2013 E92 M3 Alarm Problem

[jimf15e]

A coworker of mine told me that several times today my car's parking lights, AE's, and tail lights were flashing like an alarm was going off but no audible alarm sound. I wasn't able to observe it myself but when I unlocked the car there was no iDrive warning of an alarm activation.

I did some minor troubleshooting - the siren works with the panic button, the alarm chirps when armed and disarmed, and when I open the hood and hold the hood switch in it arms and disarms normally. When I try to lock/unlock the car without depressing the hood switch it just locks and unlocks with no chirp. The only interesting thing is if I arm it by manually holding the hood switch in, THEN release the hood switch it doesn't go off at all.

My only thoughts are a) a malfunctioning motion sensor/tilt switch (I work at a VERY noisy airport, but have owned the car for a year and this never happened), or b) some sort of heat-related problem as it's been 95+ all day without a cloud in the sky.

Anything else it could be or anything else I can check? It's due for service in ~1600 miles so would rather hold off on a dealer visit for now - closest one is 1 hour away. Thanks!

Jim

[askjeeves]

my alarm has malfunctioned since the day i picked up the car at the welt. it's been checked every time the car goes to the dealership, and i believe most of the parts have been replaced, but the problem persists.

sometimes the alarm will go off immediately when i lock it. other times it will go off completely randomly when parked. i've resorted to just keeping the alarm disconnected in between dealership visits. it's in for service now and they are checking it again. if they finally figure out the problem i'll let you know what it ends up being.

[jimf15e]

Thanks. How did you disconnect/disable the alarm? I'd love to do the same - I really have no need for it anyway.

[askjeeves]

Originally Posted by jimf15e

Thanks. How did you disconnect/disable the alarm? I'd love to do the same - I really have no need for it anyway.

i unplug the connector going to the sensor in the headliner.

[ersin]

Could your coworker be pulling your chain?


Cheers.

[jimf15e]

Thought about it, but no - I believe him. Good point though.

Interestingly it hasn't happened again over the last 2 days. I unplugged and re-plugged the hood switch then pushed it in a few times. Otherwise so far so good.