BMW hitch or not - bike/ski rack advice?!
 

Hi

There seems to have been lots of conflicting discussion on this...

I want to add a hitch mounted rack that I can carry 1/2 mountain bike(s) on, and skis during winter. The Thule 998XT seems ideal.

My X5 doesn't have a tow hitch though. I'm never going to actually tow with this car, but there are a fair amount of horror stories with non-OEM tow hitches.

However, the BMW hitch is going to cost me $995 (incl fitting) whereas a Da'Lan or similar will cost me $330. Do I really need to spend the extra $600?

I don't want to damage my car (stories of bent bumpers etc) but that's a lot of money to spend if I don't need to....

Any advice *much* appreciated,
Alistair

I have the OEM hitch, so you can tell what my recommendation will be.

With a bike rack, if it is light and mounted close in to the vehicle, an aftermarket hitch may be fine. I have seen some bike racks, though, that exceed the manufacturer's rating of even the OEM hitch because they are heavy, and spaced a fair distance out from the receiver. The failure mode that I would be concerned about is a twisting force (lever arm) on the receiver, and that is what the failed aftermarket hitches looked like (not the hitches themselves, but where they attached to the unibody). The OEM hitch kit strengthens the vehicle mounting location, it is not just a crossbar with a 2" square receiver (as many of the aftermarket hitches are).

The other reason to choose an OEM hitch is that while you may not plan on towing now, it is nice to have for future.

To save some money, try two things. First, you don't need to go with a dealer install. Any competent mechanic can do it in several hours, or you and a friend could do it if you are comfortable working on the car. Instructions posted on the home page of this site. Mine took four hours or so, by myself, not rushing. If you do it, buy the Torx socket in advance.

Second money saving tip is that the hitch is available with and without the electrical connections (the interface box and harness). If you are sure you aren't going to tow, buy it without the electrical connections. You can always add it later if you change your mind.

Good luck.

Jeff

Hey Jeff

That's very useful - thanks!

The stealers I've spoken to have told me that it's only available with the electrical connections. I'll try being more direct with the parts group. Do I need the electrical work done to alleviate any problems with PDC or the self-levelling suspension?

What's the spec for the OEM tow hitch? I can't find it in my manual... (tongue weight particularly)

It's slightly aside - but does PDC "see" something attached (eg a bike rack) when it turns on and ignore it, or does it detect it as a nearby object and emit the continuous beep?

Best
Alistair

My local dealer offered it to me with or without the electrical connections. If you are buying both pieces, it is cheaper to get the package. Not sure if the separate items have been discontinued, but I don't know why they would be. You could always sell the electrical connections to someone who bought an aftermarket hitch, I suppose.

No issues with self-levelling.

The electrical connections consist of an interface module that installs near the spare tire, and a harness that comes out to a bracket on the receiver. When a trailer harness is connected to the vehicle harness, the rear PDC is automatically disabled so that you don't get the annoying beeping when the PDC senses that something is too close and it thinks you are backing into it. You can apparently enable this feature by putting the adaptor plug into the vehicle harness at the receiver, without having trailer lights connected, but I haven't done it as I have always had a trailer connected. If you don't have the wiring for the trailer, and you mount a bike, you will have to hit the PDC cancel button up front when you put it in reverse.

The vehicle tow rating is 6000 lbs. The hitch is likely designed for slightly more than that (class III, so probably 7500 lbs, but the standards aren't really very standard).

The tongue weight spec is 330 lbs for trailers without brakes, 600 lbs for trailers with brakes. The off-road spec is 330 lbs with or without brakes. The important point is that this specification also includes a maximum offset for the hitch ball, relative to the receiver. With a trailer, the load is applied at the hitch ball by definition. The spec on my hitch is a maximum of 8" horizontally (pin to hitch ball centreline) and maximum 5.5" vertically (top of 2" receiver to base of hitch ball).

Take a look at a bike rack, and the load centre can easily be 24", for example. Three times the lever arm results in a 200 lb limit, just considering the bending moment. If that load is bouncing up and down, I would be very careful. Put a cargo carrier on there, and watch out. OTOH, carry a couple of light bikes, with a light-weight rack, 16" to the load centre, and you would be very safe.

All of the above attention to the engineering design is why the OEM hitch gets recommended. The aftermarket simply doesn't go to these lengths.

Good luck.

Jeff

I have yakima roof racks for snowbards and bikes. work great and bikes are really easy to load and unload, plus it was only a couple hundred dollars.

Hey Yeowzer

I looked (quickly) at the roof versions and thought that it would be a pain in the a** to get bikes on and off. Does it take long? I'm also not overly tall... <G>

Alistair

alistair,

I thought the same thing because I have a hitch mount bike rack I used with my Excursion. I couldn't justify the cost of a BMW hitch, knowing that I would never tow anything.

I have the Yakima Steelheads which lock the front forks. I'm 6'2" but my wife is 5'8" and she can put them up no problem. Takes me about 5 or less for both bikes. The only thing I would recommend is getting the wheel forks so you are not putting the front wheels in the back.

I had the same problem a couple years ago but have not regreted buying the Yakimas. Good Luck!

I have a hidden hitch bought online for a bit over $100, installed myself. It's still perfectly centered a year later, no sign of the "twisting" or other hand-wringing that the overpayers here whine on and on about. This thing is 100% perfect for carrying bikes with my Sportworks fold down rack.

Vote with your wallet and stop supporting massively overpriced BMW accessories.

And that would be the other side of the coin. :)

elric75, I am glad it works for you. If you are carrying a simple light rack mounted close in to the vehicle, no worries. Use it in good health.

For my part, given that I have a $73,000 X5, I figured that $500 for a hitch (that I mounted myself) was a good investment in keeping my BMW working as well as it was designed to, with respect to collapsible bumpers, crush zones, and so on. I also do tow from time to time, and I won't put my bikes on the back in the dirt and grime (my opinion).

Jeff
(the handwringing overpaying worrywart who is contributing to excessive BMW parts department profits)

Despite all the info on the hitch (hope it helps) I won't use a hitch-mounted bike rack. I use a Thule that I install to the BMW roof rails in 5 minutes, plus 5 minutes to set up 2 bikes. OK, I am 6'4", but I don't think it is hard at all. You have an easy step with the doors open, as long as you can hold the bikes upright without banging the paint.

My rack has two wheel slots in a narrow tray, and an arm that swings up to hold the bikes. I carry mountain bikes and road bikes, and the fork mount was a hassle to switch. No problems with the bikes moving around with the single clamp on the down tube. Just don't forget and back into the garage.