Towing with a BMW?

[spielnicht]

I can honestly say that I've never seen a BMW towing something behind it on the road. I was having a conversation with a friend about the PITA of working on my house without easy access to a flat-bed truck. Long story short, he was suggesting I do what he does and get a utility trailer to tow things around. Hummmm?? Interesting. I also flip BMWs (not physically...lol) in my spare time, so being able to potentially pick up smaller BMWs is a big plus.

I'm curious how many if you out there put their BMWs to work towing things around and what is it considered too excessive to be towing with a BMW.

I personally don't like driving SUVs (that's all my wife), but I could seriously consider an X5 or X6 (M50i) as a replacement for my 550i to do this.

[tturedraider]

A fair number of BMW car owners use utility trailers. Absolutely no problem. In Germany they tow small “caravans”, camper trailers. I would not tow another car on a trailer. That is not a good idea.

I have some photos I will post later. You can google and find some.

[BIGW0RM]

One of BMW's racers Bill Auberlen (really nice guy) use to tow his big ass power boat to Havasu with a X6.

[MADBMWX5MC]

Originally Posted by tturedraider

A fair number of BMW car owners use utility trailers. Absolutely no problem. In Germany they tow small “caravans”, camper trailers. I would not tow another car on a trailer. That is not a good idea.

I have some photos I will post later. You can google and find some.

Spot on. Having served 7 yrs in GE, I saw this many times.

[BlkGS]

I suspect you're gonna find that moat W driver's aren't "get their hands dirty" types, and don't tow ever. Not to say they can't, they can tow quote heavy loads with X5 or X7, just that they don't.

I'm likely going to get a small folding utility trailer for use around my house, though will probably tow it with other vehicles because the tow hitch was a fairly rare option on X5s, and mine doesn't have it. Adding it is a like $1500 endeavor. On the other hand, both of my American SUVs came standard with tow hitches and tow packages, so I can just use them.

That said, I also am constantly thinking about how I should have just bought an f150, and maybe we will just buy an f150.

[SmokieRiver]

I used my prior 2001 330xi to tow a double ski trailer.

[noemon]

I've towed my jet ski with a 3 litre diesel cayenne for years. And that means the yearly 600 mile round-trip from its garage(Glyfada) to the beach(Elafonisos) and back, and it's almost daily in and out for 4-5 weeks every summer. no issue whatsoever, can't imagine an x3 or x5 struggling with trailers up to 1 tonne total weight.

That boat above is a different story. That must certainly weigh more than 1 tonne with the trailer and that is beyond a regular car's capabilities.

I would tow something like that in an emergency or perhaps force the car to suffer it once in a non-emergency but I would really not pull a trailer as big and heavy as that on a recurring basis with a standard car. The car would be destroyed fairly quickly, clutches, brakes, tyres, even nuts and bolts.

I think 1 tonne is a good upper limit and guide for X5's, Cayennes and such, which places other standard cars on a trailer as no-go's.

[BMWbiker]

I saw a white BMW towing a trailer over the weekend. I think it was an X3, but I saw it only briefly as it passed me going the other direction. It may have been an X5.

[tturedraider]

Personally I would not tow the last two big “caravans”, but those are Europeans towing them and they do it frequently, and I would only tow a car with an SUV.

[Neusser]

Originally Posted by spielnicht

I can honestly say that I've never seen a BMW towing something behind it on the road. I was having a conversation with a friend about the PITA of working on my house without easy access to a flat-bed truck. Long story short, he was suggesting I do what he does and get a utility trailer to tow things around. Hummmm?? Interesting. I also flip BMWs (not physically...lol) in my spare time, so being able to potentially pick up smaller BMWs is a big plus.

I'm curious how many if you out there put their BMWs to work towing things around and what is it considered too excessive to be towing with a BMW.

I personally don't like driving SUVs (that's all my wife), but I could seriously consider an X5 or X6 (M50i) as a replacement for my 550i to do this.

Over here you see them used for towing fairly often, but that goes for most brands.

I wouldn't do it on my own car, but that is because it's a nice car. Were it a 15-year-old 520d, then maybe I would reconsider.

[POBEP]

Small load is easy for X3/5
Larger ones are better with air suspension.

I have not even noticed uhaul with my 35d on 190mi trip

The other one I take to the local dump, home depot, etc

[Dan [Sac]]

1200-lb teardrop on independent Timbren suspension. Sometimes up to 200-lb of extra gear in the back of the trailer. Still get 21mpg at 65mph with the top down. Drops to 16ish in the mountains. No brakes on the trailer, never felt like the Z couldn't stop even in emergencies ("I didn't see you" happens a lot even when towing). I've towed from Salton Sea, thru most of the CA deserts, up and down the coast from SLO to Crescent City. On most 6% downhill grades I don't even use the brakes, just pop it in Sport mode and let the engine work (usually around 3k rpm).

The Z even handled the 16%+ grade at Laguna Seca, the Gate 1A uphill and big hill at Turn 2 (was camping for the IMSA race a few weeks ago).

The Timbren suspension makes towing the 'big' teardrop much easier to manage than a 500-lb solid axle utility trailer with leaf springs. The Harbor Fright 4x8 trailers can catch serious airtime when towing empty on NorCal's moon surface highways.

Yeah I'd rather have a V10 X5 to pull an Airstream, but buying a pickup or larger car *just* for towing is a non-starter. Think ahead, drive sensibly, trust and respect physics, yada yada yada.

[spielnicht]

This is basically what I'm looking to do....Home Depot runs of heavy loads, wide building supplies, and long lumbar that can't fit inside my current cars.



A BIG PLUS would be towing a car or two once a year like this guy across states.



Still waiting on BMW to determine if my 550i is eligible for an engine replacement. If they say no, I'm 100% moving forward with an X5 or X6. I love sedans, but the time and need has come for me to jump into an SUV.

Originally Posted by POBEP

Small load is easy for X3/5
Larger ones are better with air suspension.

I have not even noticed uhaul with my 35d on 190mi trip

The other one I take to the local dump, home depot, etc