Lotus99

Cool. Good find. So it only works with a Bosal hitch? Do they make them for the 535?

PS So why do you think that the Westfalia hitch has a class I tongue weight of only 200 pounds, but can tow up to almost class 3 levels of 4800 pounds? You think it's a limitation of where it's bolted into the BMW chassis?

sfcacique

Pretty sure the lower "tongue" weight is due to the design of the swan neck, curving down and then up, making a stress point on the descending to flat curve vice the straight in receiver hitch.

Eurohitches BMW E60/E61 (2004+) [303235600001] - $725.00 : EuroHitches.com, European Hitches for European Autos might have a better Westfalia hitch, seems they have some adapters my PF Jones side did not provide. They are also checking to see I they can procure a similar Westfalia EU to USA receiver

REF Wiing, I bought the Westfalia "BMW specific" wiring kit along with a 13pin EU plug (way overengineere, so of course I love it). I am considering whether I should straight wire the electrical wires to a US 7 blade receptacle, or use the U 13pin to US 4pin (or even make my own EU 13 pin to US 7pin) pig tail arrangement.

Lotus99

I see... Re: Tongue weight, that must be it. I checked out hitches for the X3, and the same tongue weight. For the X5, it goes up to 150 kg's.

This is turning into a great resource thread for anyone else.

On that note, one more question: For someone like me, who currently only needs a hitch for a bike rack and not a trailer, when ordering, would you order a hitch with the wiring kit in case down the road I want to tow a trailer too, or is it easy/possible to just add the wiring kit later anyway when you need it and upgrade when needed?

sfcacique

Lotus,

That is your call... given your statements, I'd say get the Curt hitch with their wiring kit from E-Trailer or such. That wiring kit is pretty cheap, in fact, I think I have two of them that I won't be using My 2006 530iXT I put the Curt hitch on, and ordered the generic wiring kit. When I ordered the Westfalia bar, I ordered the BMW-specific kit, but also ordered a backup generic one from e-trailer or the Hitch Store.

sfcacique

BTW, the wiring kit from Westfalia is the most comprehensive, and the one I prefer for my trailering purposes, but it does work best without the bumper still on, much easier. The Curt one is not so labor intensive (either wiring or towbar) so the wiring could more easily be added later.

Lotus99

Thanks for your input. The Dedicated wiring I saw can cost around $200, that's why I was wondering. The Universal ones were much less.

2008Msport

Pre-LCI used normal wiring kit.

The LCI models use a different (more expensive!!) kit due to the led's.

sfcacique

I finished the primary install of the EU towbar and dedicated wiring. I really like the wiring concept, and although the instructions are in pictographs instead of words, it went relatively well. Both the towbar swan neck AND the electronics plug are not visible when not in use. The plug actually swings up behind the bumper as well.

Two primary challenges

1. When I finished the wiring I got a PDC Failure error on the iDrive. A little later a LEFT brake lamp failure occurred. I went through the wiring, ensuring the relay box inside the car was tight and the errors were still there. I then removed the bumper and fiddled with the PDC plug. Checked iDrive and both errors were gone. As we know, sometimes errors don't immediately go away even when the error fault is fixed. So... still looks like a wiring connection situation. On the way home, I received an error code for LEFT and RIGHT brake lamps. Both brake lights work on outside and appear normal. I have not checked with the trailer hooked up.

sfcacique

Second challenge is the bumper reinforcement bar.., As noticed earlier in this thread, the tow bar has the reinforcement bar set at 11 centimeters, when the bar expects them at 15cm. I tried mounting the bar with only two of the four (one of two on each side), which seems to hold well, but the bottom sticks out a bit. I was unable to line up the bumper to successfully reinstall onto the car. I'm looking for a reinforcement bar that has the same stud set as the tow bar.

sfcacique

As an aside, the only USA source for receive hitch racks that I have found is Curt, and they also have the same 200lb tongue weight restriction. I'm beginning to consider the restriction might be secondary to the touring/wagon's relatively lower stance and lighter suspension than the X series.