Good day,

I am new to your forum and, though I have searched, I have not found my situation shared as yet.

I ordered my 2007 X5 without skimping on the options and received it in June. I immediately found that my trailer hitch was on back order and is a dealer-installed option. It was finally received and installed per the BMW specs.

Then, upon installation of the hitch, I was appalled at what was done to my X5. The cut-out for the hitch assembly was oversized, visually asymmetrical, ragged-edged, and a poor representation of a factory advised process. Looking from the rear, the left portion has the necessary access for the trailer light receptacle, however, to the right side of the hitch assembly, the cut-out of the bumper has no masking whatsoever, leaving a full view of the shiny muffler. My first reaction was to immediately order a new bumper. The dealer's intermediate step was to order and install a border piece for the cut-out only addressing the ragged cut of the bumper, still leaving the appearance of a mis-created hole. BMW should be embarrassed.

After a series of "What is BMW going to do?" questions, my dealer (who by the way is quite concerned and cooperative) states that BMW doesn't seem to be getting a lot of complaints, so it doesn't seem like they will be taking up the issue (yet).

So, my curiosity is whether this is an issue out there or not. I have attached a photo.
Mark

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