Bagged a unicorn

[garrett.fell]

Does the wife think I am nuts? You bet. <in my best wife mocking voice> "Why are you spending more money on that caaaaaaar"

The cat really dug the box - as did my 3 year old daughter. She got her safety scissors out and was trying to open the box for me. My 11 year old son - not to much. The only box he's interested in is an Xbox.

I took inventory last night and it looks like it's all there except for one missing washer and one reject-washer that was double-struck by the hole-punching-machine.

Someone got into the box at some point - un-bagged a few things and got into the hardware bag. I found hardware floating around inside the box which had a couple holes in it. Luckily it's all still there more or less. I was comparing my parts to a photo I found of this kit unboxed and the only thing that leaves me with a question is - did they provide two rubber "plugs" originally or am I missing some sort of part?



In the upper part of this pic you see two bags with square things in it. Are these both the same part or different parts?


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[LVP]

Those are the receiver blanking plugs, so when you take out the ball part, that will plug the hole. There should only be one. The top one looks tapered, and the lower one looks uniform. Mine looks like your lower one. If you go through any automated car washes, be sure to pull it out. The dealer put mine through theirs and lost the plug. I made them go back and find it because you can't order them if I recall. If you ever lose it, go to the car wash places and look through their lost and found .

I love the quality of the BMW hitch kits. Every bit makes it worth it.

If you scroll through the pics here, you'll see exactly what you should have:
71600009711 - Trailer Hitch Kit - (NO LONGER AVAILABLE) - ES#185392

[garrett.fell]

Looks like I've got two of the more shallow plugs then and not the tapered one.

They have the same part number on them. I am sure I'll lose one at some point - so I've got back-up!


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[Clockwork]

I have one of those rubber plugs too but since it is just a pressure fit and not held in by a retaining bar I figured it would fall out or grow legs and walk away with someone! So I put in a folding step that LUND sells.

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[garrett.fell]

I've never bought a thing that plugs into a receiver before. I assume I can go to somewhere like harborfreight and get something with the appropriate drop/offset to work well with the towbar for my VW?

I recall seeing a "BMW" one referenced somewhere but that just seems silly. I assume this is a standardized part, yeah?


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[Riggodeaux]

Not really. the receiver is engineered for a shorter shaft hitch, with a drop, than you normally find at Northern, Harbor Freight, etc.. Details in the manual with the hitch kit. A mechanical engineer could tell you how a longer shaft impacts the load/torsion on the frame; I'm a simple caveman, so that science is beyond me . I do have a cheap, longer, Harbor Freight shaft with a 1 7/8ths ball I use for light weight trailers, but bought the official, shorter BMW hitch from ECSTuning, I believe, that I use when my trailer/load exceeds a ton or two. I have a 2" ball mounted on it.

[LVP]

Originally Posted by Riggodeaux

Not really. the receiver is engineered for a shorter shaft hitch, with a drop, than you normally find at Northern, Harbor Freight, etc.. Details in the manual with the hitch kit. A mechanical engineer could tell you how a longer shaft impacts the load/torsion on the frame; I'm a simple caveman, so that science is beyond me . I do have a cheap, longer, Harbor Freight shaft with a 1 7/8ths ball I use for light weight trailers, but bought the official, shorter BMW hitch from ECSTuning, I believe, that I use when my trailer/load exceeds a ton or two. I have a 2" ball mounted on it.

Yep. The manuals with the hitch are very clear on what the extension and drop max. limits are for the ball position. It is largely due to the offset of the receiver and the moment an extended load puts on the system. Specifics regarding trailer and tongue weights depending on conditions (live load, 6 vs V8, auto vs manual, off road, etc.) are also clearly defined in the manual.

[Riggodeaux]

Garrett, suggest you also compare your parts to the parts list in the manual you should have with the kit. If its missing, there is a .pdf of it early in the long DIY install thread ....

[garrett.fell]

My manual was missing from the kit! I did find a 16 or 17 page .pdf on the site which was the install manual. I breezed through this last night but don't recall reviewing that information - of course I had a couple beers too so it may be in there after all.


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[Riggodeaux]

Here's another .pdf of the manual