Towing Exp.

[Ben2.0]

Just thought i would add/share my towing experience with my 4.8is. Did a ton of research and found this toy hauler a couple months back and figured it was right where the x5 was semi comfortable. But a picture is worth a thousand words. Here is a breakdown of the setup for all those people looking for towing info in one place.

04' 4.8is @ 51000 miles

50lbs of air in the rear tires 40 in the front

Equalizer brand weight distribution hitch with sway control. approx 550lbs before the distrubition on the reciever.

Prodigy wireless brake controller

Steady 10.6 - 11.8 mpg @ 60-68mph mostly flat terrain from Wyoming to Indiana 1300miles in 2 days

Hauler=2011 Rubicon
Dry weight of 5376lbs
With Bike and gear 62-6300lbs

The x5 had plenty of power and never needed 3rd gear the whole trip, the torque of this motor is great. I manually managed the tranny and was in 5th gear most of the time. The weight was never really an issue but the wind drag of the trailer wouldnt allow me to run in 6th, i experimented a couple times and in order to get enough torque and or RPMs in 6th i was travelling alot faster than i wanted to pulling this trailer 75-80. Overall the x5 is a great tow rig for anything less than 7000lbs and or slightly over if the aerodynamics of the trailer being towed are good. If your worried about its towing abilities just set it up right and dont drive like an idiot and you should be just fine.

[Roadkill]

ben, great info and write up. thanks.

[c4racer]

I bet you got some funny looks from all the other RV'ers in their 3/4ton pickups, eh?

[AZX54.4]

What roof rack do you have on the X? I am thinking about getting a roof rack with attachments for bikes.

[JCL]

Good write-up, thanks for posting.

Looking at the trailer, the axles look to be set way back. Are you able to load the bike so that it is centred on the axles, and thus not impact weight distribution much? The toy haulers I have seen have dedicated garages behind the living quarters, and those would be brutal for changes in loaded/unloaded weight distribution.

Other question is on tire pressures. The X5 was designed for 32 psi front and 39 psi rear with a full load (which you have). Why so high?

Have fun with it!

[Ben2.0]

I have the thule rapid load bars i think is what they are called along with the wind screen attachment on the front. They are strung across the factory rails and seem to do great, no loss in fuel economy. I only have loaded snowboards so far, havent tried the bike yet.

As far as the hauler goes the axles are slightly behind a regular camper but not much. Toy haulers generally have a higher dry tongue weight so that once the toys are loaded it balances everything out using the axles as a fulcrum to a certain extent. My triumph only weighs about 470lbs full of fuel and the tie downs center its mass right over the rear tire of the tandem axle. I hadnt really played around with it much but the fuel station tank is on the very rear of the trailer under the beaver tail loading area. And thats 30 gallons of fuel i can use as a counter weight to help with the tongue weight if it gets to heavy up front. The dry weight of this haulers tongue was 660lbs and with my bike and a half a tank on the rear I figured i was about right and it towed great except for the wind drag.

I ran the tire pressure a little higher incase the load on the rear tires got to high and at lower pressures thats what creates heat and blow outs. Slightly higher all around to also help with rolling resistance for fuel economy. Back down to normal now though.

[Dan Fowler]

Thanks for sharing info. I have the BMW hitch mounted but not used yet. I remember somewhere instructions said not to use load equalizer on X with self leveling rear suspension. If you have leveling why what was your thinking on equalizer? Also, I have no experience with the wireless brakes; your impressions? Thanks again.

[Ben2.0]

The equalizer is the brand of setup I have. I set it up to not really to put much on the hitch. More so just enough to give pressure for sway. It is also a sway controller and that's 90 percent of the reason I used it. Having never towed with the x5 I was unsure of how it would handle the sway so I used it and am 100% glad I did. Towing with the x5 without sway control on ur trailer at highway speeds with big rigs and wind is pure crazy IMHO. The prodigy wireless controller worked great once I Put resistors on the LED taillights I have on the trailer. Without incandescent bulbs or a resistor in parallel to the lights the x5 stops sending power to the trailer brake light after initial glow, which is the signal that turns the brake contoller on. It worked fine on manual but wanted the full effect. Something is up with the light module that controls the trailer lights, it doesn't like LED. But there is a work around. The extra coin for the controller was well worth it, I didnt want to hack into that wiring not knowing what to expect. And I didn't have to mount that ugly thing under my dash. The hand held controller hung out in my cup holder.

[cat97628]

Great job on this. Much more than I would want to attempt to pull behind my X. The wiring job for the prodigy wasn't really that bad using all the great writeups on this site. I had no issue installing my OEM hitch either. Have fun pulling that rig.

[c4racer]

I don't care what the BMW manual says, for a rig that size - you need a wt. dist. hitch period!!