Aftermarket alarm for A4

[Audiophyle]

I am a bit of an Audio fanatic, and have been an installer for 10+ years.

I am surprised to find nothing on here about anyone installing a new alarm to replace the pos oem alarm. I plan to purchase a b6 A4 soon (if I find the right one anyway) and this will be my first mod to the vehicle.

My plans,
2way paging alarm with remote start.
remote operated windows,
remote operated sunroof,
multiple impact sensors,
glass break sensors,
backup battery,
exterior siren & interior siren,
& Ruger 9mm. [:p]

A question I do have is I plan on replacing the switchblade key with something simpler & smaller.
Has anyone seen a switchblade key made to just house the key & transponder itself, without the electronics?
Something like this?
http://cdx.dexigner.com/article/11547/The_Tailormade_Audi_key.jpg

Found Here (http://www.dexigner.com/design_news/8477.html)

[rlarsen]

I have seen this key (and the car) in real life [:D]


I am a bit of an Audio fanatic, and have been an installer for 10+ years.

I am surprised to find nothing on here about anyone installing a new alarm to replace the pos oem alarm. I plan to purchase a b6 A4 soon (if I find the right one anyway) and this will be my first mod to the vehicle.

My plans,
2way paging alarm with remote start.
remote operated windows,
remote operated sunroof,
multiple impact sensors,
glass break sensors,
backup battery,
exterior siren & interior siren,
& Ruger 9mm. [:p]

A question I do have is I plan on replacing the switchblade key with something simpler & smaller.
Has anyone seen a switchblade key made to just house the key & transponder itself, without the electronics?
Something like this?
http://cdx.dexigner.com/article/11547/The_Tailormade_Audi_key.jpg

Found Here (http://www.dexigner.com/design_news/8477.html)

[shoppingcart111]

Just use the valet key on the aftermarket remote fob.

[Audiophyle]

Then I guess I will have to design one myself.

I love the switchblade idea, but there is no way I will be trusting the oem alarm to the setup I will be installing.

[koolade9]

I was an installer for quite a while back in the day, and have had cars with very elaborate alarm systems...

but as food for thought, the imobilizer that's on the car from the factory is very effective, in that if someone doesn't have the key, they're not going to be able to start the car, period... The only way they're going to steal the car itself is on a flatbed.

With an aftermarket alarm, you're main benefits are:

-remote start add-on; something I admittedly would like to have on this car.
-paging; which can still be ineffective if you're out of range.
-additional sensors/pain generators to protect the valuables inside the car

all are quite valid.

but here's the primary downfall... if you install an aftermarket remote start on your car, you'll need to use an imobilizer bypass that will require an actual key... Simply having that in the car, even if it's buried underneath the dash, is opening the door for someone to potentially steal the car... Someone who knows what they are doing can break into the car, trace back the wiring to the imob. bypass, crack it open, pull the key, and disarm the alarm using your own key and the valet switch...then drive off with your car.

There are countermeasures for most of this... but having a key somewhere in the car, versus not having a key in the car at all is a much safer proposition IMHO.

Just food for thought [wrench]

[Audiophyle]

All things I am plenty aware of, did you not see where I said 10+ years?

I prefer the 2way system for confirmation of arming/disarming, because some times I cannot remember if I locked it or not or if I am far away & cannot hear or see it. A quick look at the remote confirms its status. Its also great for starting the vehicle out of view, remote confirms it started incase you cant hear it. There is a lot more to a 2way system than just the paging when it goes off, and I agree you cannot rely on it contacting you if triggered, but at most houses it will and can wake you up instead of letting you sleep through your car getting emptied.


As for the bypass, if you were a good installer you would know a replacement valet key is very cheap. Put a blank key in the bypass module, program it for the car & call it good. You cannot steal a car with an uncut key, and if you know what you are doing you would NOT mount the alarm & bypass module anywhere NEAR the steering column. Those wires are long for a reason, you need to remotely mount them. Not to mention if you take pride in your work you would black out all of the wiring after install & leave everything looking OEM, places that simply scotch lock a wire & let everything hang out in plain sight (from under the dash) is not a place worth spending any money at. (which there are quite a few)

Theoretically any alarm can be bypassed, and that is what the pain generators are for.
They will not spend a lot of time under the dash with a piezzo siren blasting into their ears. Mount it where it cannot be reached without serious interior removal & you are golden. I also do not rely on the alarm to keep my cars from getting stolen, but I will be damned if I am going to let anyone break into my cars without making them really work for it. (nor be able to hear anymore) Alarm is only as good as its installation, and I take no shortcuts.

[koolade9]

All things I am plenty aware of, did you not see where I said 10+ years? I've installed as well, since 96, but thanks.

As for the bypass, if you were a good installer you would know a replacement valet key is very cheap. Put a blank key in the bypass module, program it for the car & call it good. You cannot steal a car with an uncut key, and if you know what you are doing you would NOT mount the alarm & bypass module anywhere NEAR the steering column. Those wires are long for a reason, you need to remotely mount them. Not to mention if you take pride in your work you would black out all of the wiring after install & leave everything looking OEM, places that simply scotch lock a wire & let everything hang out in plain sight (from under the dash) is not a place worth spending any money at. (which there are quite a few)

all the above are common sense countermeasures... Keep in mind, that even with a blank key, a theif can bypass the imobilizer and break the steering lock...the wires for the imob. bypass aren't very long due to signal degradation, leaving it relatively close to the dash.

Theoretically any alarm can be bypassed, and that is what the pain generators are for.
They will not spend a lot of time under the dash with a piezzo siren blasting into their ears. Mount it where it cannot be reached without serious interior removal & you are golden. I also do not rely on the alarm to keep my cars from getting stolen, but I will be damned if I am going to let anyone break into my cars without making them really work for it. (nor be able to hear anymore) Alarm is only as good as its installation, and I take no shortcuts. I whole heartedly agree with the last part.

I'm not going to argue with you anymore, since you're tone is far too condescending...

Bottom line, you're going to put a great deal of work in, and technically make the vehicle more susceptible to theft. [up]

[Audiophyle]

I whole heartedly agree with the last part.

I'm not going to argue with you anymore, since you're tone is far too condescending...

Bottom line, you're going to put a great deal of work in, and technically make the vehicle more susceptible to theft. [up]

Forgive me if I came off as condescending, that was not my intention.
I was merely stating what a quality installer would know & do, to express how I do things & give you the benefit of the doubt that you would install the same way.
Your initial post also came off in a similar manner, so spare me the "holier than thou" routine. If people on here are overly sensitive then I will be more careful with my posts, simple solution, no?

Bypass wires are long enough to be stashed out of sight from the ignition column, and at first glance the only thing that would give it away is the ring around the key cylinder, which would not be visible unless the column cover had already been ripped off. Bypass can be stashed behind the gauge cluster or anywhere in that vicinity. Alarm wires are very long, and do not have to be tagged at the steering column, you can follow them down & tag elsewhere. Making the alarm install as close to invisible as possible is the key, and even a pro will have a very hard time trying to find the alarm just to bypass it. I agree there is the risk of them finding the key as you so adamantly expressed, but consider that even with the blank key they still need to find the alarm to disable it and jack up the steering lock & ignition to get it running without a working key.

Valet buttons are next to impossible to use to bypass an alarm if it has been programmed for a specific pulse count, and a thief will have to act very fast to avoid too much attention if the car has multiple sirens blaring. Add ons to make that task as hard as possible will prevent that from happening. I generally leave valet buttons out anyway, or hide them in random places.


Now, all that said. I believe this risk (minor as it is) is easily worth the benefit of having the remote start installed.

Shall we agree to disagree?