Has anyone found a hitch that will work on a 335d?

Will do saturday morning ok

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Took the photos but will not upload cause of an error on the site,STCKY bail me out

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thanks so much. The very first one didn't show the whole are of trim on your blue bumper cover. Is it possible to back up before shooting one more photo so we can see the whole cut on the blue cover? The other pictures show where he had to cut an internal plastic bracket to allow access to the lock on the side. Attempting to post now. He also put a nice profile shot of the the entire car.

if you send me the last photo by email, i will put it up on the board.

will do later today, I have to fix the front spoiler cover of the front bumper,I went to much in on a parking stump Fme!!!

In this batch, he has the bike rack installed. 1st two are closeups of the cuts in the bumper cover and the last two are of the rack. Thanks Axle.

It looks like he needed a large cut to clear for the execuhitch to come down and allow receiver to clear. Good luck with front end. My Msport nose drives my nuts worrying about bumping the parking lot "stops" and gouging the lower edge. I actually like parallel parking more as I can better judge how close to curb I am.

BMW335diesel, can you do me a favor please? I have this photo of a curt hitch that I guy did in California. Can you please take a photo at a similar angle? His angle shows what you would see if you were in a car behind. Your two that are attached earlier are either "higher" or "lower" angles. Also, I have a suggestion if that is okay. If you were to paint the two silver bolt heads black, they would be way less visible since the rest of the hardware is black too.

The curt hitch has to be cut on a little the guy explained over the phone. He also says the exhaust pipe bracket (connects exhaust to lower bumper cover) has to be cut and rewelded at a different angle to clear the hitch cross member. He offered to sell me the curt unit with the cut mod already done on it but i would have to deal with the exhaust bracket mod on my own since he would be shipping it to Texas. I'm not super thrilled to have the exhaust bracket get cut on anyway. Your uhaul version seems to eliminate that hassle. Here is the curt unit i speak of. It is made to fit a 335i (not d).

This is as close as I have now. The other picture obviously is of the hitch by itself. As far as painting the bolt heads, it is so low to the ground and back under the bumper cover that you really would never see them.

For what it's worth, I use an XPORT 2 Flatbed 2-Bike Hitch. It is very easy to use and securely holds the bikes. MSRP is about $250 but can be found on sale for $125.

The bike rack does obscure the license plate, be ready with some zip ties if someone makes you move the plate. I had no problem opening the trunk with the bikes in the rack.

Thanks for the photos and posting so quickly too. Your receiver looks a little lower to the ground than the curt hitch pitcture. But your tongue weight allowable at 350 lb is stronger than the 200 lb limit that the curt specifies. Did the uhaul kit installation require any cutting at all?

If it is lower, it can't be much more than a !/4 inch at most. As far as cuts, the instructions called for trimming off the "tab" that is in the center of the bumper cover. I did a trial fit and determined that I didn't have to cut anything at all, it cleared by about a 1/4 inch. Basically, in about an hour I can remove the hitch and everything is back as good as new.

As far as the 350# tongue weight, The bikes and rack probably tip the scale at about 100 pounds. Bikes and rack, plus the trunk full of luggage, does cause the rear to sag some, not to the point that I ever bottomed out the suspension, but it did kick the bottom of the rear wheels out some, like it was due for an alignment.

Mark put the last photos I sent you, ok and thanks for everything, NO ONE at EXECUHITCH has caklled me, they have been very quite, they realized by now that their instalation kit for the 328i IS NOT the same for the 335d, the uhaul hitch is nice but in my case i have 2 children and I had to go the 2" route and no one had it so execuhitch was the ONLY way, although expensive I cannot disregard their product it is TOP of the class!! unfortunately thier assistance was very vague

http://www.etrailer.com/Trailer-Hitc...FWd-TAodrRsAcA

BMW335diesel,
Compare the photo of the hitch to the one on your kitchen floor. See how your's has the upward notches on the outboard ends, the curt one does not. This is the area that has to be notched on their unit to fit around the exhaust hangers.

When i was asking you earlier about the cutting, I meant with respect to the hitch itself and also anything on the exhaust system. I got your point that you didn't have to cut the bumper cover. That is great news. I have the Msport rear lower panel so I will have a little different situation.

Sorry one more question, did you have to remove the bumper cover to do the install? I just had my cover repainted (touch up not the whole thing?) and was hoping to not risk scratching it by removing and reinstalling. I guy in a ford truck bumped me at a stop light and scratched it. His insurance paid for the repair.

I'm just going to have to "jump in the water" and stop bothering you guys with questions. Thanks for being the trail blazers!

I didn't have to do anything to the hitch either.

The two outboard pieces each have two holes that fit over the bolts that hold the bumper to the frame. Those bolts have about 10 threads extending past the nuts that hold the bumper to the frame, the hitch takes advantage of the extra threads. It would be possible to remove those nuts and bolt the hitch just that little bit further forward. That would/might give a little extra space between the bumper cover and the hitch, if you need it.

In my second posting I mentioned using some electrical tape along the bottom edge of the bumper cover to protect the bottom edge of the cover. The cover does not need to be removed, but it does have to get flexed outward at the bottom edge a fare bit so that you can get the hitch up and over the four bolts. Even after disconnecting the aft 3 pairs of muffler hangers, the muffler doesn't drop/flex far enough down out of the way prevent having to break a nervous sweat. I would have to say that if, when they repainted your bumper, they used a less flexible paint than should be used on a plastic cover, it could cause you some problems if you don't disconnect any more than U-haul says to in their instructions. But, if you look under your bumper, you will see two braces that attach to the bottom edge of the bumper cover, it is possible that if you can loosen them at the top it this part of the install would be easier.

The center brace that you see in my picture of the hitch is bolted to the side to side part of the hitch after the side to side piece is installed. This part is very easy to install. 4 bolts, 2 at each end. The front two bolts have to get fed through holes in the hollow cross frame right by the differential. Not to hard, just don't mess it up or you'll be trying to fish them back out of a pretty tight spot.

You will have to bend the heat shield up around the back of the DEF tank some to make space for the main hitch part, but you don't have to bend it much. Probably best to bend it as needed while you are installing the hitch. I didn't have to bend the heat shield so much that it can't be bent back to its original shape, in other words, I didn't have to crease it.

Since I got back from my trip I did take the center brace back off the car and removed the two bolts from the frame cross brace. Even with this piece removed (I want to remove the hitch entirely before I bring it in for any service at the dealer while the car is still under warranty to prevent any issues about hitches voiding warranty, out of sight, out of mind) I honestly think that the main part of the hitch is strong enough to handle my bike rack on any short distance trips to the park for a bike ride. I just wouldn't be pulling any jet skis out of the lake or tree stumps out of the ground (lol) without the center piece installed.

One last note on the bike hitch I have: it has a threaded hole through the 1-1/4 bar to pin it into the receiver with a special threaded pin. When you use a wrench to tighten the threaded pin, there is NO side to side or up and down play between the hitch and the bike rack when installed in the 1-1/4 hitch receiver on my 335d. When I use the 1-1/4 to 2" adapter that came with the bike rack for use in a 2" receiver, even when I use a wrench, there is still some play when I install the rack in the 2" receiver in my 4x4 Ford Ranger Pickup, which by the way, is what I use when I go jet ski, sorry BMW, the Ranger is better for this than a 3-series, LOL.

BMW335diesel I strongly believe YOU DO NOT have to remove your hitch, unless your hitch causes ANY structural,mechanical or electrical problems to your vehicle it is safe to add a hitch. Now, mind you unless your towing a CATERPILLAR, LOL

It is easy enough for me to remove and reinstall for peace of mind. Last thing I need is to be told that BMW will not cover replacement of my DEF tank ($4000) or transmission ($$$$$$$) by the shop manager that strongly believes that the hitch voided my warranty. GULP! Know what I mean?

For that kind of money, I don't want to play around and I don't trust that ANY aftermarket accessory manufacturer, that wants to sell their product, to know for sure. Likewise, it would be smart for BMW to put that installation of any accesory that has not been approved by BMW, voids the waranty.

True about dealers!!! But come on, with a 1 1/4 hitch your only hauling bikes, it would be like saying I have my trunk full of luggage and the tranny went out on me, See what im trying to say. And besides uhual is a reputable company and does hitches for sole purpose to haul items based on your transmission guidelines. The shop manager would be more than STUPID to assume this, unless he saw you do it, but again I do understand your point remove it before these knuckleheads try to screw you, but then this would be yearly thing, I took my "D" to the shop and they did not even inquire about the hitch they said it was cool I told them i hauled bikes at a minimum of 3 at any given time, and they told me yeah you need at least a 2" hitch.