Alarm has a mind of its own.

[ben g]

OK, this has happened 4 times now and I imagine my neighbours are starting to get pretty annoyed by it :lol:

I originally thought it was frosty nights causing it, for whatever reason, but it went off at 09:30 this morning with no frost in the car.

Previous times were 03:45, 06:30 and 08:30, so yeah, rather annoying :headbang:

Is this the infamous bonnet alarm switch causing the alarm to go off at randomly stupid times?

I'm going to unplug that particular switch and see if it happens again, although I have taken to leaving the car unlocked as I'm sick of being woken up by it.

Weirdly, it only seems to happen when it's left locked on my driveway overnight. It hasn't happened whilst locked in my work carpark.

Could be a rogue cat I guess, as we usually have a black cat that sits on our cars, although I wouldn't expect the alarm to be that sensitive and it never used to happen. It's only the last few weeks it's started doing it.

 

[wonkydonkey]

I've had my bonnet switch unplugged for a few months now. Before doing that I dismantled the switch and found it to be operating fine, but repeated alarm triggers drove me to disconnect the switch. The problem went away!

At the same time as this, my battery fully died and wouldn't recover. This was probably because the alarm was constantly going off while I was at work. I replaced the battery last month and only yesterday decided to reconnect the bonnet switch. Sure enough, I was woken by my car alarm this morning at 05:30 :roll:

 

[buzyg]

jumping on the bonnet would likely leave prints.

 

[wonkydonkey]

jumping on the bonnet would likely leave prints.

Possibly. I'd recommend smearing the entire bonnet with general purpose grease so as to guarantee any witness marks should you have a fiddlesome feline.

 

[ben g]

jumping on the bonnet would likely leave prints.

Thats why I don't think it was the cat, as I haven't had prints left all week, yet it's gone off twice in the past few days.

Usually we get lots of tiny dirty cat prints :lol: drives me insane!

I'll unplug the bonnet switch and see what happens cheers wonkydonkey!

 

[Jembo]

Well, simply disconnecting the bonnet sensor for a week will likely give u the answer you’re seeking.

It needs to make a connection, so disconnecting it keeps circuit open ... if you sleep well, problem solved with a new one & they’re cheap as chips

 

[buzyg]

jumping on the bonnet would likely leave prints.

Possibly. I'd recommend smearing the entire bonnet with general purpose grease so as to guarantee any witness marks should you have a fiddlesome feline.

:lol: :rofl:

 

[Jembo]

jumping on the bonnet would likely leave prints.

Possibly. I'd recommend smearing the entire bonnet with general purpose grease so as to guarantee any witness marks should you have a fiddlesome feline.

:lol: :rofl:

or ask Perry to borrow his latest gimp mask

 

[ben g]

Well, simply disconnecting the bonnet sensor for a week will likely give u the answer you’re seeking.

It needs to make a connection, so disconnecting it keeps circuit open ... if you sleep well, problem solved with a new one & they’re cheap as chips

Anyone wishing to steal my zed is more than welcome :lol: I'm sick of the thing :headbang:

I'll pop the bonnet and have a look tomorrow. A new alarm sensor, if cheap, sounds a lot better than Leaving my car unlocked overnight!

 

[mr.tourette]

Well, simply disconnecting the bonnet sensor for a week will likely give u the answer you’re seeking.

It needs to make a connection, so disconnecting it keeps circuit open ... if you sleep well, problem solved with a new one & they’re cheap as chips

Anyone wishing to steal my zed is more than welcome :lol: I'm sick of the thing :headbang:

I'll pop the bonnet and have a look tomorrow. A new alarm sensor, if cheap, sounds a lot better than Leaving my car unlocked overnight!

Can you not just lock it via the key in the door.. i think that doesn't activate the alarm.. Although i may be thinking of my other car :lol:

 

[mr wilks]

Don't laugh but this time of year is likely to heighten the chances of fail with the bonnet switch .
Assuming car is outdoors day temps 15deg ? Night temps down to -2 ? The bonnet is one big lump of metal that will expand & contract with that swing of temps so movement inevitable

 

[Lynchy]

:rofl:

 

[ben g]

Well, simply disconnecting the bonnet sensor for a week will likely give u the answer you’re seeking.

It needs to make a connection, so disconnecting it keeps circuit open ... if you sleep well, problem solved with a new one & they’re cheap as chips

Anyone wishing to steal my zed is more than welcome :lol: I'm sick of the thing :headbang:

I'll pop the bonnet and have a look tomorrow. A new alarm sensor, if cheap, sounds a lot better than Leaving my car unlocked overnight!

Can you not just lock it via the key in the door.. i think that doesn't activate the alarm.. Although i may be thinking of my other car :lol:

The bracket holding the lock in place broke years ago, so the lock just spins around :headbang: :lol: I'll be getting that fixed next month.

 

[mr wilks]

:rofl:

Don't believe me
I had a Z that only had a issue when outside overnight this time of year ,
Parked in garage alarm on never triggered :wink: so digest that Mr Lynch

 

[Lynchy]

Oh I believe you mr wilks, I just fancied a laugh

 

[wonkydonkey]

I'll pop the bonnet and have a look tomorrow. A new alarm sensor, if cheap, sounds a lot better than Leaving my car unlocked overnight!

Between now and the day you get your new bonnet switch, you can just disconnect the bonnet switch electrical connector and then lock your car via the fob

 

[kis]

I've had this before and it turned out to be a coin battery I'd left in the centre console section (just under the handbrake). I'd recently swapped out the cell for my Parrot system.

Apparently the same is said for any loose change you may have?

https://z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1050911#p1050911

 

[Monster666]

Had the same problem - took a couple of attempts of removing the bonnet switch & blasting with wd40 to solve it.

 

[Jollyjoiner]

I had the same issue on my my old e46 330i and e85 and on both cars I bought new bonnet switches which sorted out the fault

 

[ben g]

I've had this before and it turned out to be a coin battery I'd left in the centre console section (just under the handbrake). I'd recently swapped out the cell for my Parrot system.

Apparently the same is said for any loose change you may have?

https://z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1050911#p1050911

My interior contains precisely nothing. I can't stand having crap laying around inside a car :lol: