HELP! car alarm is acting insane!

This has NEVER happened before! Just earlier, when I got into my car, the alarm goes on for no apparent reasons. The car was locked, and I unlocked it with my key, nothing unusual. Suddenly, the alarm goes on in the parking lot, and I could not shut it off with my key in the ignition. I drove home with it coming on and off every 30-60 seconds with lights flashing.

What is wrong? I could not turn it off except when I got home and quickly turned off engine before the next alarm burst. HELP! It was embarrassing driving home with my alarm going on and off!

This may be a stupid question, but could you do any damage to the car when driving with alarm on and lights blinking? Car concerned is a 1990 190E. Thanks.

Nice update to the page, btw!

[David C Klasse]

Is it a factory or aftermarket alarm?

It's a factory alarm.

[J.HIDALGO]

Try to open the door (or lock) the door from the passenger door or the trunk and see what happens. It sounds like the contacts on the driver's door are dirty...

Okay, the alarm problem seems to be gone. I noticed that it "de-activated" when I locked the driver-sode door from the outside. Now, I'm wondering how I activated it. And I'm afraid this might happen again.

Anyhow, what do you mean by door contacts? And can someone tell me if driving with alarm blaring and lights flashing will hurt the car? I know it's a silly question, but she's my baby and I need a peace of mind! Thanks everyone.

[sixto]

Sounds to me like the switch in the driver side lock is starting to go. If it happens again before you get it fixed, twist the key to the lock position with the driver side door open (it won't lock with the door open). That should disable the alarm... until you lock the door again.

FWIW, I can only set and disable my alarm from the driver side door, and I can only disable the alarm by unlocking the door, opening the door, and twisting the key to the lock position. It took some getting used to, but we're good friends now

Regards,
Sixto
91 300SE