Central locking

[CHILI]

Does anyone know of a remote central locking kit that can be fitted to the S1 Elise?
I know this goes against the ethos of the Elise but had got used to it with my previous car.

[bogie]

why? just turn key to unlock, open door, then turn key back and get in - that way the doors are always locked from the outside and you dont have to remember to lock them when you walk away

[CHILI]

Its more the fact of convenience. I use the car every day so getting in and out in the rain already takes long enough without the use of the key to lock/unlock. I wouldn't have bought the car if this had been a deal breaker - I have owned cars without c/l before, just think it would be a nice addition.

[theRossatron]

I own am old Mini and was considering getting this done, apparently the parts for c/l kits are quite generic and there are loads for sale if you pick up a copy of Mini Magazine.

[jbegbie5]

duno how easy it is to do as when you turn the key it actually stays in that position when you pull the key out and stops the button going in. I did manage to fit a c/l to a mini I once had though so it must be possible, usually just a case of watching the mechanisim in the door and then making a bracket for the c/l motor to fit in the right place.

[CHILI]

Thanks for the replies. I've also owned a couple of old mini's (great cars) but never got round to fitting central locking, although did replace the locks after a break in. The locking mechanism did seem very simple on them.
After checking a few generic systems on offer they seem to fall into two catorgries, those for ford type systems and those for all others.
Does anyone know which would be best for the S1?

[jig]

This came up once before... you can buy a very cheap (4 door) kit from Maplin for about 30 quid or so, and another 20 I think for the alarm interface module.

The Elise (S2 at least) has deadlocks built into the door locks and the external barrel simply operates the release lever, and does not lock the door lock itself and thus does not deadlock the door. When you lock the barrel, all it does it disengage it so that it does not press against the release lever.

Long winded and waffly, sorry, but the upshot is, if you leave the external barrel unlocked all the time and operate the deadlock lever with a c/l motor then the car will be locked. This is simple enough, but I haven't got around to installing mine yet - the adjustment of the levers is fairly critical to get it to both lock and unlock!

There is plenty of room in the door for the motor though. The other problem that I haven't investigated is routing the wires out of the door and locating the alarm unit.

Finally, if you are deadlocking, what happens if your battery is flat? You will not be able to open the door with the key. I've considered a small 12v battery in the boot, or simply not installing c/l on the passenger door.

[S Works]

This all sounds like a ballache to me frankly - just lube up the locks and get used to pulling your keys out Quick-draw McGraw stylee

Think of the weight you'll be saving and that you won't be decreasing your bhp/tonne.

[pley]

CL on an elise?

Buy an S2000.

hth

[malbon]

I know of someone who has it on theirs. Can't really argue with it as it is remote CL and very convenient.

I just leave mine open all the time as I have a tracker and am a bit carefree with it so would be beneficial to me.

£250-£300 IIRC