Imobilizers?

[GGM]

Hi guys, just wondering about imobilizers on bmw's. Are they standered on all cars and to what extent do they function and work?

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Just cleaned the car before work today. Ahhh the feeling of driving a clean car (damn the brake dust!)

 

[MrElussive]

The immobilizer completely prevents the engine from being started unless it is the correct key with the correct electronic code. Most new cars today come with an electronic engine immobilizer except for the very inexpensive ones.

 

[andreyiv]

The e36 I drive came with this thing that you can't start the car with the door open but when I got the car in for door lock service they disabled it and I forgot to tell them to trun it back on, oh well.

 

[MrElussive]

Can't start the car with the door open?? That's a weird safety feature....

 

[codex57]

The e36 I drive came with this thing that you can't start the car with the door open

Wow, that feature would really annoy me. I'm sure glad they didn't put that in our Mercedes. Everytime I park it, I leave the door open and the engine running and get out to check to make sure I parked far enough in so that the garage door doesn't close on the car.

 

[bmwrocks]

codex57 you are killing me Are you telling us that you cannot judge your distance inside the garage by lining up with something? For instance, I know that if I align the edge of my door with the edge of a set of shelves in my garage, then the car is in far enough. Also I think the "feature" andreyiv is referring to doesn't cut his engine off when he opens the door if it's already running. Just can't start the car with the door open.

Please understand no flame intended codex.

 

[codex57]

Nope, I can't judge the distance b/c there's really nothing to judge against except my golf bag in front. I haven't driven the car enough to place it in a space w/ about a 4 inch margin of error using my golf bag as a guide. It's that cramped in my garage. We have some long headboard thing on the passenger side which really has no distinguishing marks. The heavy tint and dim garage lighting doesn't help. The minivan on the other side keeps moving so it's unreliable as a guide. I can park my BMW and the minivan by eyeballing where I am using posts or other objects, but there's really nothing around the Mercedes to use cept my golf bag. The small margin for error sure doesn't help too (if I park 3 or 4 inches away from the garage door, that leaves about a foot to squeeze by in the front so it's not a lot of room)

 

[bmwrocks]

My dad has attached a tennis ball on a string to his garage ceiling that hangs down to contact his windshield at the point where he wants to stop.

I haven't had to resort to this yet, although I somehow have to convince my wife that just because I want to do the tennis ball trick for her (cause she can't ever park in the same spot twice) it doesn't mean I think she's stupid and don't love her anymore.

Codex, does your garage have a ceiling? do they have tennis balls in SoCal? How about string and nails? [joke]

 

[codex57]

If I ever get motivated enough to dig out the ladder and buy and install the string and tennis ball, that's when you'll see me go out and buy that rubber bump stop thingy to let me know when I've parked far enough. Since it's not my car and I don't drive it every day, I'll be lazy and just get out and check.