To answer your other question, about the heating system, when you turn on the heat coolant flows from your coolant system and essentially the volume increases and this decreases the available coolant in the reservoir which is where the coolant sensor level is. I would not worry about it as long and you don't run it extensively. I would only worry if you get the light if you get it while its off, then your are low for normal operating conditions. You could add some coolant just make sure to use the bmw coolant which is 1) expensive and 2) expensive. I would suggest to just make sure you have your heater on when you do a flush so that you get the maximum capacity and put in the right amount of fluid in the system.
Excellent, thanks for the responses guys. Anyone have any ideas on the alarm lights? Do all of your cars flash parking lights when you arm the alarm or is it normal for them not to light? I notice some side comments in the owner's manual about the alarm are all too vague, such as "You can have different acknowledgment signals set to confirm arming and disarming.<" and "You can have the tilt alarm sensor and the interior motion sensor permanently deactivated.<" Perhaps they should replace the < with a $ and mention this is needs to be changed at a dealer? Is it possible to tell if the second has been done without trying to set the alarm off via tilt or motion? The clown nose seems to be the indicator that shows if either the alarm itself is armed or the motion/tilt sensor is on - I can't determine this from the way it's worded. Either way, I don't think I've ever seen that thing light up whatsoever. I'll have to go double check this, but assuming it does not come on ever, does that mean the alarm isn't arming and the car is just locking - or - is it possible this clown nose has a bulb and it's just burnt out? I see a light flashing in the car when I hit lock, but it's only the one on the radio.
I can confirm that the clown nose does not light up on any actions at all.
I'd like to know this as well. The clown nose never lit up in my 325. In my ZHP it starts blinking about 1 minute after I lock the doors....
-Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.
ZHP Pre-Ride Briefing
2005 ZHP, Alcantara, Silver Cube, Nav, Sharked, BMW Perf Intake, BMW Perf CF Strut Brace, CF Valve/Fuel Rail Covers,
Shadowline Grills, CF Splitters, Fog Light Inserts, Euro-mirrors, CDV Delete, Beisan vanos, GAS DISA, BP Coded
Anyone have any ideas on the specific inner workings of the alarm system?
Found a listing of all the possible settings for everything the car 'remembers', such as how the lock system can be customized or even things like turning off/on the auto up/down on window switches. There's a lot of different settings in here.
http://www.ge39.com/files/BMW_MemoryOptions.pdf
You can get the dealer to turn on the flashing lights and beep when you lock the doors, but it sounds like you don't have the factory alarm. The alarm is identifiable by a couple things, first the clown nose blinking when doors are locked, second the beep when doors are locked, and 3rd the flash of lights when doors are locked. See a pattern?
If you have the car coded to flash the lights and make noise, I think you'll just be creating the illusion of having the alarm even though you don't.
It would appear I do not have the alarm. Not sure why anyone would not get this option... Isn't it only like a few hundred more to add it?
It's not an option at the factory. Instead, it's a dealer add on. Some owners get it installed, some don't. The previous owner of my car did not have it installed. I got it installed shortly after I took possession.
I get alarms installed on my cars, for what it's worth. Peace of mind.