Suspension options & hitch height

[ZetaTre]

I have sort of a odd question that came up from researching how to properly setup a weight distribution hitch.

I'm looking at this post from PAX5 -> Bimmerfest - BMW Forums - View Single Post - 2013 BMW x5 - Trailer hitch recommendations?

It shows a hitch height for the OEM hitch of 16" from the ground to the center of the receiver.

I went out and measured mine and it turns out to be 14.5".

My car has the following suspension options:
S2VAA - Chassis & suspens. setup"Adaptive Drive"
P330A - Sports package
I don't have third row nor self-leveling.

Would anyone be able to clarify whether or not different suspensions setup result in different height? I was under the impression that the sport package suspensions would just be stiffer springs, but not resulting in a ride any lower than the regular.

[Ron07x5]

Doesn't sports package have different profile tires? Lower profile?

[bawareca]

Originally Posted by Ron07x5

Doesn't sports package have different profile tires? Lower profile?

All tire sizes recommended by BMW for X5 have the same outer diameter.

[absentmathis]

Are you sure you have a factory hitch?

I don't know if all suspensions are the same height from factory or not, but there are a couple simple factors that could be affecting the measurement. Car could be on a slight incline or decline (or on uneven pavement) that changes height of hitch from ground. Sometimes air suspensions will settle a little bit when the car is off, especially older ones.

[ZetaTre]

Originally Posted by absentmathis

Are you sure you have a factory hitch?

I don't know if all suspensions are the same height from factory or not, but there are a couple simple factors that could be affecting the measurement. Car could be on a slight incline or decline (or on uneven pavement) that changes height of hitch from ground. Sometimes air suspensions will settle a little bit when the car is off, especially older ones.

Yes, I have bought and installed the hitch myself.

Also, I've checked the car again last night using a leveler, I checked the pavement of my garage which is basically flat. I've also positioned the leveler on the frame of the car and that too is leveled.

In other words, I'm measuring the height on a flat surface and my car is flat (i.e. no sags of front or rear).

It would help if anyone else with the factory hitch could measure the height from the ground to the middle of the receiver...

[blue dragon]

I have AD and self leveling and the OE hitch. I'll post a pic as soon as it stops raining

[absentmathis]

Same as blue dragon. Mine measures 15.25" to center of hitch.

[ZetaTre]

Ehi guys, thanks for your help.

Some further research point to the fact that cars with rear self leveling are 10mm higher in the rear than car's without.

I'll pull the more accurate doc from Rheingold tonight, but in the meantime, here's my source -> http://tis.bmwcats.com/doc1126535/

I took a more accurate measure of my rear hitch which comes out to 14.7mm -> it's sort of hard to really measure "the center" of the hitch so I measured at the higher lip, the lower lip and took the half-sum.

Bottom line is that if in fact the cars with self leveling are 10mm higher, the measure taken by absentmathis lines up with mine, particularly when you factor in the offset of the hitch (where we're measuring) from the wheel (where the 10mm difference from BMW is calculated)

For a second I couldn't stop thinking that somehow my car was bent somewhere...

[blue dragon]

I think mine is 15"