Latest on 2011 x5 Tow Hitches

Originally Posted by flymikeair

the bmw dealership refused to install a 2010 hitch.

Sadly, I beleive that the 2011 hitch will be the same part, with the addition of the trim piece...

I'd never install a non-BMW part as they can screw you over with warranty issues should anything happen. If you installed a '2010 part' the actual truth will be (IMO) that the load carrying part is the same as 2011, which makes it more defensible should any issues arise.

Why not buy a 2010 hitch and have it installed by whomever installed the drawtite?

All of this relates to the "CYA" attitude of importers & manufacturers.

A number of years ago in preparation for writing a car review, I asked the importer what the towing capacity was. I was given an absurdly low figure. I asked PR guy what the "real" capacity was. He refused to answer until I said I wouldn't use it in print. It was 50% higher than the stated number.

My own experience confirmed that. At one time I towed my MGB race car on an open trailer total weight estimated at 3,500 lbs. I towed with a Saab 9-5 rated at 1,500 lbs. With electric brakes & a controller, it towed like there was nothing back there. Even accelerated well going uphill from Torrington to Goshen, CT. (a long relatively steep but straight hill)

When I shopped around for a hitch for my 2004 X3, as soon as I said "BMW" the shops didn't want to talk to me. I ended up with dealer installed hitch for $800. Then I had to jury-rig a system for the brake controller. Used a '71 Chevy pick up brake light switch wired into the battery. I removed it when I traded the X3 in on the X5. I hope I don't have to install it on the X5 too.

Latest development is I have an appointment for the dealer to reprogram system next week via on-line hookup with BMW NA in Montvale. Let's see what happens.

OK, so Labor Day is almost here and I haven't been on my boat since July 4th. Had to cancel my plans to tow my boat to Maine, I'm just so disgusted I can't even believe it.

I've been back and forth with BMW NA, so many times I've lost count.
Result, "0" satisfaction. So, now with the boating season coming to an end in the northeast, do I try to go for the Drawtite, and have it re flashed when they figure out the coding or what?
My ramp is down the block so I really don't care about the lights at this point. Do you think I'd setting myself up for warranty issues down the road, even if I have BMW re flash it, and use BMW's wiring harness when it becomes available? I'm really desperate at this point and I'm getting nowhere with BMW.

Vin Racer, it sounds like you may be close to resolving your issues. Is that true?
Oh, and to boot came out of work the other day to find someone had smashed into the front of my 530i, so that's in the shop and I'm gonna have a $1000 deductible to pay. Oh yeah, it's great being me lately, LOL.

Anyone, I appreciate you guys keeping this thread alive and sharing your information regarding what I see as a major blunder by BMW.

Regards,
Dan

Dan:

Sorry to hear of your plight. Between the programming problem & the bang-up, not fun,

I received an email from a contact at BMW NA who said an Accessories Engineering guy would be in contact with my dealer. He was. I'll let you all know how successful the re-programming is after Wednesday.

I just had it done.

It is almost a week and there is no sign of the trim piece. Finally the parts manager called me and told me I will not get it soon. Although the trim piece is available in the warehouse, BMW Canada is not allowing any dealer to install the hitch due to electrical issues. There are some incompatibility between the LED and none LED lighting resistance, that is affecting the control module. It may work with some trailers but it is not guarantied which is considered a safety issue.

I wish I could use my bike rack! They are asking me if I am interested in BMW bumper mount bike rack but it is very hard for me to install it and take it out before and after each use. I park the X5 in the garage and it will not fit with Bike rack attached.

Originally Posted by Lunablue

I just had it done.

Have you hooked to your trailer & checked all the lights? Do you have a trailer brake controller? Does it work now?

Happy to report that my new 35d had her hitch successfully installed and software recoded last week. Greenwich BMW (ct) did the work under the supervision of the BMWNA regional service tech. He was there because I gave BMWNA a hard time about this hitch issue.

Anyway, the job is done and all of the lights do what they're supposed to do. No controller...have surge disc brakes on trailer.

Finally. After a total of 8 days in the shop since delivery on June 23, the only glitch is that the clearance lights on the trailer are on with or without the headlights. I can deal with that.

The brake lights work, the controller works & the directionals & running lights work.

It took a lot of emails & calls to Montvale & Munich. But, it is finally done. Yesterday a factory service rep reprogrammed the X5 from his laptop. Now if my machinist shows up today with the head for my race car, I'll be towing to Roebling Road in a few weeks for a weekend of fun.

pics please

bec:

Pix of...?

your hitch install? did I miss-read?

The install went fine. That was beginning of July. The problem has been with the programming of the X5 to correctly operate the trailer lights and brake controller.

This is NOT something new. After having BMW dealer install the hitch on my X3 in 2004, the trailer brakes would lock up. After weeks of trying to find a way to tap into the X3 electric system to operate a brake controller, I installed a brake light switch from a '71 Chevy pickup truck on the firewall wired to the battery in the rear. I used that system until I traded the X3 in on the X5.

Pix of X3 system and no-trim-piece X5 hitch attached.

Your hitch install looks different than LunaBlue's hitch install. It doesn't look like the black part of your bumper was cut, only the silver trim piece. Is that correct? I wonder why the difference? They both are the German made "Oris" hitches it appears.

You're correct. Only the white lower panel was cut. It IS possible my dealer used spacers to lower the hitch. I don't know & haven't looked. I did have to use spacers to angle the "door" of the electric connector down more. Originally, it was extremely difficult to insert the trailer plug.

Thanks for the clarification. It will be interesting to see how they "trim" the trim piece to make it fit... or maybe you will have to have something custom made? I do like it better than the standard installation.

Ok, so the latest is that, the car is going in Monday for hitch install, region rep will install software via laptop I think. I'll let you all know how it goes. It looks like this saga is coming to resolution for many of us now.

The electrical socket plug is fit into a flange that is welded onto the receiver assembly. Don't see much of a way turn it so it faces more downward for easier access

Originally Posted by Lunablue

The electrical socket plug is fit into a flange that is welded onto the receiver assembly. Don't see much of a way turn it so it faces more downward for easier access

Mine has 4 screws holding it into the hitch. I simply used a couple of washers between the face plate and hitch. Gave it enough more angle to facilitate inserting plug.

well, made it to Texas boat trailer weighed 4700 pounds and X5 towed like a dream if anyone else wants to do the hitch the way I did let me know and I'll post the part numbers and directions.

Originally Posted by flymikeair

well, made it to Texas boat trailer weighed 4700 pounds and X5 towed like a dream if anyone else wants to do the hitch the way I did let me know and I'll post the part numbers and directions.

Please post up - I just have a little utility trailer I drag around a bit here and there - it was $1000 new and is a 3500lb trailer - seems crazy to pay $1400 for the hitch to pull it!

I do have a 2011 X5 with the LED tail lights all the way to Texas and the computer threw no codes. As for a brake controller there are wires on the 7 pin connector to hook up a brake controller. It's all pretty much plug and play.


$184.00
Draw-Tite Class III Hitch (Part Number: 75600)
got from
http://www.drawtite-hitches.com/hitc...#result-anchor

electronics I got from a local shop to avoid shipping but they can be purchased from these websites

Tow Ready Wiring part number 119176

http://www.woodys-auto-supply.com/pe...rod=T1G-119176

for the 7 pin plug you'll also want to get
7-Way Trailer Wiring Harness part number 20224

http://www.americanrvcompany.com/Tow...-RV_p_451.html

total cost if you feel up to doing the work yourself is about $270. Took me about 4 hours to do it, this is not difficult but you will need a second person there and lots of patience to find all the little screws and spots to get it apart. i will warn you taking the back bumper off is tricky, go to your local bmw center and see if they will print off the instructions to remove the back bumper. Mine did and it was much easier once i had those. For connecting the wires use a circuit tester on the 10 volt setting and test each circuit from the back of the plug while it is plugged into the light. I ultimately cut a hole in the lower fascia for the 7 pin plug so it has a nice clean look better then the factory installation IMHO. When I get my car emptied from the move and can see the wires again I'll post which wire connects to which.

Originally Posted by seavee05

OK, so Labor Day is almost here and I haven't been on my boat since July 4th. Had to cancel my plans to tow my boat to Maine, I'm just so disgusted I can't even believe it.

I've been back and forth with BMW NA, so many times I've lost count.
Result, "0" satisfaction. So, now with the boating season coming to an end in the northeast, do I try to go for the Drawtite, and have it re flashed when they figure out the coding or what?
My ramp is down the block so I really don't care about the lights at this point. Do you think I'd setting myself up for warranty issues down the road, even if I have BMW re flash it, and use BMW's wiring harness when it becomes available? I'm really desperate at this point and I'm getting nowhere with BMW.

Vin Racer, it sounds like you may be close to resolving your issues. Is that true?
Oh, and to boot came out of work the other day to find someone had smashed into the front of my 530i, so that's in the shop and I'm gonna have a $1000 deductible to pay. Oh yeah, it's great being me lately, LOL.

Anyone, I appreciate you guys keeping this thread alive and sharing your information regarding what I see as a major blunder by BMW.

Regards,
Dan

if you are worried about warranty stuff the magnusum moss warranty act of 1975 prohibits a manufacturer from denying warranty coverage because you used aftermarket parts. Same thing applies if you use a non bmw part to make a repair they have to honor the warranty unless the part you installed caused the malfunction. I used to have a lifted 3/4 ton dodge ram so I got very familiar with this law when i had to get some warranty work done on the axle.

Congrats on your installation. call me crazy, but I personally would not perform this surgery on my X5. You lost me at 10 volts. There is no way my service guy would print any instructions out for me...And I think that if, by accident, you happen to touch the wrong wires together your SA is going to laugh out loud as he writes up your bill. But a least you'll get a free wash.

Originally Posted by VintageRacer477

I don't know how I missed this thread a couple of weeks ago when I hooked up my trailer.

Yes, same problem on 2011 X5d. All lights work fine except trailer brake lights. Just left message for SA.

Norm

Mine is a June build, 2011 X5 xDrive35d. I wanted a trailer hitch, but couldn't get one as a factory option or as a dealer install. Reason - hardware is same as 2010 hitch, but software is different for 2011. Finally got it installed in mid September by an authorized BMW dealership. Dealer confirmed all electricals checked out. I don't have a trailer with lights (I use this mainly for my bike rack), I will borrow a friend's trailer and re-confirm dealer tech's claim. I will post after I do this test.

My guess is your car's software upgrade was not done properly, or they tried to use the software patch from a 2010 kit. My dealer tech specifically told me 2010 software patch will NOT work on a 2011 X5.

Here are some part numbers that might help you:

2011 part numbers are 71-60-2-156-525 (Trailer hitch kit) and 71-60-2-185-557 (Trim piece kit).

For reference, 2010 part numbers are - 71 60 0 413 359 (Trailer hitch kit) and 71 60 0 035 371 (Trim piece kit)

My apologies for not posting this info back in September, somehow forgot to do that!