Tow experts: Which Tekonsha brake controller do I buy?

[ninekrpm]

Originally Posted by RenaissanceMan

Hi everyone-

I'm getting my 'new to me' X5 ready for its first towing gig next weekend. I have just had the factory tow package installed by my local dealer, and now am getting ready to purchase a brake controller. From the research I have done on this forum it appears I need to purchase a Prodigy brake controller to install.

Well, instead of starting a new thread regarding towing, I figure I would ask my questions in a existing one to get my 4.8is setup for towing this season.

The OP notes in the post above, that he had the Tow package installed from the dealer. Does he mean that he had the hitch installed? Is this something else that I would need to get programmed to bring the car into tow mode?

So far I have picked an OEM hitch and plan to purchase a Tekonsha P-3 brake controller.

What else do I need?



P.S. I will be towing an 18' Featherlite trailer @ approximatly 1500#'s and my track car, which is at 3000#'s. All in all, I expect to tow a max of 5000#'s.

[RenaissanceMan]

Originally Posted by ninekrpm

Well, instead of starting a new thread regarding towing, I figure I would ask my questions in a existing one to get my 4.8is setup for towing this season.

The OP notes in the post above, that he had the Tow package installed from the dealer. Does he mean that he had the hitch installed? Is this something else that I would need to get programmed to bring the car into tow mode?

So far I have picked an OEM hitch and plan to purchase a Tekonsha P-3 brake controller.

What else do I need?



P.S. I will be towing an 18' Featherlite trailer @ approximatly 1500#'s and my track car, which is at 3000#'s. All in all, I expect to tow a max of 5000#'s.

Yup, I had the factory hitch installed by the dealer. You won't need any additional programming if you have this installed. The only other thing you are going to have to do is install your brake controller. This is not an inherently obvious process, but it is not too difficult, either. Mine was a Tekonsha Prodigy, but I believe all the connections would be the same for yours. See the installation links posted above in this thread. I actually ended up having to use both sets of installation instructions in order to complete the job.