04 E53 4.4i tow hitch question.
 

I've been considering on adding a tow hitch on my X5 but have a few questions. Will my car be ok towing a trailer with a vehicle on it as is or will that be a problem? If I'm not mistaken I thought the X5 with the tow package had additional cooling or something different on them??? Second will a aftermarket kit be ok or is it better to go oem? And if oem where is a place I can buy it from? For the most part it will probably be used for smaller trailers to move things from here to there but would like the ability to tow vehicles as well.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

Do some research on the site. There is a lot of information on this. Briefly, OEM is much better than aftermarket due to the way it mounts. It's not easily available, if you can find one used grab it, but ensure you get everything, especially the brackets which replace the rear bumper shock absorbers. The vehicle had no changes otherwise, it will tow great.

You're going to want to get the electrical connections that allow for the use of an electric brake controller, then you will want a trailer with electric brakes. Your X5 will not enjoy trying to haul the additional weight of the trailer plus the vehicle that's on it to a stop. I suppose you could get a trailer with a compression brake, but it's difficult to go in R with a compression brake. You resolve this difficulty by paying attention, and selecting a path that will not require using R. The factory hitch is a Class III, so carrying a vehicle is not beyond the scope of its ability.

e53 V8 can tow more than a Ford F150 crew cab. Just saying.

This should do it. http://www.xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-foru...ation-pdf.html

Now you just have to catch a unicorn!

Love the towing ability of my 4.8iS
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/n...ps2dwmwwwu.jpg
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/n...pstjxbuw0f.jpg

Small trailers are no problem with no electronic brake or compression brakes on the trailer. I tow a 3000lb boat & trailer regularly with 5000' elevation changes.

More than that I'd want trailer brakes, but most small/medium trailers have compression brakes.

Check around your local salvage yards & Ebay to find an OEM one. As mentioned before the OEM hitch is far superior to the aftermarket options which just aren't engineered to the same standard. In Georgia we have a few BMW salvage yards which is where I found mine. It was well worth the wait and persistent phone calls, it came 100% complete with all the hardware and accessories including the module to make it. Just keep looking for one, they're getting harder and harder to find but they are out there.

Not sure how it works in the US, but in Europe if you exceed manufacturer permitted weights it's illegal and the insurance won't cough up in the event of an incident.
4.4: 750kg unbraked (1650lb); 2.3-2.5 tonnes braked (5050-5950lb).

Was at the dealer today for another issue and thought I'll get a quote on the complete towing kit for laughs, 1300$.. walked out crying....

If that price was including tax and Lic i would do it and avoid
the hassle everyone is having trying to find one and then having
to install it.

Lic? the price was for the kit including taxes but not installation.

BMW X5 4.8iS 2005

Get an oem hitch. They aren't hard to install yourself. I pull a boat and trailer approx 5000 total. No trailer brakes. My 2006 4.4 has pulled it a thousand times up and down serious inclines. I've never had a problem.

Lic Is license, just kidding. But that price is no joke.

Sorry for the delay and late response. Been feeling under the weather lately. Anyways Ive been putting this off for years and the day I wish I had one I didnt! Picked up a tool box over the weekend and that was a pain trying to track down a truck and trailer, etc...

So its good to know that these vehicles are good to go right from the start. I was just scared that the transmission or something would give. I would like to have the capability to tow a boat eventually and may a car here and there. Dont know if Ill go through all the trouble on compression braking and all that as I dont tend to tow all the time and the things Ill tow will be somewhat light.

As far as the OEM one goes. Does anyone have a part list break down on what is all needed? Ill do more searching later today but if you have it on hand would be great. Also whats consider reasonable for these tow assembly complete used of course as I dont believe these can be purchased new anymore.

Thanks in Advance!

A ZF trans will break even if you never tow with the X.

LOL Good Point!!

Sucks I see that ECS a few years back was selling new OEM Hitch Kits for $430 for our X5's! What I would do to get that right now!

So whats the normal used market value pricing for these going for?
Im assuming no company sells these anymore right?

This is what bmw (norway) gave me for the complete kit, the lower group of numbers in the pic. The rep seemed to think it's different for the 4.8iS as we have the oval dual exhaust pipes but I had no clue what he was talking about...maybe you guys know? The price for this kit in Norway comes to about 1300$ as mentioned earlier...they have 4 of them in BMW Sweden (warehouse).

Attachment 68988

BMW X5 4.8iS 2005

Correction: It's all the numbers actually, forgot that I cut out the other part numbers earlier.

BMW X5 4.8iS 2005

Thank you for the part#'s. Will check it out.

One quick question if it was on a E53 no matter what year it should fit and wires plug in with no issues or modifications right? 99 - 06 E53 Body? I may have found one for from a earlier year 4.6i and mine is a 04 4.4i. Can someone verify that if that will bolt right up and the wiring as well.

Thanks

I guess you can cross reference the part numbers with vehicle year on realoem and see.

BMW X5 4.8iS 2005

yes all e53's are the same. they come prewired to accept the module / wiring for the tow harness. everything bolts up the same, just make sure and grab all the brackets/bolts off the donor vehicle.

Just found this in a scrapyard (online) and was wondering if it seems to include everything (minus the bolts)? Does anyone know?

According to the breaker, this kit comes from a 3.0 2003.

This looks like the complete (as you noted without bolts) standard OEM European one (manufactured by westfalia).

Though it lacks the module (AHM - which can be found on ebay) and maybe you wil need some cable(s) depending on your wiring harness pre installed.

The OE hitch is mechanically the same across all X5 E53s but the electronic brake module will differ. From 2003 they used a different module than the earlier models.