Another Trailer Hitch Question

[merkaba]

Hello,

I'm a new owner of a 2016 BMW X5d, and I love it so far. I've ready through most of the trailer hitch threads on here, but i still have a question I got a quote from a local company with great reviews that installs hitches for $539.90 for a 2 inch that supports up to 6000 pounds. They do not do any reprogramming and said that it's not required as long as everything is wired properly. The BMW dealer quoted me $2200 for their hitch. I plan on pulling a 21 foot camper eventually that will weight around 4500-5500 pounds. I'm not entirely sure if I'm going to need a weight distribution setup for the camper or not, so i'm a bit hesitant to go with a stealth hitch...otherwise i would definitely get stealth based on what I've read about them. I'm wondering what the recommendation would be from you all. $2200 seems crazy, but i want my car reprogrammed if that's what's supposed to be done. What would be the downside to not reprogramming the car for towing?

[X5hopefull]

Go with the 500.00 hitch if it’s rated for that weight..... then you have to get the x5 coded at a BMW dealership so lights will work but you will not have trailer brakes it’s not set up for an x5

[F15GorDe]

Weight distribution hitch is not recommended for the X5.
My install of the INVISIHITCH at their facility north of Atlanta was half what your dealer is quoting you.

[merkaba]

Originally Posted by F15GorDe

Weight distribution hitch is not recommended for the X5.
My install of the INVISIHITCH at their facility north of Atlanta was half what your dealer is quoting you.

Interesting. If the weight distribution hitch is not recommended that definitely changes things. I would prefer a Stealth hitch. Is Invisihitch still a thing? I read that they went out of business...?

[merkaba]

Originally Posted by X5hopefull

Go with the 500.00 hitch if it’s rated for that weight..... then you have to get the x5 coded at a BMW dealership so lights will work but you will not have trailer brakes it’s not set up for an x5

There is no way to make trailer brakes work on an X5? Or you are saying if i get the $500 hitch that is the case?

[F15GorDe]

Trailer brakes work very well with PRODIGY controller.

[X5hopefull]

You can get electric brakes to work but you need another device made by tenkoncha it’s a wireless controler

[merkaba]

My wife's uncle is a BMW mechanic, and he said he can install the BMW hitch for $800 in parts + $200 in labor. Is there anything special about the BMW hitch that makes it better to use? He also told me he would install anything i want including stealth hitch for the same $200 in labor. So now i just need to decide between BMW and Stealth.

[ferrarif1]

Originally Posted by merkaba

My wife's uncle is a BMW mechanic, and he said he can install the BMW hitch for $800 in parts + $200 in labor. Is there anything special about the BMW hitch that makes it better to use? He also told me he would install anything i want including stealth hitch for the same $200 in labor. So now i just need to decide between BMW and Stealth.

There are many threads on this. Look here:
https://f15.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1494721

[Weeezle1971]

The hitch I installed myself was the Stealth hitch. Took about 4 hours, and instructions were great. They also answered the phone for help anytime I called. Thumbs up! The hardest part is removing the trim. Honestly, it was not that difficult if you have all the right tools ready and some patience.

So I can piggy back on this topic as well. If you search these forums you will see that there are quite a few real examples of people towing with X5s using WDH. However, after talking to BMW Tech (for 30+ years), he advised that the X5 and in particular the Stealth hitch have been designed to operate without friction or a weight distribution hitch. His points where that A. The BMW is Unibody and the WDH causes stress on the frame that could tweak it. and B. The Stealth hitch is also not designed to handle the side to side stress imparted by the WDH. The hitch I assume was designed with the BMW spec in mind.

There is integrated DST with the brake controller and harness from BMW that sends signals to the TT brakes accordingly.

The only caveat is that I do not have air suspension that is standard on the M series or X5s with the 3rd row seat option.

Soo... options I have seen are:

1. Use the WDH, but only use it partially (not locked on tightest link?) disregarding BMW Tech information but really looking at real world use as described on this forum??

2. Do not use the WDH and just use the DST on the vehicle as designed, but the TV might be sagging a bit in the rear because it does not have air suspension. (what damage will this cause?)

3. The BMW Tech offered his solution to placing air bags in the spring shocks and then pumping them up with ~30lbs of air prior to placing load on the TV hitch. This would even out the ride, but I have yet to see where to purchase this solution or even how to install it.

Thoughts??

[alphaod]

The BMW factory hitch uses a proprietary adapter. The square receiver is only rated class 2 for 3000 lbs. To tow you need the ball adapter rated for 6000 lbs. Basically if you want to tow and carry a bike interchangeably you need to carry around two different adapters. Hence I don’t like it.

That said that other thread about there BMW hitch being cheap pot metal? That’s an unsubstantiated claim. It’s normal for hitches to rust especially since if you have two metal parts grinding against one another like in a situation of a hitch. Mine is rusty too after the paint is worn off, but nothing to be concerned about.

[merkaba]

Originally Posted by Weeezle1971

The hitch I installed myself was the Stealth hitch. Took about 4 hours, and instructions were great. They also answered the phone for help anytime I called. Thumbs up! The hardest part is removing the trim. Honestly, it was not that difficult if you have all the right tools ready and some patience.

So I can piggy back on this topic as well. If you search these forums you will see that there are quite a few real examples of people towing with X5s using WDH. However, after talking to BMW Tech (for 30+ years), he advised that the X5 and in particular the Stealth hitch have been designed to operate without friction or a weight distribution hitch. His points where that A. The BMW is Unibody and the WDH causes stress on the frame that could tweak it. and B. The Stealth hitch is also not designed to handle the side to side stress imparted by the WDH. The hitch I assume was designed with the BMW spec in mind.

There is integrated DST with the brake controller and harness from BMW that sends signals to the TT brakes accordingly.

The only caveat is that I do not have air suspension that is standard on the M series or X5s with the 3rd row seat option.

Soo... options I have seen are:

1. Use the WDH, but only use it partially (not locked on tightest link?) disregarding BMW Tech information but really looking at real world use as described on this forum??

2. Do not use the WDH and just use the DST on the vehicle as designed, but the TV might be sagging a bit in the rear because it does not have air suspension. (what damage will this cause?)

3. The BMW Tech offered his solution to placing air bags in the spring shocks and then pumping them up with ~30lbs of air prior to placing load on the TV hitch. This would even out the ride, but I have yet to see where to purchase this solution or even how to install it.

Thoughts??

Thanks a lot for this info, was super helpful. My X5 does have 3rd row, so it has the air suspension...so that's a good sign. If i went with the "Active" feature of the Stealth hitch it would automatically send signals to the trailer for the electric breaks? I wouldn't need the separate wireless controller as stated above? I would image pulling a ~5000lb trailer/camper would need to have electric breaks working.

[ferrarif1]

Originally Posted by merkaba

Thanks a lot for this info, was super helpful. My X5 does have 3rd row, so it has the air suspension...so that's a good sign. If i went with the "Active" feature of the Stealth hitch it would automatically send signals to the trailer for the electric breaks? I wouldn't need the separate wireless controller as stated above? I would image pulling a ~5000lb trailer/camper would need to have electric breaks working.

You need a brake controller even with the active harness. The active harness includes a connector to wire the brake controller but not the ~20' of wiring needed to mount the brake controller near the cup holders. Most people buy the E70 kit for the brake controller which includes the brake controller, mount and wiring.

The "active" harness is a BMW OEM harness and module that needs to be coded to the car. This does more than simply run the brake lights, it is connected to the DSC and transmission through the CAN bus to modify parameters when it detects a trailer connected.

[merkaba]

Thanks for all the help! I ordered the stealth kit with all the options, and the Tekonsha 90250 Prodigy RF Electronic Brake Control.

[Weeezle1971]

Yes, a few tips:

1. When wiring the 7 pin, be sure to take note of where the notch is in relation to the wires. This is important because the notch is what dictates the orientation of the 7 pin wires when fully assembled. This was not apparent in the instructions I had and caused me to re-wire. In fairness, it does show the notch, but does not point out the importance of it. I just wired them in the order it showed. (probably just me..)

2. Fasten the bolt assembly enough that the stainless piece (that the ball hitch slides into) does not move front to back under any pressure. I am telling you this because it required more than the 80 or 90 lbs of torque per instructions. I did this at the instruction of Stealth when I called and told them my concern.

3. Test the 7 Pin connection prior to making a trip to pick up a new trailer. I did not do this.. and its when I found I had it wired incorrectly. Not a good time to find out. A good suggestion is to head to a U-Haul center and test on one of their TT if you do not have access to any others.

4. Make sure you purchase a auto trim removal kit. I'm sure you could use a screwdriver or something, but it made it easier for sure.


Still no comments on preference for my situation? Maybe I will post another thread. :P

[ferrarif1]

Did you buy the active harness from your BMW dealer or Stealth? I ask because this stealth cuts the factory 7-pin connector off the harness before shipping which creates the wire indexing problem in the post above. If you purchased the harness from your BMW dealer, you can order Pollak 11893 Scoket and 12-711U bracket and it will all snap together in a weather tight setup without any wire cutting or indexing issues.

OEM wire routing / installation instructions

[ComasF15]

I see you've decided on your hitch. Most states require tow vehicles over 1500 pounds to have their own brakes.
As you are near the upper end of the tow rating make sure you load your trailer correctly as that will help with the hitch weight. Another thing to look out for is your actual weight on the front and rear plus individual tire weights so that you don't exceed their rating. Most trailer tires also have a speed limit of about 65 mile an hour although some are at 60 read the manufacturers instructions for the towing tires carefully.

Airbags in your springs sounds good but in practice tend not to work very well. For what it's worth the airbag OEM is available as a retro fit just not cheap. Another option for sway instead of programming is to get an anti-sway addition to your hitch. The bad thing about not programming is , however, I suspect the transmission doesn't benefit from a change in its shift shift points.