Thanks for that.

 

If you have ordered shiny new I think you have made a big mistake in not having a factory fit bar. It was one of the factors that pushed me to have new car rather than an AUC.

Granted it is ?600 (less discount) but you get a removeable bar, proper bumper covers, somewhere to keep the removed bit in the boot, correct electrical functioning with bulb sensing intact and no bleepy things in the boot, PDC disconnects when trailer connected, no warranty issues - and most importantly, no loss of value because of hacked about bumpers and messed with wiring.

A BMW retrofit is about ?1500 :'( so I can see why you might do it on a used car.

Just my opinion.

 

I agree totally, if its new get it factory fitted.

If your too late to get it specd, please dont go for the witter kit on the sport, I did and regret it!! Go for the OEM!

 

Hi
I was considering it when I ordered my car, however I thought ?600 was still a lot of money to pay for a towbar. I did not know at the time of ordering that it would need such a big bumper cut, rang up the dealers to order a towbar when I found out but was too late, car had just gone into production, to get one retro fitted was ?1000 which was worse. By way of compensation, managed to get the dealer to throw in a bumper cut out cover plate painted in my colour.
Managed to source a Westfalia towbar from Towequipe, which is the bar that BMW fit at their factory, for ?200, which just leaves the wiring dilemma.
Do I go with the plug in kit and risk it not working, or go for the bypass relay option.
After reading the replies on this board (BIG THANKS TO ALL), I am debating what to do.


One final question for those with a plug in kit, What does it actually do??

Thanks again for everyone?s replies.

 

The plug in kit consists of a box with 2 sets of cables prewired into it. One set goes to the socket beside the towball the other connects to 4-5 points in the existing wiring loom with the use of scotchlock connectors. It looks horrendious when you open the box but once you suss out the instructions its quite straightforward.

 

Sorry was in a hurry when I posted this.
Question should have read, What does it do or how does it perform differently to the standard bypass relay kit?

 

At the end of the day the both perform the same function "let their be light" on the trailer!!!

I suspect the main diffrence is ease of fitting and the plug in kit is basically a bypass relay with a pre installed wirring loom! At the time of purchase I was unsure on how to use a bypass relay and I thought the plug in kit was the only (apart from BMW) option.

Now you know both options work without dealer programming, its down to how much you can be bothered and what else you could do with your time!!

 

Thanks for your reply.

 

As Blingo wrote, the big difference is that the BMW kit works with the PDC and so on.

Yes, it needs reprogramming of the onboard PC to work correctly. Your deal of ?1000 was really good! I have seen offers that show that a retrofit with programming is about ?2500!!

 

Agree. I was quoted ?1500 as already mentioned.

On my previous Volvos I used to use aftermarket metal but buy the OE electrical kit.

I don't know how much the BMW OE electric kit is but I would be going that route for sure.