Immobilizer bypass, step by step with photos

This is a great thread for potential car thieves and should probably win the innaugural Ferraichat Darwin awards.
For a start it explains in detail how to fit a little box to bypass the immobilizer, which means that a simple hotwire of the ignition switch will allow the car to be started and driven
I don't see how that's a service to the Ferrari community.. the information will still be there in 5, 10 or 20 years time for someone to exploit. So when your 355 is stolen at some point in the future, and everyones insurance premiums increase you know who to thank.
The Darwin award aspect of this thread is that a tiny amount of research also reveals the vin of the car that this bypass has been fitted to, and the location of the owner and the other cars he owns.
Now apart from the obvious risk of someone knowing that a particular car has a bypass fitted the personal liability attached to disabling the factory immobilizer is huge (just imagine if the car is stolen and is then involved in an accident) - no insurance cover for the car, or the owner of the car that made it easy to steal.

Dave

 

I did this a few months ago. I may have been Jorge's first 355. Skipper did not mention this, but I had to trim the 'mounting' plastic ears on the immobilizer replacement unit. That may have added two minutes to the job.

I didn't have any problems with the center vent light flashing because those wires were cut two years ago.

If my car has been sitting for more than a few hours, it may start & run for a second, then die, but it restarts immediately. If I turn the key on, and wait for a couple of seconds before starting, that 'generally' doesn't happen. I suspect that pushing the fob gives the fuel pump(s) a couple of seconds to supply fuel before the key turns the starter. Obviously that doesn't happen if you just turn the key on.

I'm a happy camper with the new 'immobilzerless' system.

 

So is this why some 355's will not crank (96/97) and maybe 98's+ will crank with immobilizer doing its thing?

 

since Jorge said cutting the silver box wires might not be needed on 98+ 355, I wonder if you have a dead immobilized Ferrari whether you could bypass an active locked up immobilizer by unplugging it and plugging in the bypass box? Will the bypass box basically unlock a bypassed car? If so then a criminal with one of these boxes could specialize in stealing Ferraris and maybe other cars with 5.2 motronics.

If I had one of these bypass boxes I would lock my car up and then try and bypass and see if the car will start. It would be an easy enough test since it sounds like just one plug. This would be a great service to the community because if bypass is possible all owners may want to look into other immobilizer efforts as the value of these cars rise. Even a simple hidden fuel pump switch can save you.

 

Carl, For some reason, Ferrari or the supplier changed the logic. I have no idea why. I think it was better as is as it's embarrassing when at a gas station forgetting to de arm immobilier with starter cranking

 

Yes and having the immobilizer logic to prevent any cranking I have found to be an aid in debugging potential other causes of no start conditions. If the car cranks and cranks you always have to wonder if the immobilizer is influencing that. A fob that lights does not always means it can cycle the immobilizer properly.

 

Well, to play devils advocate, a CC is easier done on a car with immobilier and cranking starter

 

550s and 360s will not turn over with the immobilizer armed, but 575s will turn over. One reason why I lock my door when getting gas so it do not look like a foon-bag when it is time to leave.

This bypass system is a good compromise for those with incomplete fob sets or who just do not want to be bothered. The alarm should still work, but it would be nice if someone would confirm that. With the LED wires clipped, though, you will never know if your siren batteries are shot except by periodic tests.

 

Can't wait to do this on my car. The immobilizer is the single biggest hate I have on my 355.

 

Resurrecting this old thread. I have a 2004 360 that only has a single black fob. I do have the PIN code. But I'm debating between getting a new set of three fobs (can't just add one more, as far as I can tell?) and getting one of these immobilizer bypass units. My one question is: with the immobilizer bypass, the door locks and the alarm both still function as original, is that right? Which means that if the fob dies and I need to use the key to open the door and start the car, the alarm will be going off. If so, I'll be able to drive the car, but I'll be driving around with the weird Ferrari alarm sound happening?

 

I was going to start a new thread about this as a '96 355 (euro) is driving me crazy not starting and seating inside like for 5 minutes fighting with remote fob trying to disanle the inmo. I want to cut this feature and jump it and start it right away, though, the fob won't work the door locks (OPEN-CLOSE) because it takes the time I mentioned above to arm/disarm the alarm.

In the 993 Porsche community, has , kinda, the same issue with Drive Block equipped 911's. They fail to pick up the signal of the fob for long time until it get the signal and let you start the engine, very annoying. I think the antena or something with the age "wear out" and fails to pick up the signal of th efob hence no start condition.

Skipp, did you have the same issue? Or you remote open/lock doors catch it the first time you hit the fob button?

 

Thanks for getting back. In other words, I just can't bypass the module or trace the wiring/module involved that cut the power to the starter (can disable the RED led to stop it blinking) and call it a day? Open/close the locks of the doors in the good old fashioned style, aka, OLD SCHOOl way like the early models? The ECU DOCTORS note regarding their rmodule says it works for US SPEC F355, which is not my case.