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My local dealer offered it to me with or without the electrical connections. If you are buying both pieces, it is cheaper to get the package. Not sure if the separate items have been discontinued, but I don't know why they would be. You could always sell the electrical connections to someone who bought an aftermarket hitch, I suppose.
No issues with self-levelling.
The electrical connections consist of an interface module that installs near the spare tire, and a harness that comes out to a bracket on the receiver. When a trailer harness is connected to the vehicle harness, the rear PDC is automatically disabled so that you don't get the annoying beeping when the PDC senses that something is too close and it thinks you are backing into it. You can apparently enable this feature by putting the adaptor plug into the vehicle harness at the receiver, without having trailer lights connected, but I haven't done it as I have always had a trailer connected. If you don't have the wiring for the trailer, and you mount a bike, you will have to hit the PDC cancel button up front when you put it in reverse.
The vehicle tow rating is 6000 lbs. The hitch is likely designed for slightly more than that (class III, so probably 7500 lbs, but the standards aren't really very standard).
The tongue weight spec is 330 lbs for trailers without brakes, 600 lbs for trailers with brakes. The off-road spec is 330 lbs with or without brakes. The important point is that this specification also includes a maximum offset for the hitch ball, relative to the receiver. With a trailer, the load is applied at the hitch ball by definition. The spec on my hitch is a maximum of 8" horizontally (pin to hitch ball centreline) and maximum 5.5" vertically (top of 2" receiver to base of hitch ball).
Take a look at a bike rack, and the load centre can easily be 24", for example. Three times the lever arm results in a 200 lb limit, just considering the bending moment. If that load is bouncing up and down, I would be very careful. Put a cargo carrier on there, and watch out. OTOH, carry a couple of light bikes, with a light-weight rack, 16" to the load centre, and you would be very safe.
All of the above attention to the engineering design is why the OEM hitch gets recommended. The aftermarket simply doesn't go to these lengths.
Good luck.
Jeff
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2007 X3 3.0si, 6 MT, Premium, White
Retired:
2008 535i, 6 MT, M Sport, Premium, Space Grey
2003 X5 3.0 Steptronic, Premium, Titanium Silver
2002 325xi 5 MT, Steel Grey
2004 Z4 3.0 Premium, Sport, SMG, Maldives Blue
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