Coupe: What's the little box on the ceiling for?

S

Screamer

Member
 Flintshire
Hi all - title says it all really. There's a little box with chamfered edges that sits in the middle of the ceiling of my Z4MC - it's got front and rear-facing vents, and it sits on the lower section of the roof, in line with the lights/sunglasses holder. Any ideas what it does?
 
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Does it look like that? If it does, its for the tilt sensor if you have an alarm, if not it's just empty. In the E46 people have found cool things you can hide in there. Air freshener, V1, drugs, etc. etc.
 
Alarm / immobiliser is standard in the UK...I think?

The E39 5er has the same thing, E46 does too, and I always assumed this was part of the climate control...ooops LOL
 
BimmerZealot said:
Does it look like that? If it does, its for the tilt sensor if you have an alarm, if not it's just empty. In the E46 people have found cool things you can hide in there. Air freshener, V1, drugs, etc. etc.
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A tilt sensor alarm? :dizzy:

I am not entirely certain I need an alarm to inform me that my car is now upside down. If I do I certainly had no business being in my car in the first place - especially behind the wheel :drinking:
 
Thanks guys (only just come back to this thread).
BimmerZealot: yep, that's the thing. I see, so it's just the alarm. Given that it's a tilt sensor, what's the need for the vents? Given that some of you don't have it, I guess it must be the alarm. Like mikedav, I always assumed it would be part of the air con (esp given the vents on it), but also wondered why other cars didn't need such a thing...
enfield: i'd look into getting one if I were you. The first thing I said to myself was "I don't know what it is, but I do quite like it" lol!
AlanL, ah yes, but you're forgetting the possibility that someone else tips your car over while you're not in it: how are you going to know when you come to get back in?! You could feasibly sit there in it for hours with the engine running, wondering why you've not made it to work... :wink:

Thanks again!
 
AlanL said:
BimmerZealot said:
Does it look like that? If it does, its for the tilt sensor if you have an alarm, if not it's just empty. In the E46 people have found cool things you can hide in there. Air freshener, V1, drugs, etc. etc.
Click to expand...

A tilt sensor alarm? :dizzy:

I am not entirely certain I need an alarm to inform me that my car is now upside down. If I do I certainly had no business being in my car in the first place - especially behind the wheel :drinking:
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:lol: :lol:

Actually guys, it is the mount for the motion sensor for the alarm . Same box is in the MINI Cooper, and the ongoing curiosity was entertaining on the MINI forums regarding what it was for, and what it could be used for if you did not have the alarm installed :D
 
Aebous said:
Thats not the unit that projects a HUD (Heads Up Display) on your windshield? :poke: :poke:
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Now that's one heck of an idea! Or maybe it could project messages onto the rear window? :thumbsup:
 
Disco lights was what I was thinking about... that would look hawt driving at night, with some house / techno music at full blast. :o
 
Now that's an idea we can work with: I'm thinking 80's dance music and a rotating glitter ball that hangs from it 8)
Or perhaps it could be a pull-down walkie-talkie that's attached to an announcement system behind the grills?
 
AlanL: As the OP already made evident, clearly you misunderstood what I meant by tilt-sensor. For instance if someone tried to steal your wheels, the tilt sensor would go off, alerting you that your car is no longer flat on the ground. Hope this clears things up.

Not sure why US cars dont have them, possibly the US ones dont have tilt sensors or its placed somewhere else. Someone without a box jack up their car with the alarm on =P

You could possibly retrofit a box, if you really wanted the aesthetic or "storage" but again pretty pointless.
 
BimmerZealot said:
AlanL: As the OP already made evident, clearly you misunderstood what I meant by tilt-sensor. For instance if someone tried to steal your wheels, the tilt sensor would go off, alerting you that your car is no longer flat on the ground. Hope this clears things up.
Click to expand...

My response to the thread was not made with the intent of being taken seriously at all :trampoline:
 
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