Need an OEM X5 Hitch

[Quicksilver]

I mentioned this before in another thread and I believe it still holds true.
Seem like in this economy anything can happen so I'm not sure
BMW is totally to blame. After all whoever was making the hitches
had a corner on the market and if BMW had advanced noticed they
might have bought the company. It is a bummer though....

Originally Posted by kishg

better not be.. after screwing us over with non-availability for so long.

[X5 Meister]

Yeah I agree. Each one should come with a personal letter of apology and a $50 gift certificate....wishful thinking!

[X5 Meister]

I'm not sure how much of that I subscribe to. In fact, none of it. BMW IS totally to blame. I don't give a crap about their supplier problems. I bought the car and if I need a part for it, it sure as hell better be available, I don't care if it's a transmission or a floor mat.

Hitches are available for every other BMW no problemo. Given that the X5 is the single most likely BMW to ever pull a load, any load, they should have kept 10,000 in stock at all times. The day the hitch company collapsed should have been the same day BMW took delivery of 10,000 new hitches from the company that makes them for their other cars. Not the day that some jackass woke up and said...gee uhh we might need to figure out how to get some hitches made. Frankly, this was a first class f-up in product planning and management. Nothing more nothing less. Icing on the cake is that whatever dealer you talk to gives you a different answer on the status or potential of new hitches. Guess it's too much to ask corporate to send an e-mail to the parts departments... Someone should put together a nice letter with petition to VP of Aftersales Alan E. Harris commending him for a job well-done.

Now please excuse me and let me go look at some catalogues and see what the tow rating is for a Z3, I'm sure I can get a f-ing hitch for that chick-mobile.

Originally Posted by Quicksilver

I mentioned this before in another thread and I believe it still holds true.
Seem like in this economy anything can happen so I'm not sure
BMW is totally to blame. After all whoever was making the hitches
had a corner on the market and if BMW had advanced noticed they
might have bought the company. It is a bummer though....

[JCL]

Originally Posted by X5 Meister (edited)

BMW IS totally to blame. I don't give a crap about their supplier problems. I bought the car and if I need a part for it, it sure as hell better be available, I don't care if it's a transmission or a floor mat.

Now please excuse me and let me go look at some catalogues and see what the tow rating is for a Z3, I'm sure I can get a hitch for that vehicle.

Lots of anger there. BMW had a supplier that suddenly went out of business (I heard the company owner died). Yes, it has taken some time for them to find another supplier. It is an out-of-production vehicle, in a different country to the BMW engineering department. The new supplier's product probably has to go through a testing and certification process since the bumper support is being modified. That will all cost money, so I would expect the price to go up. And it isn't like it is a replacement part, it is an accessory. Just my $0.02.

The Z3 can only tow 1500 lbs, but Curt has a hitch available if you want one

[X5 Meister]

Everything you wrote is true, but quite frankly I don't care about any of it. The vehicle is barely out of production, this isn't a 50 year old car were are talking about here. They made over 600,000 of them and they damn well better support them in full. Engineering dept in a different country? You've got to be kidding! The item is already designed. They clearly have other companies making hitches for them that they can utilize...this isn't some kind of mom and pop company here, they have official establishments and networks in Albania, Libya and Yemen. Not to mention that the car is built in the USA. And if I don't feel like e-mailing, I can leave now and be in Munich for breakfast. Give me a break.

Whether or not it's an accessory is also irrelevant. If the dealer installed it for me when I took delivery of the car and it crapped out and I need a new one then I should get one. Accessory or not.

[JCL]

No, it isn't a 50 year old car. But you are still treating it as if it is a part designed to keep the vehicle running. It isn't, it is an optional non-BMW-factory accessory. How exactly would it crap out and require replacing? Every purchaser of a new BMW E53 had the option of buying a hitch. The only ones who can't get hitches are subsequent owners, or those who decided years after buying the vehicle to start towing. BMW doesn't have any particular obligation to subsequent owners, although from a customer relationship standpoint it would be a good idea for them to offer hitches again, no question.

I don't think the design is a problem, but testing and certifying it might be. The bumper shocks that it replaces went through vehicle crash testing to get DOT or NHTSA or whatever certification. I don't think Albania, Libya, or Yemen have BMW engineering departments either. It doesn't matter that the vehicle is assembled in the US, since the hitch never was assembled by BMW.

Yes, I am sure it is all frustrating. It would be nice if they found another manufacturer and got these things out there in dealer hands for the purchasers who want them. But let's keep it all in perspective. Just my $0.02

[X5 Meister]

I still firmly disagree with your first point. How and when I bought my X5 is totally irrelevant, but for the sake of argument, let's say I got it from the dealer as a CPO and had them install the hitch, since one of the biggest selling (and advertised) points of the X5 is that it can tow 6,000 lbs, right? Let's say then the hitch crapped out somehow, doesn't matter how, and I needed it fixed, because I use it to tow organs to the local hospital for transplanting, and I was told by the dealer that my 2006 BMW which is barely 3 years old is no longer being supported for one of its bonafide uses...towing. I suppose now I should be sympathetic.
Oh and btw, the stereo isn't designed to keep the car running, nor is bluetooth, or heated seats, but those crapped out too and the dealer kindly said sorry charlie, no parts available, start singing to yourself, dump your bluetooth phone and sit on a warm burrito to heat your butt. I would say that with that kind of attitude, after decades of owning BMW's this is my last one.
The fact of the matter is that BMW does in fact have an enormous obligation to subsequent owner's. You are defending the indefensible. BMW dropped the ball in not being better prepared for this situation. This isn't some exotic feature of the car that no one has heard about, it's a main selling point of the vehicle. I'd like to see BMW (or anyone for that matter) try to sell an SUV by saying, well it can tow 10,000 lbs. but we don't make a hitch for it and if you use an aftermarket hitch and it destroys your frame, we are not responsible.

[JCL]

Well, we're going down a rabbit hole, but let's give it one more round.

If you purchased your car new from BMW, then you got BT, heated seats, etc, and those items should absolutely be supported. That was what I meant by keeping it running; maintaining the components that were supplied by the factory. It isn't like your new hitch would have had a new car warranty if you did buy it when you bought your car.

If you bought the vehicle used after BMW stopped selling hitches, then it is unfortunate, but you don't have much of a claim against BMW.

What you tow (orphans or organs) is completely irrelevant. You can't put obligations on a manufacturer because of your good work for society. You know that though.

BMW makes a very well designed hitch, with a removable swan-neck, and it even has a holder in the rear luggage area to carry it. Only trouble is, the local transportation laws in two countries (US and Canada, which uses the US standards in this case) don't allow that hitch. So they have to cobble together something for the local market. The cobbler (a small local supplier) left the scene in this case.

Why not get mad at your government, they are the ones preventing you from buying a perfectly good (metric) hitch that is designed for the vehicle?

I really do understand your frustration, but I just can't see the point of your rant. Libya? Yemen? 10,000 lb towing capacity? Give us a break. If it is that important, scour the wreckers for one, or buy another vehicle. It is just a car. Probably, they will eventually find another supplier. Maybe not. I hope they do, it will lower people's blood pressure a little.

[kishg]

i agree with X5 Meister. BMW is totally at fault in this case. I frankly don't care about the problems with the supplier. I bought the car from BMW. They are responsible for providing me with the parts. It's not like this an e30 (heck almost all parts for the e30 and even 2002 are still available). I understand the circumstances in this case but there was clearly an oversight on bmw's part.

[Puddlejumper]

I've read on here whether or not BMWNA is responsible because you didn't buy it new with the hitch installed. Well lets say it was purchased new with the hitch installed and the part failed. How are they not responsible in this case?

I don't think the argument whether or not its classified as an accessory holds water either as the Engine Oil is also classified as an accessory.
Believe me if it were costing BMWNA money due to availability then it would be higher on their list.