, too, but I cannot be sure because I am only close enough to the car to hear it when I am at home.

Has anyone else had this problem?

-- 545iSport


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## marinakorp (Oct 3, 2003)

do you leave your cell phone in the car



if yes... then I would guess that to be the culprit (hapens on a lot of BMW's)



if you do leave it in there... try arming the alarm with de activating the motion sensor in the car... (I'm sure it is covered in the manual somewhere)


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## 545iSport (Jan 24, 2005)

Yes, I do leave my cell phone in the car, but I almost always power it off. I will start taking it out and see if that makes a difference. Weird. Thanks for the tip.

-- 545iSport


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## SS (Dec 20, 2001)

545iSport said:


> Yes, I do leave my cell phone in the car, but I almost always power it off. I will start taking it out and see if that makes a difference. Weird. Thanks for the tip.
> 
> -- 545iSport


Another question is whether you roll your windows completely up. If they are down, anyone walking past the vehicle can set it off.

By the way, in case you are not aware, the way to shut off the motion & tilt sensors is to press the lock button twice consecutively.


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## marinakorp (Oct 3, 2003)

545iSport said:


> Yes, I do leave my cell phone in the car, but I almost always power it off. I will start taking it out and see if that makes a difference. Weird. Thanks for the tip.
> 
> -- 545iSport


you are welcome... even if powered off... can still interfere wits some appliances

in my house... the cell phone can not be near my subwoofer for the home theater... weird indeed


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## BMWNA (Jan 15, 2002)

I'm with BMW of North America, LLC. I'm sorry to read about this problem you are encountering with your alarm. If you and your BMW center would like our assistance, please phone us at (800) 831-1117 or email us at [email protected], and mention Reference #200504600064 so that we can help you more efficiently.


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## DeathMonkey (Feb 16, 2005)

I am in the throes of this right now, and is in fact why I just registered. My cell is NOT in the car, it just keeps going off every 5-10 minutes or so today. Help!

My car is a 97 540i

Someone help before I roll it off a cliff.


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## beewang (Dec 18, 2001)

DeathMonkey said:


> I am in the throes of this right now, and is in fact why I just registered. My cell is NOT in the car, it just keeps going off every 5-10 minutes or so today. Help!
> 
> My car is a 97 540i
> 
> Someone help before I roll it off a cliff.


Don't roll it off the cliff, just take it to your BMW dealer and pay for the fix.


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## DeathMonkey (Feb 16, 2005)

beewang said:


> Don't roll it off the cliff, just take it to your BMW dealer and pay for the fix.


The day I go to a dealer will be a cold day in Hell. :bigpimp:

But my local European Auto repair shop might be the answer. :thumbup:

....besides, a cheap excuse to get that short shift kit installed!


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## TGray5 (Jan 22, 2002)

DeathMonkey said:


> I am in the throes of this right now, and is in fact why I just registered. My cell is NOT in the car, it just keeps going off every 5-10 minutes or so today. Help!
> 
> My car is a 97 540i
> 
> Someone help before I roll it off a cliff.


Yea, my 97 540 did that as well. Its a well known issue. What they do is replace the interior motion sensor with one that is sonic based, rather than radio based. Supposedly those FRS radios are a big culprit. In the meantime, do as the others suggest and shut off the motion sensor when locking your car.


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## Ågent99 (Jan 7, 2002)

In my 2001 530i, the way you shut off the motion sensor but keep the other (tilt, open hood/trunk) sensors active is to do this:

(1) Arm your car as normal (I just hit the Roundel on my key fob)
(2) Press the Roundel on the key fob and hold it and you should observe the following:
(a) The blinking red light on the rear-view mirror should hold steady for a couple of seconds
(b) It will go back to normal blinking and you can let go of the button.

There, now only the motion sensor is turned off.


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## DeathMonkey (Feb 16, 2005)

That seems to help. Thanks, folks!


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## B-Mer (Feb 24, 2005)

*Had the same problem with my alarm going bezerk*

I own a 2003 bmw X5 4.4i. The first few weeks that i had the car i noticed that my alarm was triggered for no apparant reason. I found out about the problem one day while i was sitting in class. This particular class at my university had a great view of the parking lot and I chose a specific seat just so i could stare at my New car (this was back in 03'). I began parking my car in the same spot consecutively. It was an open space with no trees or light posts surrounding it and it was in perfect view from my seat in class. One day the alarm went off and i stood up in class to see if some asshole was messing with my car. To my surprise there was no one there and the parking spaces next to my car were empty. This happened again and again. I was bewildered and pissed off. I took my car to the service center that i purchased it from and they could not find any problems. That same week my alarm went off again for no reason. I took my car to another service center (Pacific BMW) and they found the problem. It was due to faulty sensors. They replaced all the sensors that would trigger my alarm and i have not had the problem since.

It might be a faulty sensor your dealing with. Either way its fixable. Good Luck. Drive Safe.


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