A couple of feedback on installing the hitch
 

I would like to thank the whole community here and X3eme in particular for the article regarding the hitch installation (http://www.xoutpost.com/articles/x3/...h-2006-x3.html)

I would like to give a couple of feedback that might be useful to add to the original article. Our car is a 2004 X3 3.0i:

1) Our car is the 1st generation body style with black plastic bumpers. They are precut for the hitch installation making it easier and in a way cleaner. Please notice however that the removal of the bumper is slightly different. You do not need to remove the equivalent of this lip

http://greggpeterson.com/aux_images/BMWTrailer/110.JPG

You only need to remove the two side covers and undo the 2 screws you'll find behind them. The "lip" doesn't need to come off to remove the bumper

2) BMW, as well as many other European cars, don't like it when a trailer with LED lights is connected. They act wired possibly because the low current used by the LED lights doesn't allow the car's electronic to acknowledge the presence of the trailer. Symptoms range from parking sensor don't getting disconnected, hyper-flash turn signals or light bulb monitoring signal lighting up in the dash. The solution is to buy a "special" adapter that incorporate a resistor simulating regular incandescent lights. The adapters can be found at U-Haul (U-Haul: Moving supplies: LED Light Trailer Module) or etrailers.com (7-Way to 5-Way and 4-Way Trailer Adapter for VW, Audi and Porsche Towing Trailers with LED Lights Valley Wiring V39008)

Enjoy and happy trailing!!!!

I've been looking around for adapter to solve the hyperflash issue with trailers equipped with LED. Apparently is back ordered everywhere.

I did find an alternative that requires going over to the competition: VW has it in stock because their Touareg has the same problem... At least they are nice enough to acknowledge the issue, put out a TSB and stock an adapter (which is nothing more than what Valley offers, rebranded).

Here's the TSB from VW with the part numbers: VW TB 94 06 15

So worst come to worst, put your pride aside (:rofl:) call up the VW dealer and ask them for that part...

Thanks for this extra info. Does your 2004 X3 have the reverse parking sensors? If so was it still easy to remove the bumper?

Thanks in advance.

No, mine doesn't have it. Knowing BMW there's likely a single connector behind the bumper that you need to disconnect.

Thanks for the quick reply! Do you also know do I basically need to buy 3 things: one - the tow bar/hitch, two - the 12N electrical kit (for trailer lights) and three - the white box in photos 32 and 33.

Or does the white box come with the electrical kit? I was planning to get the proper westfalia hitch, but then buy electrics separately from a cheaper retailer. I can post a link to the item here if that's not breaking forum rules?

Thanks again!

I got the hitch kit from the BMW dealer: on this side of the pond it came with everything: the tow bar, the wiring, the white box. It did not include the ball and the ball mount

PDC sensors don't make it much more complicated, both hitches I did had them. Just be aware of having to disconnect the harness when you pull the bumper back.

Thanks again for the excellent info. Do you know what the proper name of the white box is? That way I can look if it's included in the kit I'm looking at. Thanks.

Thanks also, JLC.

It's a "Lighting Control Module" p/n 61 35 6 908 767. The complete content list of the kit can be found on page 2 of the first PDF file that X3eme has here: http://www.xoutpost.com/articles/x3/...h-2006-x3.html

The trailer wiring kit (available either bundled with the hitch, or separately) includes the trailer wiring module (white box), the wiring harness, and the plug receptacle that mounts next to the hitch ball.

When I looked at pricing for the wiring kit and the OE hitch, it was significantly cheaper to buy both together than separately (in North America). There were aftermarket suppliers of the OE wiring kit that were cheaper than the BMW wiring kit price, but not cheaper than the BMW bundle price.

Perfect thanks. Hopefully the part number is the same over here :)

While I expect the lighting control module to be the same part number in the UK, the rest of the electrical kit could be different. The UK kit includes a different receptacle plug, and thus the harness to connect to it from the lighting module will likely have a different plug as well.

Be aware that in the EU the hitch system is different than what we have here. I would highly recommend you check on realoem.com by using your VIN...

Here's the whole retrofit kit: RealOEM.com * BMW E83 X3 3.0d Retrofit kit, towing hitch

Here's the single components: the lighting control module has different p/n: RealOEM.com * Diagram Selection

There are no prices shown for most of those parts, and there is a reference to check a bulletin (likely with changes that impacted pricing, and possibly kit consist). Best advice would be to have a dealer look it up by VIN, and also to confirm what bulletin reference EBA 0307547 says.

Okay thanks for all this help. I called a dealer and they quoted £545 for everything (except labour), but then I found a used BMW X3 towbar (advertised with all electrics). Thing is I'd like to get this towbar as it's loads cheaper but don't trust that the electrics haven't just been cut to get the towbar off the vehicle. So if I have the towbar I may need all new electrics...

That realoem site is very useful, but it says the part number for that lighting control module is not for the E83??

Thanks again.

I see why it's cheaper to buy as a bundle now! The trailer towing module alone is over $200!

Maybe I'll have a rethink about sourcing them separately...

On the X5 (and I believe the X3 would be the same) the UK and North American trailer plug receptacles are different (ie the number of pins). There are national standards that they follow. For that reason the harness from the lighting module would be different, at least on one end.

That implies to me that the module could be different. It is the same where it goes into the vehicle, and it serves the same purpose, but the logic could be slightly different, ie pin assignments in the harness.

I do think you need to ask a dealer about the bulletin, to see if it says anything critical to your application.

Okay thanks again guys. I've done some more research and will definitely ask a dealer about that. After trawling through online stores over here it seems the cheap thing I was looking at was a bypass relay, not a lighting control module. I'm really glad I got help from you people before I ended up fitting a bypass relay!

Thanks again, I let you know how it all goes over here when It's fitted!

Okay, so It seems I may be able to fit the US style tow hitch with the UK wiring (thanks for all the help, on this and other threads). After searching through the US versions of BMW, Amazon and Ebay it seems all the BMW X3 hitches are listed as 2005 - 2010, but this must be a mistake?

e.g. Amazon.com: BMW Trailer Hitch Kit-Class 2 Trailer Hitch - Class 2 - X3 SAV 2005-2010: Automotive

On realoem it lists the same part number for the Dec 04 X3 3.0i, Dec 05 X3 3.0i and Dec 06 X3 3.0i So...does anyone know will the one listed above fit my Dec 04 2.0d?

There isn't a way of knowing if it will fit, since the US hitch was never designed for the 2.0d, and it is unlikely anyone has done it.

Also, the Amazon hitch number listed is for the facelifted (LCI) X3, from 2006 onwards. BMW list a different part number for the earlier edition of the X3. Amazon advertise that this part number fits all years. You have to decide if you trust the BMW parts book, or the Amazon web administrator.

I would think that it may bolt up the same, but you would have to cut the bumper to fit around the hitch (as you do with all of them) and your bumper is likely to be different, so you may need to do it by trial and error.

Which begs the question, why not just install the Euro hitch?

I'm sure the UK towbar would be a simpler job (and probably cheaper after taking shipping into account) and it's probably what I'll end up doing. The reason I'm not that keen on doing it though is in the difference between these 2 photos:

http://www.towbarsandtowing.co.uk/im...allery/590.jpg

http://greggpeterson.com/aux_images/BMWTrailer/470.JPG

If I installed the UK towbar, I would do the removable one.

The X3 rear bumper changed year by year, but here is what it looked like on my 2007 X3 during installation. I cleaned up the edges a little where I made the cutout. When I use the hitch I unclip the centre piece of plastic to get full access to the wiring plug. The rest of the time it is pretty tidy.

Looks good :thumbup:

The detachable UK one is kinda like hiding the fact you tow stuff though...I'm proud of it! Just like I leave my roofbars on permanently and the dog gate's always in the boot too. I like it functional looking.

Has anyone ever put a hitch receiver on a 2010 X3? I have a hitch-mounted bike rack I would like to use. Do not need the wiring or anything other than the 2" receiver. Is this possible? Is a specula bumper adapter required?

I don't see why a 2010 would be any different than the 2007 we have, they are the same model. There can be slight differences with the bumper trim, as the aprons changed occasionally under the rear bumper.

Call your dealer, ask them to look up the trailer hitch kit specific to your VIN. If you want to install it yourself, there are lots of instructions posted here.