Command start
 

Well just doing a lil prep for winter coming up.
Just wondering who has command start installed and what they went with.

Im looking at a 2 way...1 place quoted me about 1100 installed for I think top end Compustar.

Is that about right?

BMW doesn't like remote starts. Not saying it can't be done but I think it has to do with the way the EWS syncs the keys. I've never seen a compatible module so your going to have to give up a 200$ key

or you can use your valet key, that's what I plan on doing with mine. I will be using a compustar 6200 RS module, and adding the drone too it. It will start using the factory remote keys when Im near if Im not in sight of the vehicle using my Iphone will activate the remote start. I have friends at compustar and I have done mobile audio/video/security for years and although it can be difficult at times installing into a BMW, its not impossible as some people suggest. The newer cars you just plug in modules and program, no splicing of wires, our cars are different however. I would say that 1100 seems a little high, but I don't know what RF kit or any options you are adding are.

For $1100+, it seems like one could wander out and start it, to let it run for a min or so, before driving off.
GL, mD

x2 it's a hell of a lot of coin for being lazy.

And the fact that historically these things aren't the easiest to install properly, I wouldn't do it. Remote starters are so Y2K

On really cold days, I use my intern as a remote start.

Considering that it is not a recommended procedure in cold weather to start the vehicle and idle it for more than a minute or so, in reality its a waste of money since the remote starter does nothing positive for the vehicle anyway.

Giving it 30 seconds to a minute for warm-up and then driving slowly and at lower rpm until up to operating procedure is the best way to warm up the E53

Heated seats & steering wheel and following the instructions in the owners manual & letting BMW's engineered warm up cycle do it's things is all I need in the winter. :)

By the time I'm about 1/2 mile down the road or about 3-5 minutes (depending on how cold it is)...the needle is moving out of the blue section and warm air is starting to come through. But the heated seats & steering wheel suffice until the HVAC system catches up. :)

I have remote start (bought it that way, the 1st owner before me had it done, so i dont know details), i have a little seperate fob, which has my remote start button, press again and it shuts off, unlock/lock/and trunk pop as well works on it...

Mine is kept in the garage so i rarely use it... Maybe when im out and walking to the car now just to get the AC running before i hop in.


And heres the reasons i dont use it much, especially reluctant in winter where ive had these two things happen..

Once i remote start, luckily i got in car only about 30 sec later but i noticed that it was flashing low oil pressure stop engine, which i can attribute to now maybe just a bad readinf the sensor got as ive got it 2-3 times in the past 2 years, shut off car, restart and no message.


2nd time this past winter i opened my garage door and remote started (garage not heated, and brutal 0F temp days the past winter here in PA, well 1 min later i stroll into garage and car sounds like a freakin can of marbles running... It sounded exactly like the 4.4 tensioner chain slap noise which i know is uncommon on n62s now.. Well shut it off, restart, now it sounds worse...

Shut it off getting a burning plastic smell, turned out one of the plastic pulleys just came off and belt was running on the small metal wheel where it attaches to... Minor issue in the end total 30-35$ fix but had me scared enough where i dont like to start it without being next to it or getting in it quickly.

:iagree:

Well I live in Winnipeg...AKA WINTERPEG..one of the coldest cities in Canada.

I live in an apartment where I have to go down stairs, outside...run across the side of the building to the gated lot if I needed to let it run for 5 mins..then run back up. Too much time...

And it's not the cold weather package either so no heated seats or steering wheel.




But if the CONS out weight the PROS..then I'll listen to the experts on the board here..

There seems to be a bunch of haters here on the board, valid points, agreed but they are convenient. After reading what everyone has to say, It will not stop me from installing one on my X, I have had one on my M3 for more years then I can count and its done more good (for me) then harm (for the car). Like I said before $1100 sound a little high, the only thing I can stress is that if you decide to do it, make sure he outfit who is doing the work is reputable and you have seen examples of their work. Installing them on BMW's (newerish) is not an easy task so you will want someone who knows what they are doing. The only downside is the losing of the key, I haven't checked recently but they (compustar/ads) were working on eliminating that. So that being said, if you do choose to do it, let us all know the details and how you like it. Is there really nobody else on the board who has Remote Starts??

Good Luck
Dave

:iagree:

I have had a remote start on my 2004 3.0 since the week after I bought it. 2 winter seasons and no problems. In Michigan with our winters no way I am not going to have remote start.

You will have to give up the valet key unless they have a new interface box but I doubt it. Make sure you use a good shop, the place that I used were not real bright.... :thumbdown and will never take anything back. Everything works right now though.

Hit start, jump in the shower, by the time I walk out the door the ice is melted off the windows and I am ready to roll.

The whole anti remote start is due to European laws about idling, if it was driveline based non European car companies wouldnt include them from the manufacturer

Two points. My city has an anti-idling law, it isn't just a European thing. Quite a few North American cities have them.

Secondly, the biggest concern is damage to the engine from extending the warm up period, more of a factor in cold climates. Engines warm very slowly at idle with no load. If you aren't going to keep the vehicle, and don't mind the accelerated wear, then fine. If you live in a warm climate, also less of an issue. If you have a PCV instead of an oil separator, you also have more latitude. But from an engineering standpoint, idling a cold engine in a cold ambient is just a bad idea, where ever your vehicle was designed and built. North American manufacturers offer remote starts because they are giving up on educating their customers about the above. Fifty years of telling customers not to idle a cold engine, and many still think it is appropriate. At least this way they get to sell them more parts and service.

Lowblock...fairly over the top, imo.
Few 'haters' here.

If you or the OP like the remote start, get one/use it, we don't care...but we don't hate much of anything here, and none of us here whom I am familiar with on this board, 'hate' anyone posting here. I hate ISIS, et al, but not any hate toward anyone's 'own bag' and desires, esp car-wise.

Idling for 10-15 mins isn't rec'd, as noted by posters that have know their stuff.

I grew up in Detroit, and went to school in Michigan...it is cold in winter, but it isn't the UP. Still don't see the need for a remote start.
GL, mD

Also anything north of $500 is pretty crazy, unless you are getting 2 way + smart start(cell Phone remote) and even then you should be able to do that for less than $700.

Ok so its closing down on winter soon.
So a local shop quoted me 750 for install of a Compustar pro 90. Lifetime installation warranty and 2 yr on unit warranty.

Anyone else lately think about command start yet?

Plus last winter we hit -50 and such..

Your vehicle likely didn't. Wind chill doesn't impact vehicles.

sorry -40 without windchill:nanana:

And please Vancouver...LOL

If you want cold speak to us Winnipegers and Calgarians

Ex Edmonton and Grande Prairie. Worked for years throughout the Yukon, occasionally the NWT. Family in Calgary, visit regularly. And I still wouldn't subject a BMW to extended warming up by idling with no load.:stickpoke