What is the necessity for cutting out the bumper cover on the right side of the receiver? Couldn't you cut out the left side to allow for mounting the wiring connector and then just leave enough room for the receiver and a bit of space for the safety chain?

Not a helpful response, and somewhat off-topic, but: I simply refuse to put a hitch on a bimmer out of principle.

If you need to tow, get Yukon or a Suburban, or a Toyota. Bimmers with tow hitches should be outlawed. :)

To quote Dennis Miller, though, "What the hell do I know?"

Good luck.

Gee, thanks Kaefer. I purchased my current '02 X5 4 years ago to serve as a backup family car as well as a tow vehicle for my race cars. I believe it to be the ultimate tow vehicle for me. With a rig weighing just over 3k pounds I can cruise in luxury and comfort at over 80mph and get 13mpg with the 4.4L. Just ordered a new 35d last night to replace the '02 in the same role. See you at the track.

I like Dennis a lot.

Funny you ask... I argued with myself over and over on that one. After doing some "visioning" of how the bumper would look, it just wouldn't look symmetrical at all if I just cut "just enough" material to the left and to the right of the hitch. In fact, I tried it that way first... It didn't look right. Thus, I cut the rest out...

Well, thanks to help of this thread, I installed my X5 (factory) hitch this evening. I started around 5:30 PM, and finished about 10:00 PM. Granted, I ate dinner, watched some TV, answered e-mails, etc... I could have done it in about 4 hours had I worked straight through. Now, if I help someone next time, I bet it only takes about 2 hours!

My biggest PITA was getting the bumper cover to unsnap from the clips (I wasn't tugging hard enough). My second PITA was getting the wires into the fuse panel. You need to line them up perfectly, and then push them until they "snap" with a thin and narrow screwdriver.

Oh, I apparently left my rivet tool at the track, so I need to get a new one tomorrow. My dealer is going to flash my computer for $100 later this week.

It's not a difficult job, but you need some technical know-how, and some electrical experience.

I'll be towing my Boxster Spec Racer on an open trailer. :thumbup:

Thanks to EVERYONE who posted here!

- Mike

My dealer wants $270 to flash the computer.
This after buying a $60k car.
Got to find another dealer.

The tow hitch is also a good tool for those that live in a metro city and need to guard against a little bump and grind parking on the street. I'd rather use the tow hitch than the bumper guard

Good idea! This should do the trick.

GO RHINO 36" Hitch Step Bumper Guard - BLACK:eBay Motors (item 200329440055 end time Aug-06-09 04:50:55 PDT)

Do you really need to have the electronics flashed? A user on this board seems to workaround that issue by disconnecting the battery during the install... confused a bit now.


http://www.xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-foru...7-3-0-e70.html

Opinions vary. If you install it and the lights don't work, then you know you need to reflash it. If you get an error code, or the PDC cancel doesn't work, get it flashed.