Alarm going off randomly
 

Hi,

Wondering what may be causing the alarm to go off randomly (while sitting outside). It's happened a few times out on my driveway and almost positive noone was really there.

The switch under the hood is bad. Just unhook the connector then you all set.

The car will still lock and all right?

MrBMWX5....where did you get your head lights? Are they the new uhp ones or the one before?

I am still wanting new depo lights but cannot get a good deal and right now there is nothing on ebay.

Yes .. the car still lock and secure like normal.


Those are factory xenon headlights and i did mod them out by removing the ambers and waffers then add the CCFL AE rings .

+1 on the hood switch. Should run around $12.95 plus tax.

Dan

i had a door switch doing the same thing. are you getting any error message on the dash?

Alarm problem
 

Its the switch under the hood, not that the switch is bad,but just that the hood is not striking the the switch anymore, i just put a piece of padding between the switch and the hood and it fixed the problem

Is this ever crazy. I posted a thread on the exact same thing today as well. I'm going to take a look at the hood switch also. When I called the dealership, those idiots couldn't help me at all. They said they would have to go into the computer and diagnose it blau, blau, blau. THanks guys.

I am not getting any error on the dash...what is the part # to this switch?

+1

can anybody tell me where the switch is? this just started happening to me 2 days ago, and its annoying the hell out of me. also, what is the part # to replace it?

HAHA i was just about to post about this.....well im off to look at the switch now Thanks

where is it located? can you post a pic? i cant find anything in the manual.:(

Well, it's under the hood. It is pretty easy to determine which one it is, as the hood presses the buttton down when you close it (well, at least it should, and that is why it often causes false alarms).

Here is a picture of the switch from realoem, but they don't show the location. Item 6 in this clip.

Edit: ECS have a better picture of it here (click the photo in the link for multiple views)

Home Page > Search > ES168350 - ECS Tuning Inc

Here are the pics i just took.

I am going to later take it apart and reapply some lube to it. It was pretty hard to press it down I think it needs to be just cleaned out and re-lubed and it might work well.

thanks guys!

Brilliant guy's...I just took some WD40 and gave the switch a squirt and all is well again.

Wowwww. I thought it was just me! For the last 2 weeks my alarm has been going on and off randomly. Thought it was because of the noise coming from other cars but it's only been my cars alarm getting set off. Checking the hood switch mañana. Thanks!

The switch is located on the rear passenger side under your hood. I do not have a part number I just added mmore padding t mine so that the plunger goes in further. Problem solved.

:iagree:Unless you are in the uk of course and then it's the drivers side:D
same happened to mine a while back and a new switch from the dealers was only about £10 IIRC and sorted the problem.

I unplugged mine and nomore random alarm going off. ::thumbs up::

I suppose the logic behind BMW putting this switch to the hood, was due to their expectation that a thief would steal something from under the hood, or try and disable the alarm while it is going off?

I too was having alarm going off for absolutely no reason. I don't know if this switch is to blame yet, but I squirted some WD-40 in there to attempt a quick-fix, before sourcing a replacement switch.

Though, I may just remove the switch all together like Engz did. I'm really not too worried about the prospects of a thief urgently trying to raise my hood (for whatever reason)...

EDIT: I disconnected switch under the hood, problem as gone away. No affect on keyless entry or anything else it would appear.



--Scott

Terrific! Thanks guys. I just had this issue and at 2:30am. Unplugged the switch and Now back to bed with a quiet X5.

Though this does make me think off topic ... We lost the under hood light in our cars (at least in the 3.0), which likely would have been connected to the same switch. My E24 has a light. My E34 does not.

Hi I had the same problem recently. It turned out to be the bonnet/ hood switch mounting bracket had been slightly bent causing the switch to not make proper contact by a clumsy brake fitter when he was topping up the brake master cylinder with fluid. He must have leant on it . Anyways I just bent the bracket back and sorted the problem. Hopes this info helps

What year X5s is that issue for?

hood switch is in the same location for all E53s

Hi, Mine was like that and the culprit was the hood switch! There is a switch for the alarm in the hood/bonnet it is located on the passenger side (engine bay) "black switch that is depressed when you close the hood. Mine went away after placing a foam of some sort to aid in the switch depression when the hood closes. Try that and get back here in the forum if that fixes your problem. :-)

If you have INPA, you can check what has set off the alarm. This is thanks to scottjoh.
(mine was the hood switch being the problem also)

Go into the E53 -> Body -> Central Body Electronic ZKE3 -> Read - Shadow. There you should find the trip source for the alarm and the number of occurrences with 31 being the maximum.[/QUOTE]

Thanks all. Been having the same issue. I just tried the WD40 and checked the bracket. If that doesn't help then I'll replace it. Thanks again. Love this site!

^You can unplug it and solve your problems for free you know.

Yes. I was trying the button thing first. But the alarm still went off. So I looked at the bracket and in doing so broke it because it is molded plastic and was brittle. So I just disconnected it! :) so far 3 hours later and no false alarm!

I actually dremeled the bracket off of mine like it was never there, after I removed the defective switch.