[COOPER1.616V]

DOES ANYONE KNOW HOW GOOD THE IMMOBILISER IS ON THE COOPER AND IF AN ALARM IS WORTH THE MONEY?

[R1]

Somebody on here who worked for an insurance company posted that the immobiliser was of a very high standard.

I have the alarm fitted for extra security ......... and it gives you that cool flashing light on the end stalk as well!!

[Chris Williams]

R1,

I too have the alarm, I guess the problem with car alarms is that many people tend to just ignore them when they go off, but the extra deterent is useful. I'm suprised in a way that the car doesn't come with a little MINI sticker saying this car is alarmed, but like you I had the alarm because the flashing led is cool!! Abit like I had the climate control because the centre console is neat!

Regards
Christopher

Finally reached 400 posts!!

[lightbody]

I got the alarm so that *I* could hear if someone was tampering with it! Mind you, that only works if I can get it parked close enough to my flat to hear it!

A mercedes kept me up most of last night with its alarm going off which sounded EXACTLY like mine! Memories come flooding back of my 98 Cooper 1.3i with standard dodgy Rover alarm that would just activate at random - it worked by blowing the horn - very loud, very annoying, very useless, sold it!

[Chris Williams]

Mercedes alarms are notorious for going off, my mother has a merc and its alarm seems very sensitive. My father had a Mercedes about 6 years ago, on the day of picking it up we took it to a branch of Sainsburys locked it and the alarm went off and had to have the garage come out to disarm it. It was a useful post elsewhere to find out what the MINI alarm sounds like...mine hasn't gone off yet...touch wood.

Regards
Christopher

[sniece]

I've been wondering about putting in the Mini alarm too...does it only have a proximity (radar) sensor, I suppose this would cover any opening of doors, etc. Does it establish a perimeter OUTSIDE the car too, or will it only activate when you get into the car through the window, etc?

On another note...where did that keychain come from? It looks pretty cool.

Steve

[GTmini]

Quote:

Originally posted by sniece
On another note...where did that keychain come from? It looks pretty cool.

Steve

...DITTO! I'm really wondering about the keychain too. Very nice. It would be nice if that was the standard keychain...about 1.5 more months before my MCS will finally be here

[R1]

Quote:

Originally posted by sniece
On another note...where did that keychain come from? It looks pretty cool.

Steve

The key chain in the photo is the standard keychain given out in the UK by the dealers. It has the MINI accident management and MINI emergency service phone numbers engraved on one side and the MINI logo on the other.

[ar75]

Do you know how much is the key chain? I want to get one because I cannot find a good one in the market.

[Chris Williams]

If anyone wants the UK keychain they can have mine!! I find it to be very bulky and it tends to knock against the fascia when driving.

Regards
Christopher

[StevePSB]

The orange bit has fallen out of mine, and the chrome is getting scratched.

[dcfkan]

The motion sensor part of the alarm/immobiliser is very good, and you are strongly advised to switch that bit off when taking the car on a boat as it will be set off the alarm by slight rocking!

DK :apple:

[TobesM]

Its a bit late at night to test this, but I have a (very) expensive sound level meter in the house (works, not mine) and it might be worth seeing how loud the alarm is. I'll try it and get back to you.

However, the alarm on the mini isn't nearly as good as that on my parents Volvo 440, which is painfully loud. This thing is doing damage to your hearing!

Will try a B&K 2260 at 1m from a mini and pass on the findings tomorrow!

[IMAXMINI]

I asked for the alarm to be installed on my MCS predelivery.
I was told, "we don't have any but we'll TRY to order it for you." by the dealer. "How much is it?", I asked. "We don't know because we've never put one in."
Fortunately, my car was delayed due to a shipping accident so they got all that worked out and the alarm was installed in time for delivery.
Nearly a week after taking delivery, the alarm started going mad. In the garage it chirped and flashed ALL night. I didn't hear it but all of my neighbors within earshot did. OOPS! It was also arming/locking all by itself when you'd try to disarm/unlock...a bit of a problem if you actually wanted to get in the car.
Called the dealer of course: "hmmm..that's weird. We don't know anything about the alarm so we can't tell you what to try. If it happens again, bring it in." We reset it according to the instructions in the owners manual and all seems to be back to normal so far. According to the dealer, there is no other manual that comes with it; just the short section in the owners manual. Keep it handy because you'll probably need it and it seems that the dealerships aren't putting a high priority on training/informing their techs and salespeople on all aspects of MINI.
It is a beautifully integrated system though and is very loud as my neighbors can confirm. My new plan is to call the local BMW dealer when I have problems. They were much more helpful than MINI in this situation and one of the techs actually owns one and cares about sounding knowledgable of BMW products.
I'm trying to convince myself that all the problems with the dealer are "growing pains". I'm used to Toyota though so I guess my expectations are too high. Here's to being hopeful.

[TobesM]

Quote:

Originally posted by IMAXMINI

Fortunately, my car was delayed due to a shipping accident so they got all that worked out and the alarm was installed in time for delivery.

The reason it was late is probably because of the sinking of a car transporter ferry in the English Channel a little while ago. It was carrying BMW's, Volvos and Saabs, but sank on teh way across from mainland Europe, as far as I know, its still there, becoming a nice obstacle for other shipping!

Following its visit to the UK, it was supposed to take a hold of MINI's to the US for the detroit show, and maybe some lucky punters.

[oopsdy]

yikes! any people lost? (I don't think it made it into our news - we are bit preoccupied with other stuff)

[IMAXMINI]

Yes I know it was the mv Tricolor. Very captivating story. www.2wglobal.com
I was trying to stay on topic with the alarm. I'm now in a frustrating email string with mini. They keep telling me to ask my "service manager" at the dealer no matter how many times I tell them that my service manager says, "I don't know". The car seems to be fixed so in case anyone has the same problem here's what we did:
Opened all doors, the boot and bonnet; closed boot, bonnet, and (get in car) doors; put key in ignition; turn one click; turn back to lock position and remove key. Car/alarm should be back to normal. Ours is. Incidently, the doors, boot and bonnet were all completely closed before this all started.