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Just installed a trailer hitch

3K views 37 replies 12 participants last post by  Jerry-C 
#1 · (Edited)
I just installed a trailer hitch from etrailer.com on my 2010 X5. It took exactly 2 hrs, which included a trip to the auto parts store to buy a new 18mm impact socket to replace the one that has disappeared from my set. The 2 also includes taking the fascia back off because I cheated a little on the small side when I made my bumper cutout. I hedged a little on the small side of 2x8" because I knew I could always trim away a little more. Things learned:
1- It was a one person job. I don't see how another set of hands would have helped.
2- All of the fascia screws are not exactly the same length. 2 are a little longer but I mixed them all together. You may want to keep them separate if you are really picky about that sort of stuff.
3- The instructions that come with the hitch are good enough. I ready every post I could here on the topic so I felt better going in, but could have done it with what they supplied.
4- The reflectors are fragile. I broke the first one but it was separating on its own so I'll be buying a replacement.
5- A utility knife was sufficient for the bumper cutout. I thought I would have to use a rotary tool or sawzall but the utility knife did the trick.
6- If I can do it, you can!
 
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#2 ·
I don't see how another set of hands would have helped.
"Hey Honey- Could you find that 18m socket that rolled under the jack?"

;)

Nice work! Thanks for posting it.
 
#4 ·
rivet tool

You also will need a special rivet tool which I found at Harbor Freight. They did not have one that handled the large diameter of the supplied plastic rivets at Auto Zone, O'Reilly's, or Home Depot. You can definitely drive without those 4 rivets in, but to finish the job you need the special tool or you could possibly dig around and find some suitable push-in rivets.
 
#7 ·
You also will need a special rivet tool which I found at Harbor Freight. They did not have one that handled the large diameter of the supplied plastic rivets at Auto Zone, O'Reilly's, or Home Depot. You can definitely drive without those 4 rivets in, but to finish the job you need the special tool or you could possibly dig around and find some suitable push-in rivets.
I just used some push 'rivets' from O'Reillys, not sure about the real name. They're in the Help section. No special rivet gun needed. We'll see if they hold up.

My experience has been the same with etrailer.com; great hitch/receiver, good videos, the Curt PWM wiring adapter wired in easily, worked flawlessly. This is the fifth hitch I've bought from them in 5 yrs.

I'm not worried about coding anything. For the amount that I tow with this vehicle, I'll either put up with the Park Distance beeping always on in reverse or I'll push the button to shut it up every time I shift to reverse.

BTW, how can I remove the 'Park Distance' button and others from the dash to clean them? They're kinda sticky.

Land vehicle Vehicle Car Motor vehicle Natural environment
 
#6 ·
This past weekend I installed the Curt wiring harness from etrailer.com and it went pretty well. Since I'll only be towing a utility trailer with an ATV a couple of times a year I didn't think I needed the BMW harness. The written instructions we generic but their video for installation on a 2014 X5 pointed out the right wire colors. Tested it and it works well and the 4-pin flat connector stores well in the side panel when not in use.
 
#22 ·
Well the hitch shown has some adjustment to the ball height (2 positions), and different height mounts are available as well.

I suppose if you tow a lot of different trailers all the time, it could be less convenient, but I don't see it as being a serious drawback myself. You'd have to have multiple different draw bars in that case, and you could do the same with this system, though its probably pricier..

As for anti-sway and weight distributing hitches, that doesn't really seem necessary unless you are towing beyond the vehicles limits, or improperly loaded. Hell, Europeans tend to tow a lot more with a lot less vehicle, and the same vehicle in Europe tends to have higher rated towing capacities than it's equivalent in America. :dunno:

In the end, just presenting other options. I have no need to two these days (once towed boats and car trailers, but not anymore), but if I did, this would be the way I'd go, just so I didn't have to deface the rear end.
 
#18 ·
I typo'd and corrected. You want a receiver hitch for towing, the receiver hidden hitches are not as versatile and very limited in setting up the trailer correctly. Towing level is one of the keys to safe towing and not being able to adjust the ball height to match the trailer is a problem with hidden hitches. Id skip and go for receiver style hitch if you plan to actually tow.
 
#19 · (Edited)
Id also like to comment about the transmission towing logic. After towing for 1000s of miles in my 4.8i, and 10,000s in my x5m, that the towing logic for the transmissions is just okay. I find in mountains / hilly terrain manually shifting works better, especially downhill. Unfortunately on the m the only way to get it to hold gears (i've found I may just not know), is to put the transmission in M/S. Then use the paddle shifters or shift lever to manually select the gear I want. Otherwise the engine won't downshift automatically on downhill grades to help maintain speed. The downside is in S mode the exhaust opens its performance flaps and can drone on the M. Would prefer the transmission just follow my commands in D mode or have the ability to manually select gears with the performance flaps closed.

On the uphills the transmission is fine and will hold lower gears as needed. The X5M has no problems driving in 6th (top) gear and maintaining 70-75mph in top gear on most hills, that 500lb-ft helps.
 
#20 ·
I remember towing back in the day before "tow-haul modes" and shift logic. Just lock out OD, keep it slow, and don't worry about it. No trailer should EVER be exceeding the speed limit, EVER. With a trailer, you need to be one of the slowest on the road.

A receiver-style hitch is the way to go, as you can keep the trailer fairly level with different draw bars. SUVs don't exactly have the provision of gooseneck trailers without some pretty extensive modifications. ;)
 
#21 · (Edited)
:rolleyes:

So never tow a bike rack without a ford F-450 above 55mph? Otherwise your killing innocent children. I'm being sarcastic.

Towing speed limits are not so black and white. Most speed limits in the US are arbitrary, and rarely reflect the maximum design speed of a road. Limits just reflect the whims of the state and local legislators balanced with a need for revenue generation. Hence why speed limits are nearly universally ignored.

In regards to towing; traffic, Wind, weight, tires, sway from vehicle, weather and etc. should determine your maximum safe speed. I routinely see folks pulling 44ft horse trailers here at 80mph+ and 5th wheels doing 80+. Its a western thing, lots of people tow fast in texas, coloradio, arizona, etc. Heck, I've seen semi's roll at 90+. With the right setup you can definitely tow faster than the speed limit in many places. But not under all conditions.

You can put ST tires that are rated for 87mph+, disc brakes on the trailer, good level towing, anti-sway hitches, and etc and easily under the right conditions go a lot faster than you'd think. Especially with some of the big diesel pickups..... I've ridden as a passenger with folks driving at 90mph while towing trailers in their diesel pickups... Honestly you really can't even tell.
 
#25 · (Edited)
So, there are some schools of thought on the E70 X5 in regards to weight distribution/anti-sway. The 1st thing I'd like to mention is that only the install directions of the factory hitch say don't use a WD/AS hitch. So some folks strongly adhere to that warning and say don't use WD/AS. After market hitches do not have this warning....

There have been folks who have done hitch re-enforcement to make sure their hitch has more margin for handling WD/AS. I believe kanar200 has done exactly this.

AS for me I've towed more than 15K miles with my X5M using a blue ox sway pro hitch with 750lb bars towing my 2017 Microlite 21DS and now 2020 Microlite 21DS. The hitch weight on my 2020 measured with 1/3 tank of water and lightly loaded was 632lbs. As measured by a sureline scale. Using the blue ox the trailer tows like its not even there. The only time you notice it is speeding up or slowing down, no sway, no being blown around by trucks, no problem with 30+mph cross winds. No problems going 75-80mph when passing on the interstate (generally go 70mph+ for fuel economy). Very relaxed cruising in 6th on the highway...

I also have had no problems with the hitch on the SAV bending, and have had accidentally more than 800lbs of tongue weight on the car. Towing a 5700lb trailer. Towed this way for over 2500 miles, from houston to RMNP and back.

I discovered the overload when going to the cat scales the 1st time. After that experience I purchased a sureline scale now to make sure I'm more in the limits of what the vehicle can do. The biggest limitation I find is the payload capacity of the car.

I weigh 240lbs, My wife weighs 140lbs, my dog weighs 55lbs. The hitch weighs about 40lbs, and with 632lbs of tongue weight I'm at 1107lbs. Which is near the limit of my X5. I need to weight it empty to verify the actual curb weight as the max GCVW is 6471lbs on my X5M. I suspect the real payload limit is about 1300lbs. Also the class IV hitch max tongue weight without WD is rated at 600lbs, and its 1000lbs with WD.

BTW that palyload is about the same as a ram 1500 limited 4x4 with the ecodiesel...... So light duty trucks really don't have additional capability. This ram has 1350lbs of payload, a ram 2500 HD limited megacab 4x4 with 6.7 cummins is only 1700lbs. A mercedes GLS550 is 1600lbs, so so much for trucks being superior in capability....
 
#27 ·
There***8217;s a match made in heaven above ^^^

Learn the anti-sway function of DSC with the trailer module.

The problem with WDS is the rigid highly internally stressed unibody construction not designed or intended to pass the MOMENT (=force x length) of the WDS hitch through the body to the front suspension.

Rigidity, like hardness and brittleness, is achieved through internal stresses ( total internal energy). The body is just like a huge cubic crystal.
 
#29 · (Edited)
There's a match made in heaven above ^^^

Learn the anti-sway function of DSC with the trailer module.

The problem with WDS is the rigid highly internally stressed unibody construction not designed or intended to pass the MOMENT (=force x length) of the WDS hitch through the body to the front suspension.

Rigidity, like hardness and brittleness, is achieved through internal stresses ( total internal energy). The body is just like a huge cubic crystal.
Yup, that is a theory I've heard before. But the reality is the factory is completely mum as to why they don't recommend WD with the oem receiver hitch on an E70 (after market doesn't carry this warning). Some say it conflicts with the DSC anti-sway, some say the frame can't handle it, some say BMW just never certified it, some say the hitch is too weak, some say only the E70 knows. With a lack of information from the factory everything is just speculation as to why BMW does not recommend WD with their oem hitch.

A lot of people msyelf included (on a 4.8i and x5m) have tried it on the E70 and it works as it should with no seemingly determinantal effects. One report to the contrary, and some folks have re-inforced the hitch for an extra margin of safety.

There are uni body vehicles that do support WD, there is nothing inhernt about the design of a unibody that precluded using WD/AS. In fact WD is probably more effective on a uni-body vehicle than the ancient body on frame designs due to their superior rigidity and resistance to flexing. A body on frame vehicle due to it inherent lack of rigidity is probably less effective at transferring weight to the front axle and needs more force applied at the spring bars to achieve the same effect as a unibody.
 
#35 · (Edited)
I actually have a 2000 ford F-450 with the 7.3 powerstroke I routinely drive. Its a commercial truck with 19.5 rims / 16 ply tires, weighs 13,000lbs unloaded (measured at cat scales). In no way for my travel trailer would I consider it a better tow vehicle than my X5M. It has smaller brakes than my X5M, less power (235hp/500lb-ft) and its far less stable under hard braking. It is a bucket truck with a service body so its about 11 ft tall when the boom is stowed. Its less stable under high winds than the X5M owing to its large cross section. For my 22ft travel trailer tandem axles with brakes (4800lbs unloaded), I wouldn't bother towing with the F-450. though I could. While a capable vehicle given its weight, its limited brakes, slowness, poor handling, its not really suited to towing (0-60 is probably 40 seconds). That and its 9mpg unloaded fuel economy. Again heavy duty doesn't mean superior for towing, but if I did tow with this truck I probably wouldn't go much faster than 65. Which is my point, the wrong vehicle and you're towing slow, the right setup and you can go faster. There are folks who can run faster than 65mph while towing, safely, and routinely. It's having the right tools to do the job and not being afraid to use them.
 
#36 ·
You won’t hear any disagreement from me on using the right tool for the job. I’d also completely agree there are much better options than a bucket truck, which is already high centered and ill handling. Either of our ‘11 or ‘12 F450s with flatbeds and the 6.7 would be a night and day difference.

A trailer changes the game. Beyond that we’ll have to agree to disagree. Keep it safe and plan ahead.


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