Where's the best place to get the factory alarm and is it easily retrofittable?

Thanks!

 

Yes they are retrofittable. Actually they are available only as a retrofit (installed by the owner or dealer, although I think it will finally be available from the factory for 2012). You can look at the link below and judge the difficulty. Even if you install it yourself, you'll need to have a dealer program the car.

http://www.motoringfile.com/2007/06/...m-install-pdf/

 

Luckily my buddy is a BMW Tech and can also work on Mini's...hahaha. So it looks like I can get this done easily. Thanks for the link to the PDF. About how much should I expect to pay for the alarm?

 

That write up is from 2007. On my 2008 they installed it at the dealer. When I got my 2011 I was told it could only be installed at the factory from now on.

 

That's what I thought too. I was told when ordering that "if" I wanted the alarm, but did not order it @Porduction, installing a Factory Alarm afterwards was not do-able!! We got the Alarm!!

 

but a 2010 is still retrofittable correct?

 

ON a 2010 it may or may not be retrofit-able. it all depends on if the wiring harness was installed.

Some early 2010 models came with the 2009 harness which had the wiring but that was short lived.

the only way to know is to open up the roof control panel and see if the wiring it there. if not you are out of luck

 

I have a 3/10 build. Will have to open it up to verify. Typically BMW does refreshes after March build dates. So it's possible starting April they removed the harness. Will post back to let you guys know. Thanks!

 

Okay since I think it was around 2008 or 2009 they STOPPED including the prewiring for the alarm since "so few people buy them". I am not sure the exact time frame but I am 100% sure of the removal of the harness. As far as I know they have NOT started to put that harness on the cars again. My 2010 bought in JANUARY 2010 does not have it so they stopped putting in the harness sometime before Jan 2010.(Mini of Dallas has DIY days and opens their shop to our auto club and I have talked with numerous techs about this). Since they did that the car CAN be retrofitted at the tune of around $1500-2000. It requires buying the alarm and the no longer included harness and I think my tech at Mini of Dallas said 10 hours of labor(he seems to think thats in error since it requires removal of the dash and significant parts of the steering column to get all the wires to their proper location). His estimate was more in the 20 plus hour range. He was really floored that they decided to do that but the bean counters won out. Since the expense is so high and the work load is so extensive many dealers are claiming that its now ONLY a factory option when it is really not but at the same time very few people would pay $2000 for an alarm instal. If you really want the alarm get it installed at the factory or just forget it at all. Aftermarket is probably the best option at this point.

If you are asking about your Laurel Edition it MIGHT have been wired anyway since it was a special edition but its doubtful. Best way is to take it in to the dealer and ask them to have a tech look at your car and check. It took my tech (one of the above MoD techs) less than two minutes to check. He popped the hood and looked on the drivers side for a part that would be there if it was prewired. I honestly did not pay much attention to what he was looking ar/for beyond his confirmation that my car did not have the wiring.

 

Just went and looked at the online site to order things and there are two options listed one for cars after 9/2009 thats $50 more andone for cars from before 9/2009. I know for a fact they used to list the wiring harness seperate so it appears they have combined that into the newer listing(maybe people were confused about it so they just made the one kit or there might still be a part for the harness they just dont show). So looks like the change occured in Sept of 2009. So if the alarm kit is now $280 and labor at the dealer runs at least $100 an hour( yeah right even with my auto discount at MoD through my club we are still a tad over that) and if it does only take 10 hours then you are looking at $1280 for the install. If it takes the 20 hours my tech seems to think(and he said he was probably under shooting based on the document he studied that listed the procedure but that there was no way their numbers could be right) then you are looking at a $2280 install. Of course that all depends on wether you can even get the dealer to attempt the alarm install in the first place(alot are just saying factory only now rather than explain all this to the customer).

 

I just got my Mini and want to install the alarm also but no one has mentioned where to buy one? thanks

 

With yours you just need the alarm kit, your car is already pre wired. We sell the kit if you need, just email me.

I guess it is Sept 09 that they stopped the pre wiring for the alarm, I'm not sure yet the earliest car I found that wasn't prewired was 11/09.

Also I'm drooling that I see you have a LSB M Coupe, I love that car and that color.

 

PM sent

 

From what I have been told for a newer MINI ... after market is not suggested and will void your warranty. Since your wire system is everywhere, voiding that warranty would be bad... right?

Is this all true? Any after market suggestions?

 

I know this is an old thread but I am going to ship my Clubman overseas and I NEED to have an alarm. Can someone who knows a lot about this chime in?

2009 Clubman (Production 11/2008)

- Should I be pre-wired?
- This is the kit I need? 65730417646 or 65730445530? http://motoringfile.com/files/R56_alarm.pdf

 

- yes
- 65730445530

 

Mini//M as stated above, you are pre-wired and the install was fairly simple. the only difficult time I had was removing the wipers to get to the area where the motion box goes. but all wiring was in place. All I had to do at the dealer was have them configure the computer to accept the alarm. Good Luck

 

Thank you Price!

alremc, thank you for the pointers. I will have my NCS coder just switch the option on.

Ordering it later this week!