X5 towing experience and fuel economy

[e70dc]

I have a 2012 35d with the Invisihitch/Execuhitch and no air springs. It tows my car & open steel trailer well. I've seen 18 mpg or better on the highway. My loaded trailer weights about 5200 to 5400 lbs with spare wheels and fuel.

[kalaharix5]

Installed a Curt hitch with BMW harness wired in and coded. We pull my wife's horse trailer. Trailer weighs in at ~ 1500 lbs and horse goes for ~ 1000 lbs plus 100 lbs misc horse stuff..

Usually get ~ 22 MPG with the 3.5i which drops to ~ 12-13 pulling the trailer mostly on the highway doing average 65 MPH. The trailer has surge brakes and handles very easy behind the X5.

[bfeng]

Originally Posted by e70dc

I have a 2012 35d with the Invisihitch/Execuhitch and no air springs. It tows my car & open steel trailer well. I've seen 18 mpg or better on the highway. My loaded trailer weights about 5200 to 5400 lbs with spare wheels and fuel.

I was getting 16-17mpg with an aluminum open trailer and car that weighed 5000lbs. Therefore i think highway mpg is dominated by aerodynamic drag. When I have 5000lbs of trailer I adjust the tongue weight to 600lbs (12%). This caused the rear of my ML350 to sag about 4 inches. That's why I bought an E70 with rear self leveling.

With an enclosed trailer (5000lbs total load), I only get 13mpg at 65mph with an X5d (2011 model). Not great but acceptable.

[snik]

+ 1 in drag. I got better gas mileage towing an F350 on a flat bed at about 9k lbs than I did towing my M3 in an 18x8 box trailer at 7k lbs, obviously this wasn't with an X5.


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[Entropy]

Originally Posted by kalaharix5

Installed a Curt hitch with BMW harness wired in and coded. We pull my wife's horse trailer. Trailer weighs in at ~ 1500 lbs and horse goes for ~ 1000 lbs plus 100 lbs misc horse stuff..

Usually get ~ 22 MPG with the 3.5i which drops to ~ 12-13 pulling the trailer mostly on the highway doing average 65 MPH. The trailer has surge brakes and handles very easy behind the X5.

Nice work. I like that hitch because it doesn't require cutting into the bumper. I may have to pick one up this summer when I'll be towing my E46 around.

[Skyline]

Originally Posted by Entropy

Nice work. I like that hitch because it doesn't require cutting into the bumper. I may have to pick one up this summer when I'll be towing my E46 around.

If you don't want to cut the bumper, why not get an Execuhitch?

http://execuhitch.com/tow-hitches/

Rather than the standard 2" receiver, there is one mounted vertically in front of the rear valence. So you insert a U- Shaped hitch ball mount. When not in use, you see nothing. OK, perhaps just a glimpse of the tab on the flap covering the electrical connection. No big cut out in the bumper, although you do need to make a tiny cut-out about the size of a quarter on the bottom edge of the rear valence to clear part of the electrical connector.

I have used one for several years on my X5 with great results. As a bonus, its rated to 7,700 lbs with the V8 X5 4.8i, slightly more than the factory hitch. The downside is cost; it's one of the more costly options. Also, you can buy a bike rack from them that goes directly into their round vertical mount. You can also buy an adapter which gives you a 2" receiver, so you can use some other bike rack. They will also sell you the factory harness if you want.

[andrewwynn]

That's a clever idea but doesn't the bumper valence already have a cutout for the bumper?


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[Crowz]

Originally Posted by andrewwynn

That's a clever idea but doesn't the bumper valence already have a cutout for the bumper?


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The wifes E53 does but I don't think my E70 has a cutout back there. Its to cold or I would go look

[andrewwynn]

I'm curious to know thanks in advance for checking when it's warmer

[Crowz]

Went out and looked and there isn't a hole for a hitch on the e70 at all.