x5 weight issues
 

Good afternoon! So I'm moving back to NY from San Diego. I got a rental truck and planned on pulling my X5 behind on a trailer. Problem is the trailers that budget or penske use dont hold much weight. Budget's holds 4255lbs. I took my X5 to the scale the other day and it weighed in at 4740lbs. it had a half a tank of gas at the time. So i figure i can get it down 70lbs by making sure tank is empty. Also I'm going to take out the spare (30lbs?). That still leave me quite a bit over. any ideas on what i can remove that would take off some weight? I was thinking the entire front seat assemblies, anybody know an approximate weight for one? Thanks

2004 X53.0 Sport package

Dude no. You will not remove enough weight. You need a capable vehicle to be able to handle that. Don't risk your safety.

Bro I know what your saying, I'm not gonna risk it if I'm over...but if I can get under 4250 there is no risk. so far I'm within 200lbs

4740
- 70 gas
-120 seats, i pulled one out and weighed it.
-55 spare
-50 battery

4445 left

If I can drop 200 more lbs I'm there!

I once towed my 4.8iS on a trailer from U-haul, they checked the weight of the X5 and had no problem with it.

Checked with them?

That is what I'm saying though, that is still a lot for bolton parts. Wheels, but there is an obvious issue with that.

You also have 8qts of oil, 2 gals of water, washer fluid. Hood weighs a lot. Doors.

1.5 quarts about in each diff.

Brake rotors, easy 70lbs.

Exhaust?

Dunno how far you willing to go and how much wrenching.

So the trailer's rated at 4,255. Putting on 4,254 doesn't guarantee a trouble-free experience and putting on 4,256 doesn't guarantee an end to the universe as we know it (or your trip). The reality is nobody on an Internet forum can give you any advice in this situation that you don't already know, and looking for a little "it'll be ok" validation has zero impact on how your trip will go anyway. Scour the planet or just yer immediate 'hood and you'll find no shortage of folks who fudged it a bit and got away with it, and no shortage of folks that "towed" ( sorry, I had to do that :D ) the line and still had crap befall them at every turn.

In the end, this decision is your burden to carry here. (crap, I did it again).

Only thing I'll mention is if you do wad things up and whatnot, being over gross (if that's the case and if is ever discovered as well) will not help matters.

Yea check u-haul. Rent a trailer and tow it with the x5. Maybe a better option. I know tow hitch can be had fairly cheap for an OE one. Around $200 with all electronics.

60lbs+ for spare and another
60lbs for the battery

Remove the engine - that thing weighs a shit load!

In all seriousness - I wouldn't worry about 200lbs myself. Everything is over engineered these days. Especially in the USA (Sorry guys but it's true) anyone and anything is a target for litigation so they are not going to design a trailer that falls to bits if you go 1 lb over rating. My best guess is that it's been tested to 1.3 times the rated weight so you should be fine with 220lbs over and if it were me I'd just do it. I assume it's a braked trailer and so in that case that would be where your limit comes from. Steel is pretty strong so just don't drive so close to the person in front that you need to brake hard and you'll be fine.

Saying that - if it were me and it didn't go to plan I'd have no one to blame but myself and you would be the same in this case.

My 2c

That last sentence is very important... If you choose to knowingly go over the weight limit and there is an incident, I wonder if any insurance company will pick up the tab.

Removing the Back seat cushion is easy and wil save a few pounds.

I'd wager it's a 7,000 gross wt tandem axle trailer he's talking about. 3,500 lb axles are a very common axle rating, and it wouldn't surprise me if the tire load ratings are commensurate with that axle. Trailer tires, especially with a few years under their belts (:bustingup) are kinda notorious for failing if tire pressure is even a bit low. Regardless of your decisions, I suggest being all kinds of anal about checking them yourself and don't run even a little bit below max pressure on the sidewall if you are (and you will be) approaching the tire's design load. If possible, after you pick up the trailer, you can generally find a load vs. pressure table on manufacturer's website.

Second, check them often if you don't have a portable tire pressure monitoring system (spendy, so likely not, but for those who tow often, I'll tell ya what, I wouldn't be without mine). If one tire fails you may not be aware of it, but then the other will fail very shortly thereafter, and you will then be acutely aware of it. And it sucks to be on the side of he road near "Thumbnail, Nebraska" waiting on the rental company to get it unscrewed.

Thanks for the responses gents. I'm still not sure if I'm going to risk it.

I was figuring towing the car would take away about 2mpg (26' deisel Penske). There websit says "up to 12mpg" so I was figuring 10mpg (no trailer). With trailer 8 mpg. Seem about right?

If so, traveling 2900+ miles it will cost me anoth $270 in gas pulling the trailer. $270 + $430 for trailer means I'm at $700. If I can ship for $1,000 it might be worth it. As I'm talking to these shipping companies though they all seem like a scam.

I think you should just drive the X. I did a 6600 mile trip in my M3 and it was my best memory to date.

There should be trailers available with higher ratings, but I think you would be fine.

How much stuff do you have? Did you think about using the X to tow a uhaul trailer? A lot cheaper!

As far as shipping, I think you are likely going to be above $1000. The good companies are more expensive.

Good luck...

Most of these shipping companies are a joke. Be very careful. Check bbb on them. Check how long they have been around. Stuff like that. I hear horror stories sometimes.

You gave Civdiv99 a mental visual of "Bubba" wheelin' around in dude's X5......

6531 is MOS I presume. Aviation(ish) right?

San Diego - so, what, travelling from Mirimar then?