European Hitch on a NAmerican truck.

[dlauziere]

As many of you know the european hitch is much better looking and integrated that the N american one. Anybody did purshased the part from Europe and installed it to their X5 ? See the link.

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...24&hg=71&fg=10

[ard]

Curious. Is there a weight rating on the EU hitch?

[roadkillrob]

They do look a lot better, once you remove the ball mount, you don't see it at all! Guessing the towing rating is lower, but should be find for a small trailer!

[JCL]

It depends on which Euro hitch, there are different manufacturers and ratings. The fact that it is a swan neck design doesn't mean it is necessarily lighter duty; on the E53, the BMW OE swan neck hitch was rated to tow more than the 6000 lbs the NA hitch was rated for.

On the E70, there is a factory option in the UK for "increased towing capacity", separate from the tow bar. Not sure what it includes, but whatever it is may be required in order to achieve a full weight rating for the Euro hitch.

A significant issue for using this design in North America is that the hitch does not include a place to attach safety chains, and so is not legal unless you weld something up.

[JKashat]

More info. please...

[dlauziere]

more info also for me

[DBC]

The UK increased towing lomit is a simple paper exercise raising the towing limit i think to 3500KG (I'm British and still prefer British Ton'e realy) The tow bar stays the same. If it is an SE it now gets the Westfalia electic one that you flick a switch and it swings down and locks ready for use. On the M Sport they still use the detachable Westfalia, to install simple is removal of the standard bumper cross member (8 bolts) and bolt the tow bar on. Both are used for the 3.5 tonne load, just the ball on both is 50 mm and not 2 inches which is approx .8 mm smaller, this may not matter or yo might be able to build it up with weld and grind it to size. Eeither way you end up with a much better integrated tow bar.

[JCL]

The Wesfalia hitch is documented on the Westfalia site in Germany. Good news for those that don't read German, first select the Union Jack flag to get an English version of the site. Then, select the Product Finder and Installation on the left side of the page.

Choose BMW, and X5.

Note that you will have options for E53, E70, and E70 with the MSport kit. There are also kits that have the wiring included, but for a North American installation you would order the NA wiring kit (without hitch) from ECS Tuning, a board sponsor. The trailer wiring plugs are different standards for Europe.

Select which hitch you are interested in, and select 'show details'. This has installation instructions, etc. There you go, more info.

WESTFALIA-Automotive GmbH*|*Home

There is a note on the Westfalia site that the E53 in North American spec does not fit the Westfalia hitch kit. That is likely due to the impact-absorbing bumpers, as the BMW Westfalia kit includes an alternate crossmember to clear the hitch structure for the NA hitch design, and there is likely a similar interference problem here. Or, it may be that it fits but is not compliant with US crash impact regulations.

Both hitch models are rated 3500 kg (which is 7700 lbs, similar to the 7800 lbs limit BMW listed for the Euro spec E53 years ago) Note that a heavier duty hitch does not override the manufacturer's rating for the vehicle, so you would still have a 6000 lb limit given BMW's published guidelines.

Your next issue is to find a Euro supplier that will sell it and ship it to you.

Then, you need to determine how to attach safety chains. In theory you could weld loops on the swan neck, but given the swan neck is attached at one point, it would be better to bring loops down from the tow bar cross piece.

You will be limited to a 2" ball, given the 50 mm size of the Euro hitch. Should not be too much of a problem.

I would stay away from the electrically activated fold-out model, unless you are prepared to wire it up separately. Vehicle coding in North America may not support that option, I don't know.

If you ever want to use a bike carrier, you either have the option of fabricating an adaptor from the Westfalia receiver to a 2" square receiver, or purchasing the rather expensive Westfalia bike carrier.

Good luck, and let us know if you try it out. Many have considered it, and given the cost, decided they can live with a 2" receiver.

[dlauziere]

JCL, do you know anybody that fit it to their can-usa one ?

Does only bmw dealer can sell it in europe or, others ?

I would be hapy to see some european x5 pics with this type of hitch...

Any reprogram necessary from the dealer ?

[JCL]

Originally Posted by dlauziere

JCL, do you know anybody that fit it to their can-usa one ?

Does only bmw dealer can sell it in europe or, others ?

I would be happy to see some european x5 pics with this type of hitch...

Any reprogram necessary from the dealer ?

Not personally, as the price usually scares people off. There may be a poster on here who has done it, I am not sure.

The dealers sell it. There are other outlets, but you would need to find someone in Europe willing to buy it for you and ship it. The official outlets may not want to do so, as the hitch is not legal in North America. No DOT stamp, no safety chain attachment point, and potential change to the impact-absorbing bumper structure.

There is an outfit called www.eurohitches.com in the US who handle Westfalia. Not sure if they can get it, but you could contact them and see.

There would be no recoding required specific to the Euro trailer wiring harness. It wouldn't work anyway, don't even try. You would buy the US wiring harness, fabricate a bracket for the plug, and you may need coding with that harness but you would be dealing with standard US product in that case.

There are pictures on here from our European members, do a search.

Edit: What the heck, it's a slow night. Read these two threads.

http://www.xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-foru...t-them-up.html

http://www.xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-foru...-pictures.html