I can understand your concern about the drivers door, it has been a difficulty for many installers since the FD came out (the FC had a mechanical rod linkage, that was replaced with a cable on the FD. It was very easy to attach an aftermarket DL motor onto a FC).

The simplest way to get around this is to have the installer go directly to the door's interior mechanical lock/unlock lever. This is what you use to lock/unlock the door when you are inside the car. If the aftermarket door lock actuator’s rod is attached to the lever, it would be no different than you yourself locking and unlocking the car from that lever. This makes it very reliable. Now your installer will still have to tap the door key wires that arm and disarm the alarm (those are found in the drivers kick panel), but this should be very simple for the average installer. Taping these wires will of course keep that factory alarm working as well and as I mentioned before; everything you can do will help you keep the car.

What you don't want to do is have the installer locate the aftermarket DL motor between the inner metal and window, or outer skin of the door, as then the DL motor is exposed to the elements (and every car wash). You should also make sure that they don't try an attach onto the cable which will cause failure of the aftermarket motor as well as the factory lock mech. They should also route the wiring for the DL motor through the door harness boot, as many shops will take a short cut and run it outside the door harness boot. This short cut allows water to run into the wiring of the car in both the kick panel, and the door as well as leads to wires getting pinched and broken.

Minding these few things will allow for increased reliability and ease of installation.

Now for picking a shop... I am partial to the DEI alarms (Viper/Python/Sidewinder), but again the most important part of an alarm is its install. It doesn't matter if the shop hasn't worked on a FD before, many installers haven't (especially back east). The DEI dealers will have access to Tech support that can tell them where to find what wire or how to take something apart.

What you want to look for is a shop that does work on expensive exotics, like Benz, BMW, Porsche, Ferrari. All cars are built pretty much the same, but an installer will figure out the best way to add something to them without breaking something. Check out the shops work. If they only do domestic cars, where they can run down the street to the local Chevy or Ford dealer for replacement parts when they break something that should tell you something. They should be able to show you examples of their work on nice cars in books (all better shops have books of pictures of cars they have done). They should be able to show you work that they are doing right now, on expensive nice cars in the install bay. What sort of warranty do they have on their work?… it should be lifetime on the install.

Also check out to see if the shop and bathrooms are clean. You can often tell a lot about how well they take care of your car by how well the keep clean where they work and put their butt.

Call your local BMW, Lexus, Benz dealer, ask them where they take their cars when a customer wants an alarm or CD changer.

Don't skimp on the install. I you run down the street to the store that only does GMs, that does your alarm for $300 installed, you will get exactly what you paid for. A $100 alarm and a $100 install (and $100 bucks profit for the company). If you go to someone that takes care of your car it might cost you $1000, to have the alarm and all the right options installed, correctly. $50 to $75 an hour is about right to pay to have it done correctly. Free install, is worth what you paid for it (and will more than likely cost you more in the long run either in insurance when the car is stolen, or hassle when you have to take it back to get the car or alarm fixed).

 

icemark i read over the post and i feel that may and you may be discussing two different things. it seems that you are against some of the accessories that i purchased in addition to my alarm. i just want to clear it up with everyone that you can get an aftermarket alarm installed as well as keep the factory alarm intact. what me and icemark are going over is the extras like the mercury switches, the glass break sensor, the battery back up and other things that don't come with alarms but that can be added to the alarm. the reason i got these things is simply because i do want to add as much as possible to make it harder to have my car stolen. you do not have to put any of these things on to have the alarm work for you. i again work at circuit city and for any of you who works for aretailer know how cheap we get this stuff for (and at the cost why the hell not add it). and icemark is just speculating on what i have done as far as wiring up the alarm, he wasn't there, i know my alarm works fo me, the reason why is because i feel secure knowing that it is installed properly. ther is nothing like doing it yourself (with big time help from a friend, alex). as far as the remote start on a manual trans., ice mark is absolutely right that it is illeagal to install and here at circuit city we would not do it for you. this is my personal car and my alarm, so i did as i pleased (as if some of you don't have a midpipe or down pipe ). i do encourage all of you to get an alarm and you don't have to worry about little things as keyless entry. i personally have and enjoy it, the only thing i am having aproblem with as far as my alarm is concerned is with my remote trunk release, this cheap solenoid from dei shorted out (partly my fault and my car).

luigi

 

icemark i trust read you reply and i am sorry i must diagree. please in no way anyone think that iam trying to have come to my roadsop to get work done, i am not trying to solicate buisness. you do not have to go to a shop that deals with expensive cars, like they can't **** up and make a mistake, people are people. and don't believe photos, i've been to shops where there would be aphoto of a car that they snapped at a car show mixed in with some of there installs. what i do suggest is to shop around for a shop and alarm that suits your needs. make sure the shop is clean, make sure the shop offers some warranty on there installs, make sure meet and talk to the person doing the install. invovle yourself in the install s to let the installer know what you want. let the installer know your concerns and what he or she plans to do to meet them. make you installer your friend, he or she will treat your car nice, know your car, so that when you come back you can have more accomplished.

luigi

 

You are exactly correct, thanks for clarifying. I do get sometimes a little overzealous over making sure alarms are installed correctly to the right wires. Years of fielding calls from upset consumers and lackadaisical installers have left their mark.

As you mentioned yes there are a couple of things you did, that I don't recommend based strictly on my long term experience as an installer as well as technical support and engineering alarm systems. I am sure at this time they are working fine, but when you next change or modify the wiring you may want to try my suggestions.

BTW: the local BMW does take his cars to the RS in my area, the installers there are top notch, Unfortantly IMO that is not always the case for chain stores (not just CC).

And wptrx7, if it makes you feel any better I have a remote start on my manual transmission FC as well, (but I do use the factory neutral switch, and parking brake switch to prevent the car the car from starting in gear). Everone else: Of course just because we have it on our cars, I would not recommend anyone else trying it... we are trained professionals after all.

 

it's nice having the remote start capability, but i never use it on my car. (unfortunately it's an automatic) the reason i never use it is because i don't like starting my car when i'm not there to cancel the AWS. the why did i install the remote start option you ask? well, because you can't use the "pit stop" mode without it

 

BTW wptrx7: Here are the factory wires and locations for an FD in case you didn't have it:

 

see icemark we were able to discuss our views and opinions without flaming each other, i hope this sets an example to everyone on the forum that all you have to do is discuss the situation without trying to bash each other. and thank you fo the diagram, i have one but i printefd yours out to verify and touble check my install, thank you.


and the moral of the whole story people is to get an alarm and add aclub. or you can do what i do if i am really nervous, remove my momo steering wheel .

luigi

 

i'm putting my alarm in soon too...right now i have no power locks or trunk and when i get the alarm it would be nice to have keyless entry and to be able to pop the trunk from the remote. how much should i expect to pay for that and is it worth it?

 

i'll be honest with everyone, find a good place to mount the actuator for the trunk release because right now i am experiencing major problms with it. my actuator grounded it self on the metal piece, there is no room in th car. as far as keyless entry your going to have to do some cutting (icemark may have another suggestion for this), i mounted and actuator behind the drivers door so that both doors would open, i'll double check since i will be stripping my car soon. when i go to work oon monday i'll price everything for you and let you know what it comes out to.

luigi

 

CYAL8R:
It really varies per area. In California, it is common for around $75 (USD) parts & labor per opening, for trunk pop or power DL motor addition.

On the FC the best place for the DL motor is just in front of the release lever.

On the FD I have had to place them a little further away, down behind where the armrest seems to be the best place without cutting. However your actuator's rod has to be bent perfect or it will flex too much and the door unlock will be intermittent (of course you can always still use a key until it gets fixed, if you get one that doesn't always work).

wptrx7:
I am not sure what you are using for the trunk pop motor, but what I typically use is just a standard DL motor. Its often small enough to fit many places a trunk pop solenoid won't as well as a lot less expensive to open the hatch. If you are not using one you may want to try it. DL motors seem to work great for most Japanese cars for trunk/hatch release.

It also sounds like you are doing door pop/open as well as lock and unlock. Maybe I didn't understand you, but if you are doing both, then yes you would have to do some cutting/drilling no matter what.