Does anyone know if there is any system that works on a Freelander 2 for starting the engine remotely and without unlocking the car? I would be interested specifically in a system that works with the factory-built alarm system, as I imagine it would have to bypass also that somehow...

I am thinking this might be useful in winter & summer.

cold country fl2's have webasto fuel burning heaters, seems more sensible than starting the engine
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so do RRS's and for £250 extra it can be remote controlled  At work
At home

"I can't always believe facts I read on the web" - Charles Dickens

winner by default of the tractor vs caravan race

True, but the car did not come fitted with one and it's not on the accessories list either. Also, it would only work in winter while the start-the-engine system would also help in summer.

There is no SAFE system to do what you want. The Auto requires a foot on the brake pedal and the Manual requires a foot on the clutch pedal.
I'm sure you could get someone at great cost to cobble it together but no-one in their right mind would manufacture it for retail.

I have used these on several cars, I used tgo plug in when i arrived home and a timer would switch on 20 mins before I left on a journey.
I used a caravan connection so if you forgot it was plugged in , it would just snap out.
it was brilliant for saving fuel on an old petrol 4x4 I had.

http://www.kenlowe.com/pre-heaters/cars/index.html

Thanks! Interesting, but it won't help for me as I do not have a socket near the parking spot. Plus, I would like to be able to use this functionality even without the car being in a garage.

Are you sure you don't have the FFBH (fuel fired burning heater) installed?
In the configurations for our country, it should be by default...
Check for its exhaust, below the right wheel plastic arch trim, between the wheel and the door. Look for a metal pipe end, pointing down, towards the centre of the car. See handbook, page 108.

If you have the FFBH, you can install the FFBH's remote control, if you want. The cables are already there.
For example, for cold Russian market (below -25 deg.C), if asked, it is installed free of charge.
On our market, it will cost you over 500 euros.
Receiver, remote controls, man labor.
Or about half that price, if you do it yourself, buying a T91 telestart kit from Webasto.
But you'll still need to activate it with the dealers diagnostic tools.

See also this: http://www.freel2.com/forum/topic7746.html
And this: http://www.freel2.com/forum/topic7544.html

http://bellautoservices.co.uk/ At work
At home

"I can't always believe facts I read on the web" - Charles Dickens

winner by default of the tractor vs caravan race

It wont work on Freelander 2....

MihaiB wrote:

Does anyone know if there is any system that works on a Freelander 2 for starting the engine remotely and without unlocking the car? I would be interested specifically in a system that works with the factory-built alarm system, as I imagine it would have to bypass also that somehow...

I am thinking this might be useful in winter & summer.

The Freelander 1 Diesel with the B** unit had a remote parking heater option that warmed the engine coolant & the car's interior but for some reason it wasn't available on UK & many other Country's spec FL2's  (Past) Freelander 2 HSE 2010 MY In Rimini Red.
(Past) RR Evoque Dynamic Lux Si4 In Firenze Red.
(Past) RR Evouque Pure Tech in Barollo Black with bespoke Firenze Red colour coding.
(Present) Freelander Metropolis 2015 MY In Santorini Black with Ivory Premium Leather.

Silly me, and I thought he was asking about 'Remote Engine Start'

He asked about remote engine start, but, I believe, he had in mind what FFBH is doing.
And, I believe CG, as it has experience with diesel machines and their slow warm-up, had intuit what Mihai had in mind and mentioned the FFBH and its remote control.
In fact a FFBH is more fuel efficient than the engine itself in terms of heating up, because the engine is designed to loose the heat as less as possible and use it as power, when the FFBH is designed to do exactly the opposite, to loose the heat as much as possible.
And a FFBH is much less prone to wear during cold starts than an engine. Thus is much better to warm up the engine with a FFBH and then to start-up warm, than to warm-up by itself.
Although the implementation on FL2 of the FFBH just aid the engine to warm-up quicker than to pre warm-up the engine. But with a little (official) tweak can be used to pre warm the engine.

The FFBH solution could be a feasible one and more effective than "remote engine start" for the reasons described by Alex here. Still, it does not solve the "problem" in summer time - as he knows, we get around 3-4 months a year here when there are over 30 degrees and after the car sits in the sun for 8-10 hours it gets bloody hot. So before you leave you have to go start the engine and allow the AC to run for a few minutes before you can get inside

For this reason, I believe the "remote engine start" would be more effective than the FFBH as it would also help in summer, not only winter.

EYorkshire wrote:

Silly me, and I thought he was asking about 'Remote Engine Start'

crawl back into your hole lugs  At work
At home

"I can't always believe facts I read on the web" - Charles Dickens

winner by default of the tractor vs caravan race

As an update - a Romanian dealer for Viper alarms said they can install such a system (remote start). It would also replace the factory alarm with a more performant one (i.e. one that pages you the events on the car). Their quote was around 500 EUR for the parts and 100 EUR for the installation - all prices inclusive of VAT.

However, Land Rover Romania said that installing such devices will void the warranty if the instalation is not made in a LR approved service unit. And they won't install it as they don't have the expertise.... . However, LR Romania mentioned they are aware of other owners that installed this and from what they know, all worked fine, no complaints from the owners.