Hey guys.. and gals!

Just wanted to say quick hello and introduce myself..
Ex Professional Installer with a bunch of scars and a tweeked back lol

I decided to share with you the install progress on my 2004 BMW M3 SMG

So First Up: 2 Way Remote Start and Alarm Install

Goal: pretty obvious

Product Used: DEI and some kind of CAN-BUS integration module (maybe).

Challenges: SMG transmission requires the vehicle to be in neutral and the foot brake engaged to initiate crank.

Factory Security: BMW EWS II system (transponder and factory alarm)


So if you guys are up for it, I can document the entire install and point out some tricks used along the way. Hopefully a few installers will chime in and give some feed back as well

Stay Tuned

 

Welcome to the site! Good luck with your install though it sounds like you have enough knowledge and experience to handle anything lol

 

Is it auto trans? Well even if it is you could put the remote start in standard mode(for a manual trans) as for the foot brake thats easy just use a relay triggered by negative status while running and that problem will be solved

 

Canadian_LX: Thanks for the welcome!

Godzilla: the car has an SMGII tranny... so its basically a manual trans (its got a clutch) but no pedal.. the sequence to start the car is like this: 1. ensure car is in neutral, 2. press the brake 3. hold key to "start position" till cpu tells the car to start cranking.

So I will use a 5901 from DEI (hear me out), hook up the neutral safety wire to the neutral contact switch on the gear selector (hopefully it provides a ground signal). Then for the foot brake, yes a relay will work but I dont want the brake lights to be on during the remote start cycle.. So I'm thinking about using the negative starter signal that feeds the high current relay pack to trigger the relay that will latch the foot brake switch.. hopefully timing wont be an issue...

Should work lol

 

Hopefully the neutral saftey switch can be bypassed. Although the safe thing to do would be to treat is as a traditional manual transmission for safety purposes(they will only start in nuetral and emergency brake engaged).

About the footbrake though all of the footbrakes I've ever seen are postive trigger, meaning the switch at the pedal is actually part of a relay and no actual current is there just trigger. So the negative trigger won't work(well it may but the brake lights will still go on!) I don't think there is a way to activate the footbrake switch without the brake lights coming on, it's kinda a safety thing. Even if you use the negative start to power a relay the brake lights would only be on for crank. It's a BMW, crank shouldn't last for more than a second or two befor it starts!

 

Zilla:

The car cannot start if its in gear.. the cpu wont let it crank. Its not like your conventional manual tranny.. I know where youre going.. Ive done tons of manual trans remote starts.

As for your comment about the brake switch.. i've never seen a positive "trigger" on a foot brake.. Ive only came across normally open switches.. but I think we are saying the same thing in different words lol

I know I cant completely have the brake lights off (well I could but that would require LOTS of diodes lol).. I just want them to come on during crank and not the entire remote start cycle..

As for the crank timing.. the issue is not with the how long the car "turns over" its how long the key must stay in the "start position" before the cpu tells the car to crank.. there's typically a 2 sec delay.. worst case I'll have to throw in a pulse timer relay (hate adding boxes all over the place lol)

Its nice to see people in a forum with some hands on experience

 

[QUOTE=PMG1;520228]
As for your comment about the brake switch.. i've never seen a positive "trigger" on a foot brake.. Ive only came across normally open switches.. but I think we are saying the same thing in different words lol
[QUOTE/]

Yeah I think so too!


[QUOTE=PMG1;520228]
I just want them to come on during crank and not the entire remote start cycle..

As for the crank timing.. the issue is not with the how long the car "turns over" its how long the key must stay in the "start position" before the cpu tells the car to crank.. there's typically a 2 sec delay.. worst case I'll have to throw in a pulse timer relay (hate adding boxes all over the place lol)

Its nice to see people in a forum with some hands on experience [QUOTE/]


That's what I meant when I said use the negative start output. Some cars have 2 start wires and the remote start should have a negative start wire that is meant to power a relay for the 2nd start wire. If you use that - start to power a relay on the foot brake, it would only work during crank. Therefore the lights would only be on during crank. This wire is also often used to bypass the clutch in a traditional manual transmission. I'm going to assume your using a viper remote start(made by DEI) and I'm 99% sure they will have a negative start out. You will need a relay as they are only 200ma output. It's much easier than cutting the brake wire adding diodes, relay's and all that other stuff.

 

Zilla:

Do you have any experience with the D2D components?

 

no never heard of them, and a quick internet search didn't yield anything either.