Winter is Approaching.... Who has a remote starter? Brand? Price?

I have nothing but good things to say about my Viper alarm with remote start.

I can break out my iPhone and lock/unlock and start/stop the truck... from anywhere.

Integrates perfectly with the factory alarm to have 2 levels of protection.

Cost was around $850 installed, $130 for the 3 years of the phone/GPS service.

Not bad EP..........i was thinking about this..but just too much for me..lol....i always had it in my cars..but the bmw i was a little weary about frying anything.....

I would love this, but $850 is steep...

Can anyone elaborate on why it is bad to idle the car? I did read in the manual that they dont want you to sit and warm the car up. Is this x5 specific? I have never heard this in my life, owned tons of cars....

It is bad for all cars. Idling does not warm up the engine quickly, it is very slow. The amount of engine wear you get upon cold startup is not related so much to engine load, as it is related to the duration of the warming cycle, ie how much time it spends cold. Since it takes so long to warm up the engine at idle, you get much more wear than if you just started driving it. That doesn't mean high loads and high rpm on a cold engine; until it is warm you should keep the rpm moderate, and avoid lugging it. But you should start driving as soon as you have oil pressure, about 10 seconds. The exception is if you don't have visibility due to fogged windows, etc.

On a BMW, while it is the same type of damage as any other vehicle, the consequences of not following this procedure are higher and more expensive. Problems with the crankcase ventilation system are most common.

This is kind of funny (if its true) because i used to own an audi S4 (huge cold weather car) and those forums had about 10x the members as xoutpost. Everyone on there was so paranoid about their cars that people would warm them up at idle like 10-15 minutes EVERYDAY. Those cars has problems with guides breaking because of lack of lubrication (or who knows why) and everyone thought the problem was not warming up the car(oil) enough.

It makes sense to me I suppose, I have just never heard that. Can you define lugging in an automatic transmission vehicle?

Lugging is applying a high (relative) load at low rpm. If you have to put your foot in it to get it moving, you are putting more load on the crank bearings than if you drive with a light foot. Automatics provide some protection over and above a manual transmission vehicle (which can be in the wrong gear), but it is the same idea. Use a light throttle foot, low revs, until it is warm.

Lots of people warm up their vehicles at idle, not knowing any better. Most of them are convinced that they are being nice to their vehicle. The problem with common sense is that it isn't always common practice, which is to say that lots of people doing the wrong thing doesn't make it the right thing. Not idling a vehicle has been the recommendation of automakers for decades now, but old habits die hard.

You heard it now. bundle up and take it like a man. give it 30 secounds for oil pressure and than begin driving with a light throttle foot until engine is warm enough.

dont gotta tell me twice! Ive been late to work!!! :bustingup

with the amount of work done on your truck if it were me i DEFINITELY would happily pay 850 for the dual levels of alarm system from prying eyes :thumbup: