This message is marked as Important.

Subject: Remote keyless entry retrofit Author: DavidC (moderator) : member since December, 2003 : 11909 posts Posted on: 2004-05-15 16:40:10

Most late-model cars come equipped with a factory-installed remote keyless entry system. Adding such a system to the e23 is a really easy project for a do-it-yourselfer, and one which you'll appreciate again and again for the life of your vehicle.

There are quite a few options available from aftermarket suppliers. You can get units that feature alarms, automatic door locking, starter interrupt, remote starting, power-window control and more. I elected to go with the Valiant Remote Keyless Entry System. It's available from JCWhitney for $55.

The Valiant system is inexpensive and easy to install, plus it includes two long-range (approximately 200') 4-button remotes. It can flash the car's parking lights and honk the horn on lock/unlock. In addition, it can interface with the e23's power locks to auotmatically lock the doors a few seconds after starting the car, and to automatically unlock the doors when the car is turned off.


The remote transmitter.


The controller, which I mounted under the driver's-side dashboard kickpanel.


The white wire from the controller taps into the parking lights in the ignition harness under the steering column.


The yellow wire from the controller taps into the small green wire for ignition-sense.


The red wire taps into the car's +12V power while the black wire goes to vehicle ground. Both of these connections are available in the car's lock control module, located on the wall of the footwell, above the hood-release lever. The controller has it's own fuse. The final two blue and green connections are for activating the power door locks, which are also available in the harness of the car's lock control module as shown above. Disregard the blue wire with the butt connector -- it was left over from the previous owner.

Once everything was wired in and tested, the Valient controller was stuffed in the dash above the driver's footwell and the dash panel was re-installed.

The default behavior of the Valiant system is to automatically lock the doors when the car is turned on, then unlock them when the car is turned off. When the lock button on the remote is pressed, the parking lights flash once and the doors lock. Pressing the unlock button on the remote causes the parking lights to flash twice as the doors are unlocked. I didn't connect the horn to the system as I prefer silent operation, but the instructions in the Valiant packaging clearly show how to do that, too.

David Cecil
'97 740iL, 120k miles
'86 735i, 94k miles
'77 320i, 140k miles

www.e38.org has links for everything about your BMW 7-series automobile

• Remote keyless entry retrofit (pic) (url) - DavidC 2004-05-15 16:40:10 (9922 views)