Help! E60 alarm keeps going off

[caveman]

Hi Everyone,

Our 04 plate 530i started blasting its alarm last night. Turning it off, doing a run in the car, double-locking both by key and by remote all failed to stop it. The moment I rang the AA it stopped and it let me have an hours sleep before going again. It then turned in for the night and waited until I was ten minutes down the road to the station before going again. Sorry wifey!

Has anyone else had this problem or does anyone know how to fix? The AA guy checked the battery (OK) and I checked all the doors, boot and bonnet (all shut properly). He couldn't read the fault codes (they are not allowed to review all of them) so I don't know yet if there is a specific sensor issue. Any ideas?

Cheers,

David

[roadhog]

I'd guess at something draining the battery enough for the alarm to notice. The last time this happened to me (on another car) it was because one of my kids had left one of the rear interior lights switched on, I didn't notice until after dark.

When you lock your car, does it go to sleep after 20 minutes? Check if the red LED next to the gear lever goes off. That might be a starting point?

Failing that, stick it into a dealers and get the fault codes read properly.

[caveman]

Thanks Roadhog,

I'll ask my wife to check the rear reading lights as the kids sometimes play with them.

Wish I could go to sleep after 20 mins!

Cheers,

David

[caveman]

Bump!

Any other thoughts? I'm getting the codes checked at the garage today. Fingers crossed...

Cheers,

Davdi

[Taz 335DSA]

[font=Tahoma]caveman,

Probably a bit late in the day, but check the under bonnet switch.

Not had a problem with this motor, but had the same issue with my previous E39.

As I recall, dealer disconnected the switch, (had to wait a few days for a replacement to be sourced) and all was well when it was replaced.

May not be this in your case, but got to be worth a look ... T[/font]

[caveman]

Thanks Taz,

I'll see if the garage can identify the fault through the codes but if not I was going to try to look at some of these sensors.

Cheers,

David

[caveman]

Update: garage has cleared out faults and reset door sensors so now we are on a wait and see.

Cheers,

David

[caveman]

Update:

Went off again a few times but seems to have settled down and stopped doing it so none the wiser! It's going in for some routine stuff so we'll have a decent check then. If anyone has any thoughts they will be very welcome! One good thing is that the doors lock automatically after a certain time which is good to know if you have ever forgotten to lock the car up.

Cheers,

David

[540i Sport]

Same prob i had, i replaced the bonnet switch and all has been fine for 2 years plus. Just dissconect yours and see if the alarm keeps going off if it does'nt then thats your problem.

good luck

[caveman]

Where is the bonnet switch on the E60 model? I had a look earlier and couldn't see any pressure switches?

Cheers,

David

[Clavurion]

If the codes are read with proper software it will show what has caused the alarm.

Bonnet switch

[caveman]

Thanks,

I checked the switch and it seems to work ok but when I used a little pad (stuck on the inside of the bonnet) to make sure the switch was fully depressed the car went a bit :banned:. so there is something going on. Maybe I'll change it as a matter of course if it is cheap.

Cheers,

David

[Clavurion]

I checked the switch and it seems to work ok but when I used a little pad (stuck on the inside of the bonnet) to make sure the switch was fully depressed the car went a bit :banned:. so there is something going on. Maybe I'll change it as a matter of course if it is cheap.

Or just unplug the connector and short circuit it with a wire so the bonnet will always be "closed".

[caveman]

three prong connector!

[Clavurion]

three prong connector!

With only pins 1 and 2 connected. CLICK

[caveman]

Thanks