Alarm Woes

Dear diary, life with the Mercedes has been pretty uneventful.

A few weeks ago, me and a buddy took the merc to a lanparty. The C126 is surprisingly roomy for a coupe. No problem transporting 2 guys, 2 desktop computers, food, sleeping bags etc. I drove 200+ km and averaged about 12,5 l/100km. I think it's possible to get it to significantly under 12 if I stick to 80kph and measure only highway km's.

The aftermarket alarm on the car has started to act up. This is not surprising, given the rep of aftermarket alarms. This is the exact reason I immediately scheduled it for disassembly when I got the car. Unfortunately the inevitable happened before I could get it off. It's now either slipped into a weird and unbearable "special" mode, or it's just plain broken. It automatically locks the car when you do anything, despite the alarm being disarmed. Close the doors, it locks the car. Take the keys out of the ignition, it locks. Get out of the car, it locks the doors behind you. I need to carry a spare key to prevent myself from getting locked outside.

I'm trying to arrange having it taken off the car at the local Merc dealership. I believe they are the only ones in town with the expertise to work on the W126 electrical system with the aim of returning it back to stock. Unfortunately the only go-to guy they have broke his arm a couple weeks ago, so he's on sick leave till February. I asked them to find out whether any of their other shops has the knowhow, and suggested that they compensate for the fuel cost. They'll let me know on Monday what the options are.

Last week I didn't drive at all, since the weather here has been terrible, and anyway, I only needed to walk the 1500m to the uni.