Solved: Part 1 - Need help with e70 LCI trailer hitch wiring installation
 

2011 X5 50i: OE trailer hitch installation.

My car has Comfort Access and PDC.

Got the bumper removed (broke a few tabs, had to run out an buy new mounts ...), got the massive trailer hitch bolted in place and started the wiring harness installation ... that is when the fun started ...

Instructions say to use the new trailer hitch wiring harness connector to connect the Comfort Access antenna (p. 10 and p. 12).

But what about the PDC? In my case the cars original harness has BOTH the CA and the PDC wrapped together and exiting the car through a single rubber grommet (see pic).

Do I separate the two and route CA wire back into the car? That would mean that I have to unwrap the original wiring harness, separate out the CA wire and push back through the rubber body grommet ... Can't imagine that BMW intended it to be this way ...

I installed mine back in June, and had the same question as I have both PDC and CA. I did not need to unwrap the existing harness and separate wires. I know that I ended up with the old grommet and old wires inside the vehicle, connected to the new harness which passes through the hole previously used by the old harness. Tomorrow I can post a few pictures of what I did if it helps.

John, this is tremendously helpful!

But if I did what you suggest (old grommet and old wires back inside the vehicle), I would not have a PDC connection, because the new trailer wiring harness does not have a PDC connector on the outside of the vehicle.

I checked out my wiring this morning and it's slightly different than yours.

However, since it appears from your picture that your new harness is in place, and you can connect CA and PDC using the old harness, can't you just ignore the CA wiring in the new harness?

I assume the reason they provide CA in the new harness is for those vehicles where PDC and CA are routed separately, through separate holes, to allow the new harness to be installed through the CA hole.

We've spoken since ... thank you! And yes, you are right ... some vehicles, like mine, have CA and PDC together. In that case the CA wiring in the new harness is ignored ... and the "old PDC + CA wiring" is re-connected as before.

SOLVED: Part 1 - Need help with e70 LCI trailer hitch wiring installation
 

Problem solved Part 1: with the help of johnmn, we figured out that the CA connector in the OE Trailer wiring harness is just a jumper wire (verified with Ohm meter) and does not need to be used.

I re-routed the original wiring harness to the CA antenna and the PDC connector. Then I installed the new OE trailer wiring harness as per instructions ... and tied the extra CA connector securely out of the way:

The routing of the trailer wiring harness is incorrect in the above picture. The harness should loop UNDER the sheetmetal to the left of the exhaust tip. Basically all the wiring in the clear tubing should be behind (actually in front) of the sheet metal. There are studs on the front side to hold the harness.

I double checked (bumper was still off, didn't finish the job yet ... life gets in the way): makes sense what you are saying, but the "integral body studs" on my car are on the side of the trailer hitch assembly ... no studs on the "front side" of the sheet metal ...