X3 Tow Bar

Hi and welcome to the forum

No but I am currently trying to source a bar for my E60.

The dealer wanted £1,000 which includes reprogramming of the cars brain so that it knows that it has a towbar electrics attached to it.

I have sent an e-mail to Brink (OEM for Ford Vauxhall Rover towbars etc) to ask them about their electrics and any compatibility issues with the cars system.

It is the labour for fitting and the cost of the electrics that put a towbar into 4 figures.

The fitting of the towbar itself will be a piece of cake as is fitting the electrics it's just getting the whole thing to work electrically.

I've fitted towbars to loads of cars but the BMW electrics are stumping me a bit on this one.

You take the bumper off and the towbar bolts on behind the bumper.  You may need to cut the bumper.  Do a google search for Towbars and there are loads of web sites that supply towbars.

Make sure you buy a decent one.  Flange balls look horrible, a swan neck is better and a removable swan neck is better again.

What ever you fit make sure it works with an reversing sensors that your buggy has.

Let me know how you get on.

Andrew

Yeah keep me posted

I'm trying to find out who the OEM is for BMW towbars.

Brink are good bars and can be sourced off t'interweb but I think Bosal are the OEM but I cannot prove that at the moment.  I'm sure I investigated this 4 years ago when I bought my first BMW but I cannot find out where from.

The one E60 removable towbar that I have seen, looks more like one of the Bosal towbars that I have seen on line.

Bosal give a phone number and Brink web site says to call your local dealer.  I'll make a few calls at lunchtime.

I have my BMW quote here....

Labour £440

Parts Towbar £307.67, electrics £165.96, Flap for bumper £84.68, Oddments tray for detach hook £26.00. 

VAT £179.25

All in £1203.56 ohhhh!

Brink bar - £226.  Electrics ~£160-180.  DIY fit £0  Cost ~£400.

Andrew

I've ordered a Brinkmatic Advance from a local dealer in Glasgow.

Details of towbar

£252 + VAT.  This is a removable towbar so it doesn't play havoc with my reversing sensors.

That's the easy bit done.  Fitting the bar will be a doddle provided the bumper comes off easily.  The difficult part will be the electrics.

Our cars are clever little things.  They can detect extra bulbs (i.e. the trailer) and throw all the toys out of the pram so you need to install a bypass kit.  This senses the electrical circuits turning live when you stamp on the brake and operate the indicators etc and send a signal to the bypass relay which in turn switches on a higher power circuit to the trailer lights.

Also when I removed the light cluster from my car I could see 5 bulbs.  the indicator bulb was easily identified by the orange lens and also the reverse light was easy to detect. 

I switched on the side lights and three bulbs lit.  Standing on the brake and switching on the Fog lights make the respective bulbs glow brighter.  All the bulbs are 21W but side lights are only meant to be 5W power so the clever car only sends 5W of power to that bulb until you stand on the brake or switch the Fog on and it then sends the full 21W of power to the bulb. 

This means that you have to be very careful wiring up the trailer lights and that a bypass relay is required, to avoid brake/side and fog lights all lighting up on the trailer.

The BMW wiring kit will include an electrical harness that contains all the relays and plugs you need to plug directly into the cars loom.  It will also include a Fog light cut out. 

Fog light cut outs stop the cars rear fog lights coming on and instead send power to the trailer fog light so you don't get a huge red glow in your rear mirror if you are towing in the Fog.  I'm not sure if a Fog light cut is included in a Bypass kit but it will be included in the BMW wiring kit.

I have ordered a bypass relay and I'll buy the black 12N socket and 5m of cable from Halfrauds and make the wiring loom up myself.

If that doesn't work I'll cut up an old Mondeo wiring loom which includes a bypass relay and a Fog light Cut out relay.

I spent most of Sunday working out the circuit diagrams from the Mondeo wiring loom so if I need do I can connect the relevant wire from the BMW to the Ford wiring loom.  It won't care that it is installed in a BMW.  All it needs is the relevant signals and 12 Volts.

Have a read of this website regarding towbar wiring and in particular have a read of this document.

Let me know how you get on.

Just ask if you need any more info.

Andrew

I am now in possession of a Westfalia bar.  Delivered to the office this morning.  I ordered it on Tuesday night at 6pm from Towbars Direct.  Great service.

Looks easy enough to fit.

Will let you know how I get on fitting it.

Andrew

Hi  I've  been away for a time  but  will  now embark on the  job.

Thanks for the advice re  supplier.....I can cope with the  bar fitting  but  have found a local  Autoelectrician to fit the  wiring.

Cheers.

Ps  will be  trailoring a Lotus 11   when its  fitted.

Finally  decided to  get  local mobile fitter to do the  job  and am rather glad I did.

Whilst  removing the  bumper is not exactly difficult  there is method in "unclipping" various bits  and a "correct order" of removing trim.

We used a Whitter bar with removable ball and 7 pin wiring.

Took  best part of 5 hours and cost £500....vs  dealers £1200.

Very neat  job , invisible  when ball removed.

Noe to go  motor racing.