OEM Tow Hitch in Stock?
 

Ordered an OEM hitch (71600009711) from getbmwparts months ago, back order date keeps getting pushed out with no end in sight. ECS is in the same boat.

Anyone picked up a kit recently? If so where did you find it and how much did you pay? Thanks!

Last I recall being posted was someone lucking into one from a dealers' stock a few months back. Look at my post from December 2013 attaching a printout of reported dealers' stock as of then - many of which were bought by xoutpost readers .....

Yea I have been waiting for one too. Not sure what is going to come of this though.

Mine has been on BO since July 2014. Still waiting

Any updates on hitch availability? I'm shopping for an E53 right now and was hoping to be able to pick the best one instead of "the best one that already has a hitch". Doh!

Nothing on my end.

Here is my December 2013 list. You might check by calling the very helpful parts guys at the dealership in Morristown, NJ, who provided this to me last December

I happened to get lucky and found one up here in Ontario. It was around $700 Canadian (plus our wonderful 13% tax) for the parts. This was the hitch kit that came with the wiring harness and module, plus the ball. I did the install myself. I'd hate to imagine what the dealer would charge for install - wouldn't be your "$149.99 including installation" U-Haul special, that's for sure! :)

+1 on Morristown, NJ dealer. That's who had them last December

LVP, you may have gotten the one listed in stock at BMW of Ontario on the 12/13 list. I got the one at Athens [GA] BMW; it had been sitting in their stock room for years ..... I've seen no indication that BMW has ordered new production from their vendor.

Mine was at Serpa BMW - had to drive 1.5h for it. Not sure where BMW of Ontario is though. My box was pretty old. I made the service kid go and physically put his hands on it and open it up to make sure it wasn't just an inventory left over :).

LVP< actually, the list might be Ontario, California, from the zip code given. I'm not surprised that yours' had some dust on the box; I didn't make a note of the date on mine's box, but it had been in the store room at the Athens GA dealer for several years [I'm vaguely recalling pre-2010, maybe 2008?]

My local dealer ended up tracking one down. BMW Murray in SLC, Utah.

Now just gotta install it... :thumbup:

Congrats, Mopes. A couple of the steps are tricky. Read the instructions and the long, detailed thread carefully before you attempt the install. Make sure you install the two bumper mounts with the vertical rods long end down, and take care with the backup sensors wiring - easy to pull the wires out of the sensors. And note how the plastic caps mount on the ends of the bumper bracket in your existing bracket. The mount is counterintuitive. Finally, you may need to hit your dealer to reprogram to recognize the hitch. Also, get the 'official' OEM ball shaft from your dealer or ECS - its hard to find one short enough to meet the BMW specs aftermarket [important for load bearing if you are going to tow close to the 6k max]. The OEM hitch setup is pretty highly engineered to distribute the load on our unibody vehicles.

Thanks for the tips, already have the guides bookmarked. Can't wait to get the bike rack on, been sitting in my garage for months waiting... :thumbup:

4 bike rack and self leveling suspension should be an awesome combo for road trips to moab and the like.

Mopes, I envy your location. We were in SLC a couple weekends ago for a family wedding [service at Red Butte Gardens?, uphill from the U], and drove up to Park City one night for dinner. You live in a very nice city! We hope to make another trip back and drive down to Moab & the national parks to hike, etc. Majestic country ....

FYI - Both BMW of Fairfax and Tomkinson BMW told me the hitch kit (71600009711) is NLA yesterday. Will keep trying other sources...

I checked a couple places based on Riggodeaux's list. BMW of Bloomfield checked the national inventory and wasn't able to come up with anything. She said that the wiring harness is orderable, but not in stock anywhere. I already ordered one but it's backordered for 12 weeks. I really don't want to go aftermarket on the wiring, but I really don't want to wait 3 months for my trailer.

I would highly recommend the OE wiring harness and module. Even if you can find used at a wreckers it's better than some of the aftermarket hack wiring. ECS has pics that show all of what you would need to scrounge from a wreckers.

Hmmm... we bought ours with a hitch installed... will have to check if it's oem now.

When I was shopping for the X5, many of the hitches claimed to be OE, but actually weren't. You can get some nice closeups at the link below to compare. Most of the aftermarket ones use additional stiffening bars and drill up through the cross members.

BMW E53 X5 N62 4.4L Search SiteSearch Hitch - 71600009711 - Trailer Hitch Kit - ES#185392

The aftermarket Curt 2 is installed on mine with part 13070 - perfect fit and looks A1...down to 3,500 pounds though (good enought for my boat) ... i have paid the curt and wire all installed for $400.....it's been 2 years now no problem.


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2006 X5 4.4i premium, Sport package ,Winter Package, Sat Nav. AFE Power stage II Production : 08-2006
2012 BMW 128I Convertible Black
2011 Mercedes Benz B200 sold

I got sick of waiting....So I bought a whole X5 parts car that had a hitch. Its an aftermarket hitch, but the module and wires are oem.

I keep trolling the ads for a parts car too. Someday one will pop up with all the options I want and I'll snag it for a song.

This one was decked out. Nav, pdc, blk sport int., hitch, and it's the same color as mine. Missing the motor and trans though. And no headlights.