I purchased the factory alarm for my 04 MCS since the car was prewired for it (I found most of the wire harness plugs and they are very esy to get to). Unfortunately, while my alarm kit was in the mail I found out that the current factory alarm will not work on the 04 models both on this forum and from every dealer that I talked to, even Mini customer service (the 866- ASKMINI number).

So then I take a look at the alarm kit when it comes in. It pretty much follows the parts list for the offical install instructions posted on the net. All it consists of is hardware: the ultrasonic sensor, tilt sensor, wiper stalk w/led, alarm siren adn associated brackets and screws. The actual alarm "brain" is the computer brain in the car.

I am willing to bet that all of the hardware is the same and that it will plug into the car at the factory pre-wire locations. These are the same components that are used in the BMW factory alarm systems. I have the BMW electronic parts manual, although the part numbers are slightly different, the diagrams of the components look pretty much identical to the parts that came in my kit. I find it hard to believe that BMW would redesign their alarm system components for just the Mini, this is not good business sense to me.

So now I want to know why this hardware won't work in an 04 Mini. If it is because the computer in the 04 mini is different from 02-03 cars, and requires different software for the 04 computer to interface with the alarm hardware, I can believe this. For whatever reason Mini has not put out the new software yet so that the dealers can program the car to recognize the alarm components (which is in poor taste on Mini's part I might add). If this is the case, then I should be able to go ahead and install the alarm hardware and wait for the dealers to get the required software. The only problem is I don't know for sure. The last thing I want to do is install the new hardware only to find out there is new hardware, but again, that really doesn't make much sense.

The one limited bit of info that Mini Customer Support could give me (which was more than anything from the dealer) is that there is a "wire harness" issue that is being addressed, there was no mention of other new hardware requirements. Unfortunately, the rep could not be more specific about the "wire harness" issue. At best, it could be a simple plug that has to be added somewhere to the already installed alarm harness. At worst, the entire alarm wire harness would have to be replaced in the car (which definitely means I am going aftermarket), but again I highly doubt that.

So can anybody with access to some reliable information shed some light on this issue?

 

After hearing this and many other issues, I am going to vent on the poor quality of BMW manufacturing.

Why would they release the '04 not being capable of handling the alarm. They are the ones that put these cars together, don't they have any forsight or testing. Normally one issue wouldn't be that bad, we can all expect that once in a while a company may miss something. But this is getting ridiculous.

They release the Sirius Radio system, but it won't work with NAV systems. What! was the engineer falling asleep during meetings when they discussed the available options that the Mini comes with. The NAV unit has been around since the beginning with no real changes (except DVD). Not acceptable!

They release the Harmon Kardons on the 2003 saying they are Aux ready. Didn't see a stupid (I mean stupid, because once the cable came out, I could have wired it in a few minutes) cable for almost a year. Not acceptable!

They start getting a stumble issue amongst users. They are aware of the problem and are trying to fix it. Do they contact any customers offering an apology and stating that they are working on a fix via an official statement. No, they dribble out bits of information that contradicts itself and even there own company representatives don't have any information. Not acceptable!

Dealership Sales offices are charging (I mean gouging) higher prices for add on parts than there own service department charges. Not acceptable!

They proclaim an enthusiast driven community, but yet they sic there corporate law firms on every website that mentions the word "Mini". Not acceptable!

The list goes on and on. They tout an open community, but yet it is extremely secretive with tons of disinformation, official statements retracted from websites and replaced with modified statements, with no explanation as to why. Of all the complaints with the automobile, the best fix that they could shout about was some lame cup holders that they added (for an inflated price mind you).

Don't get me wrong, I love my car and I love the community. I am just getting bitter at BMW/Mini. They really need a public relations overhaul. All of this stuff could be easily fixed and the perception could be removed with no cost to them. All they need to do is support an open community with lots of communication. You can't drive mini enthusiasm in communities with a total lack of proper communication.

 

UPDATE...

I just took a closer look at the components that came with my alarm kit and the official alarm instal instructions I found posted on the net. The one discrepancy that I noted was that in the install instructions it mentions that the plug that goes into the wiper stalk is a 10 pin plug. I took a look at the wiper stalk that came with my kit and noticed that it only had 8 pins. Now this by itself does not necessarily mean anything, but the other plugs for the other hardware components matched what was in the install instructions. Could this be part of the "harness adapter" issue that the Mini rep was talking about? I doubt it, but who knows. So far this is the only thing I have really found.