Attempting to retrofit DWA alarm unit

[Fredohara]

Got a hold of a second hand DWA unit which I have fitted and can see on GS-911 but got a few questions:

1. No dash options for controlling the unit so assuming this needs done at a dealers.
2. I have a separate rdc unit on the bike and thought the alarm was a combined unit. Plug for rcd doesn’t fit in the second alarm socket which is now spare and has nothing in it, is that correct?
3. I don’t have a remote for the unit but I never used one with my F800gs so assuming this isn’t an issue?

Any advice welcome.

 

[knutk]

Got a hold of a second hand DWA unit which I have fitted and can see on GS-911 but got a few questions:

1. No dash options for controlling the unit so assuming this needs done at a dealers.
2. I have a separate rdc unit on the bike and thought the alarm was a combined unit. Plug for rcd doesn’t fit in the second alarm socket which is now spare and has nothing in it, is that correct?
3. I don’t have a remote for the unit but I never used one with my F800gs so assuming this isn’t an issue?

Any advice welcome.

There used to be two types of alarm units. One type that was a combined RDC and alarm controller, and one that was an alarm unit only. (I think the basic type is no longer an option)

Find the part number for the alarm and make a search at the 'realoem.com' will reveal what type of alarm.

I suspect that even if there is already a RDC controller in the bike, you still need the combined type alarm, as they share the same port in CANbus.

As long as there is a combined type alarm and the current RDC unit, the dealer should be able to set it up to function properly.

If the alarm is the basic type, you probably will have to chose which unit should be allowed to use the port, i.e either the present RDC unit or the basic alarm.

 

[Fredohara]

There used to be two types of alarm units. One type that was a combined RDC and alarm controller, and one that was an alarm unit only. (I think the basic type is no longer an option)

Find the part number for the alarm and make a search at the 'realoem.com' will reveal what type of alarm.

I suspect that even if there is already a RDC controller in the bike, you still need the combined type alarm, as they share the same port in CANbus.

As long as there is a combined type alarm and the current RDC unit, the dealer should be able to set it up to function properly.

If the alarm is the basic type, you probably will have to chose which unit should be allowed to use the port, i.e either the present RDC unit or the basic alarm.

Cheers for that. Sounds like I have the alarm/RDC combo one so will see what the dealer says

 

[knutk]

I had a look at my bike, a -19 1250GSA.
The cable leading to the alarm box was a 'Y' type cable, where there was one connector leading to the alarm, and the other arm on the 'Y' was leading to the RDC box.
I.e, the RDC did not connect directly to the alarm, they just shared the same cable, that had two connectors, one for each box.

Also, the connectors did not look to be exactly the same type, thus an inter-change or connecting the wrong plug to the wrong box appears to not be an issue.

 

[Fredohara]

Problem now solved! Motor works had sent me the wrong unit which couldn’t be coded to the bike. It was the RT version I had received which just wasn’t programming in at the dealer as it had the second socket which the gs doesn’t have. Unit sent back and a replacement unit posted by motorworks. Back to the dealer who attempted coding for a second time with success! They didn’t charge me for this visit either as they couldn’t get it going first time round. Alarm now fully up and running for £120 which was way cheaper than a retrofit from scratch at the dealers would have been.

 

[knutk]

Problem now solved! Motor works had sent me the wrong unit which couldn’t be coded to the bike. It was the RT version I had received which just wasn’t programming in at the dealer as it had the second socket which the gs doesn’t have. Unit sent back and a replacement unit posted by motorworks. Back to the dealer who attempted coding for a second time with success! They didn’t charge me for this visit either as they couldn’t get it going first time round. Alarm now fully up and running for £120 which was way cheaper than a retrofit from scratch at the dealers would have been.

Good to hear it all worked out.
Also, it is nice to learn the conclusion of an issue debated in here

 

[blues n twos]

I had a look on my 2019 GSA and although the tracker was placed where the DWA unit normally lives, I saw no spur from the loom that looked like it was for an alarm

Did you need to get the additional loom wiring or is it tucked away somewhere?

I’m looking to retrofit the BMW alarm on mine

Cheers

Jon

 

[Fredohara]

Jon, mine is a 2013 but the loom was tucked away under the silver part that the seats rest on. I took the rear rack and then that part of and it was tucked under there. Can’t figure out how to attach a pic from my iPhone to a reply though!

 

[blues n twos]

Jon, mine is a 2013 but the loom was tucked away under the silver part that the seats rest on. I took the rear rack and then that part of and it was tucked under there. Can’t figure out how to attach a pic from my iPhone to a reply though!

No problem mate, I took the plastic cover off when I installed the Denali CanSmart but didn't see anything obvious

I might have another look at some point to see if its tucked away somewhere

Jon

 

[blues n twos]

Quick update from me... I ended up buying the alarm unit from Cotswold BMW using the forum discount. I installed it after moving a few things about under the rear seat namely the tracker and took bike back to Cotswold yesterday to have alarm coded to bike

I went to Cotswold as they were most reasonable as it only cost £17 for coding. Some local dealers wanted £60 plus vat!!

So a nice ride out through Oxfordshire to Cheltenham and back in the sunshine

Jon

 

[fredaroony]

Quick update from me... I ended up buying the alarm unit from Cotswold BMW using the forum discount. I installed it after moving a few things about under the rear seat namely the tracker and took bike back to Cotswold yesterday to have alarm coded to bike

I went to Cotswold as they were most reasonable as it only cost £17 for coding. Some local dealers wanted £60 plus vat!!

So a nice ride out through Oxfordshire to Cheltenham and back in the sunshine

Jon

Nothing wrong with them wanting to charge you £60 as dealers invest a lot of money into the diagnostic equipment. They made no money on the alarm either since you bought it elsewhere

 

[blues n twos]

Nothing wrong with them wanting to charge you £60 as dealers invest a lot of money into the diagnostic equipment. They made no money on the alarm either since you bought it elsewhere

Alarm was bought from same place as coding. By fitting it myself I saved 2 hours of workshop time by them not having to strip the bike down and refit everything.

 

[OldCroc]

Alarm was bought from same place as coding. By fitting it myself I saved 2 hours of workshop time by them not having to strip the bike down and refit everything.

And you had the satisfaction of doing some of it yourself! I have just retro-fitted an RDC and sensors to my 650GS and did all the coding myself using the Motoscan app. Very satisfying!

 

[blues n twos]

And you had the satisfaction of doing some of it yourself! I have just retro-fitted an RDC and sensors to my 650GS and did all the coding myself using the Motoscan app. Very satisfying!

That's great I've dabbled in the past with coding but ended up making a hash of things so leave it to experts now

 

[fredaroony]

Alarm was bought from same place as coding. By fitting it myself I saved 2 hours of workshop time by them not having to strip the bike down and refit everything.

I was referring to the other shops that wanted to charge you £60. This is much like the riders who want their service interval reset but don't service the bike at the dealership

 

[fredaroony]

That's great I've dabbled in the past with coding but ended up making a hash of things so leave it to experts now

The Motoscan app does everything for you so pretty easy to use.

 

[pino9997]

Hi all,

Can a second hand DWA module for R1250GS 2020 be reprogrammed to be fitted on a new bike?
I got the module from my old bike that I had an incident with, and I would like to fit it on the new GS 2023 that I am buying.
I wander if the module, once programmed for a certain chassy number, can be re-programmed for a new bike.

Thanks.

 

[Fullchat]

Hi all,

Can a second hand DWA module for R1250GS 2020 be reprogrammed to be fitted on a new bike?
I got the module from my old bike that I had an incident with, and I would like to fit it on the new GS 2023 that I am buying.
I wander if the module, once programmed for a certain chassy number, can be re-programmed for a new bike.

Thanks.

Fit it and get the dealer to programme it to the bike. No issue.

 

[Fullchat]

Fit it and get the dealer to programme it to the bike. No issue.

Well actually it does seem to be an issue.
I removed my alarm from my 19 GSA and fitted it to my 23 GSA
Presented to dealer who I bought both bikes from an they tell me that as the alarm has been coded to the 19 bike they cannot code it to the 23 bike.
I do know the 19 bike had to be re-coded by them for re-sale as it was displaying an alarm issue. (Well it woukd as it now didnt have one.)
Really!!!?? Surely these things are not that bespoke. Christ they are not even Thatcham approved.
So another £300 for the latest alarm now fitted which sets with the remote.
The part number for the 19 alarm is 9443591 Yet all the parts catalogues are showing 65751541294 from 2017 to 2020
The part number for the 23 alarm is 65755A95. BMW parts searches shown this as GS from 2020. Superseded by 65755A78. Both fit the GSA
Its a part number fest yet, as I say, these are not cutting edge technology.

The alarms used to be back compatible

 

[Fullchat]

Bit of an update on my last post.
Today I thought I'd try an experiment. I removed all the seat plastic to access the new alarm unit. I disconnected the wire connector and plugged it to my old unit
Guess what? It worked perfectly and no error codes were shown.
I really hope my dealer is not spinning me a yarn but I do find it quite strange regarding the claim that they couldn't code it because it was already registered to my previous bike.
As I said previously its not exactly cutting edge technology.
I do however understand that they would have to get the bike to recognise the alarm and provide the functionality through the TFT.