Towing question, have read all the threads

[JCL]

Originally Posted by davidachoi

Thanks, that helps. For the active brake system for the trailer itself, does that have to be installed separately? Maybe that's a trailer question.

That is a job for your trailer supplier or a shop that works on trailers.

[surgeondress]

Originally Posted by surgeondress

So I have an appointment this week to see if my hitch wiring harness is coded to the ECU to correct the fast blinker/flasher problem. My OEM hitch was dealer-installed, and it's hard to believe that this part was of the install was overlooked (or is it?). I'll keep you posted on the results.

Well I had the hitch "coded" to the ECM by the dealer--which they tried to charge me for and I had to talk them out of.... Unfortunately it has not fixed the fast blinker problem using the turn signals. Anybody else have any ideas?

[DaveNW]

Originally Posted by surgeondress

Unfortunately it has not fixed the fast blinker problem using the turn signals. Anybody else have any ideas?

I'm not an expert on this, but...

It seems to me that I read in a thread here someplace that if you pick up the brake signal from the wrong location, one of the symptoms is fast blinking of the trailer lights. Something about the way the X5 is wired makes it a mistake to pick the brake signal from a traditional location.

When my installer put in my Prodigy brake controller, I think he put in a switch on the brake pedal that triggered the controller. He said it was the "old fashioned way" to do it, but it works perfectly. I've also read here about picking the brake signal from pin 12 (I think) of the controller block located in the passenger footwell. Check the X5world homepage for instructons that talk about this. I think it's in the instructions about how to install the hitch.

Regarding the other question posted previously about what a brake controller does, and the reply that the trailer only had breakaway brakes: A brake controller will control electric trailer brakes. If all you have are surge brakes, I don't believe a brake controller will work with them. So you may need to have electric brakes installed on your trailer, so the brake controller you install on your X can control them.

As in so many things X5 related, YMMV.

Dave

[JCL]

Originally Posted by surgeondress

Well I had the hitch "coded" to the ECM by the dealer--which they tried to charge me for and I had to talk them out of.... Unfortunately it has not fixed the fast blinker problem using the turn signals. Anybody else have any ideas?

I'll go back to my original suggestion in post #5. I fixed my fast blinker problem with a separate ground wire from the trailer to the vehicle. The hitch ball was not acting as a sufficient ground. I would at least try it. YMMV, but it is a solution consistent with the age old problem of a high current draw triggering a fast blinker.

[Karl w/a K]

Originally Posted by mfiver

I'm using the factory BMW hitch without any aftermarket sway control.

FWIW - After looking at all of the available options and doing the hitch install myself and seeing how it is made an attached, my semi-professional opinion (as a mechanical design engineer) is that I wouldn't consider any hitch other than OEM for heavy loads.

Frayed - If you haven't wired in the electronic brake controller yet, you will want to check out my thread on the install. Wiring the the controller is super easy IF you know where to pick up the 12v braking signal.
http://www.xoutpost.com/x5-e53-forum/...hlight=prodigy

mfiver,
I'm been doing a lot of hitch research. I'm trying to figure out if the bumper supports are shock absorbing or static. I ask because the BMW OEM hitch has you remove the bumper supports, add the hitch box section, then add the tube looking brackets on top. Basically throwing away the original supports. If the original supports are static, I have no problem replacing them with the steel sections. If the originals are dynamic, I feel like I'm loosing some of my bumpers ability to absorb 5mph hits. Does this question make any sense? Any help is appreciated.
(2000 X5 4.4)
Thanks

[bbh03]

Having installed the OEM hitch, I believe they are static (using your terminology). The ones removed are typical shock absorbing types and they are replaced with solid steel pieces that come with the hitch. That said, I believe the plastic bumper would probably crack regardless.

I have been towing a 20' vnose enclosed with a loaded weight of right about at 6000 lbs with my 4.4 for about a year now. I am using a load distributing hitch, Prodigy and have been loading race cars with engine to the rear to try and maintain proper tongue weight. That said, I do have moments when I feel the rig is not so stable, especially around 70 mph. Plus, the car will vibrate at those speeds for a reason unknown to me.

As impressed as I am with this little car's ability to tow, I will likely upgrade to a 3/4 ton truck for towing anyway 1) because I'd like to be able to throw more equipment in without worrying and 2) tow a larger trailer in the near future (20' vnose is a tight squeeze for an E36). I'm not willing to go beyond the mfg's rated tow capacity for both safety and liability reasons.

[JCL]

Originally Posted by Karl w/a K

mfiver,
I'm been doing a lot of hitch research. I'm trying to figure out if the bumper supports are shock absorbing or static. I ask because the BMW OEM hitch has you remove the bumper supports, add the hitch box section, then add the tube looking brackets on top. Basically throwing away the original supports. If the original supports are static, I have no problem replacing them with the steel sections. If the originals are dynamic, I feel like I'm loosing some of my bumpers ability to absorb 5mph hits. Does this question make any sense? Any help is appreciated.
(2000 X5 4.4)
Thanks

Good question. The original bumper mounting method is that the plastic bumper is attached to a metal carrier, which hangs on the two collapsible struts. They are shock absorbing. The struts mount to the rear sheet metal with five (IIRC) bolts, and run fore/aft inside a box section sheet metal structure.

Aftermarket hitches generally mount to the same five bolts, which are just bolted through the sheet metal, there is no real structure there. Yes, in that case, you retain the shock absorbing struts for the 5 mph bumper.

The OEM hitch replaces the two collapsible struts with fixed supports, running fore/aft. Those supports are attached at the front to the box section they run inside of, sort of like a formed frame rail in concept. That is how the load is transferred to the vehicle structure, it is more important than the five bolts IMO. The hitch receiver then bolts to the five bolts (on each side), but it is now tied in to the body structure by more than the rear sheet metal. A new (heavier) carrier is mounted inside the bumper, as the bumper needs to be rigid enough to take the minor bump it is rated for (5 mph or whatever the standard is).

Yes, you lose the collapsible struts. But realize that the stock bumper would move in and out on the struts. There is now a hitch receiver frame in the space the bumper would have collapsed in to, and a protruding hitch receiver to take the first impact. I don't think you are losing anything in terms of bumper function. The law calls for a 5 mph impact without damage, but it doesn't require the shock absorbers. A heavier structure is another way of doing it, but it would be more expensive for BMW to make them all that way from the factory, the shock absorbers are cheaper.

And, when all is said and done, unless the rear impact is evenly applied you will probably get damage to the plastic anyway, as bbh03 says.

Good luck.

[tetice]

Originally Posted by surgeondress

I finally got around to attaching the photo my rig. Had it weighed at the trucker scale: 8,200 lbs.

That's a serious rig you are towing. I currently pull an open trailer with my race car (about 4500lb total) and was considdering getting an enclosed trailer (may push 6000lb total plus the increased surface area). Any reservations in towing with the X5.

TIA

[frayed]

Old thread. . . fyi I went with a Prodigy controller, and have racked up some miles with an open steel trailer + M3 track car = 5000+lbs. No problems. Tows like a beast. Also been towing my 23' fishing boat on a trailer with no brakes. Pulls hard to 75mph then drag takes over.

Have to use manual shift mode in hilly terrain though.

All in all, great tow machine, though I'm a bit concerned about long term durability, so I'm happy to have the 100k mile/2011 warranty!

Short wheelbase make backing up boat down ramp a breeze, too.

[tetice]

Originally Posted by frayed

Old thread. . . fyi I went with a Prodigy controller, and have racked up some miles with an open steel trailer + M3 track car = 5000+lbs. No problems. Tows like a beast. Also been towing my 23' fishing boat on a trailer with no brakes. Pulls hard to 75mph then drag takes over.

Have to use manual shift mode in hilly terrain though.

All in all, great tow machine, though I'm a bit concerned about long term durability, so I'm happy to have the 100k mile/2011 warranty!

Short wheelbase make backing up boat down ramp a breeze, too.

I knew it was an old thread but there aren't too many pulling the kind of load you show in the photos... so you abandoned the 24' enclosed trailer?? That's the angle I was most interested in. Was it too much for the X5?

I currently have an open trailer and it pulls like a dream. I have surge brakes and that avoids the need for a controller - seems to work fine other than a klunk when they engage and when they release. A friend riding with me to a race commented after a few hundred miles that he knew why it made that sound. It was to let you know there was a trailer back there otherwise you would forget. He was used to pulling an enclosed trailer with a 2500 diesel dually truck.

TIA

PS I've also pulled a 20 foot i/o runabout boat with no brakes and a 22 foot poontoon also with no brakes. Both of those are a bit more of a challenge than the dual axle open car trailer. I agree on the backing.