[Bobdlt]

I have owned my 2017 I8 for a couple of years and have experienced no problems until now. Each time I lock the doors with the key fob, a few minutes later the car alarm goes off. I took it to the dealership and of course it would not go off in their setting. I am wondering if it is temperature related as their service bay is heated and my garage is not.

Anyone else experienced this problem? Any ideas?

[F5506m]

Do you have anything plugged in the OBDII like the tracker required by insurance carriers? That would set off your alarm. BMW does not allow a tracker to be connected to your ODBII port.

[Bobdlt]

Good idea. However, nothing is plugged in and the issue just started, which is puzzling. Is it possible, one or both of the locked door sensors has gone bad and therefore, the car believes it is not secure?

[thesubmitter]

Could it be when the key leaves the range of the car?

[docrog]

if it is plugged into the charger, then a harmonic motion/rhythm can be set up that sets of the motion sensor alarm. my dealer fixed it the second time with some foam attached to the alarm sensor at, from memory, the rear of the car

[Bobdlt]

The alarm will go off even if the key is next to the car. If out of range is the issue, that's scary if you park and go into a mall etc. I will ask about that however.

The harmonic suggestion is excellent because I leave it on the charger a lot. I will look into this solution. thanks

[ChiTownM]

If your door sensor has gone bad, it MAY constantly draw current from the 12V battery, and therefore drain the battery, which can leave to malfunctions of various things. Happened to me on my X5M….

[Bobdlt]

The door sensor is a possibility. It turned out by battery was five years old. I replaced it and the problem remained and then suddenly stopped. BMW is going to check the error codes today regarding door and lid sensors. I will let you know if anything is discovered.

[Bobdlt]

The BMW dealer scanned my I8 for errors such as door lock sensors etc. What they identified as an OBDII present within the vehicle. It was not plugged into the OBDII port but rather within the vehicle where other ports existed. They disconnected it and identified it as a GPS tracker.

Someone or somebody installed it in the car prior to my ownership. I wonder if this is a lesson for us all regarding the purchase of used vehicles. After all, I have now been tracked for two years now by someone!

To say I am angry is an understatement!

[MolarBear]

I had an OBD device left in for bimmer code. If I had the app on and active, and locked the car, it would always set off the alarm. If I quit the app, it was fine to be locked. This happened everytime. It also mentioned that my battery was being drained when stationery - another indicator of an OBD device.

[Bobdlt]

That would have led me to the problem...oh well, its gone now and didn't cost anything to remove it.