BMW X5
All members who own "the best tow car in category BMW X5", this car is dangerous!
So a new Adria Alpina Colorado needs a serous tow car complete with a pricey electric tow bar fitted in the BMW factory of course! Anyway having spent the last of my money on the extras including the best 850 Auto Satelite it failed to fold down when connected to the car automatically. The BMW dealer was sympathetic and looked at the car yesterday and informed me that there should have been another extra offered, namely a "pin-10" which would allow this to happen, its not on the BMW configurator, not on the pricelist and when i rang another dealer they had never heard of it!
If you own a BMW X5 with an electric towbar it won't have a pin-10, this means your fridge won't change from gas to battery when you hook-up or fold your massive satelite dish ready for a trip down the motorway!!
Should the worst happen your satellite dish may kill the driver following you when it tears off the roof of the caravan and flies through the window of the following car!
For God's sake BMW you penny pinching idiots, just because your caravans are wired differently and you don't need pin-10, get real UK customers need it to be safe.
The best bit always comes at the end, the BMW dealership did not know how to fit one (its one wire and a relay), I paid £86.00 to a local Hull towbar specialist who did the job in 40minutes, my car, caravan gas and satelite systems are now safe....IS YOURS?
Maybe the magazine will publish in the next few months a formal warning but I am absolutely convinced BMW fit the X5 with a dangerous wiring system.
Kind Regards, Tony
Moderator Comment - This has been moved from the Story Section
Comments
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I think a clue to the situation that Tony found himself in is the 'new to caravanning' comment.
We bought a Audi Q5 4 years ago and luckily for me a fellow club member told me, on a rally, to make sure that I specified, in writing, that I needed a fully functioning 13 pin socket. He was quite clear that, unless I did so, I would probably get a socket without 13 pins as, and this is where the connection is, German cars generally come with a socket that will power road lights only.
I called 5 dealers and asked, quoting their brochure, what the 'additional wiring' was and how much was it-none of them could tell me.
So armed with this information I made it quite clear what I needed and, feeling that it was unacceptable that I should pay more on top of the cost of the towbar, contacted Audi UK who agreed to pay for the cost of the additional wiring kit and the fitting.
So that will be OK then?
No it wouldn't, and the supplying dealer called me the day before I was to collect the car and asked me what it was that I expected the 'kit' to do as his Master Technician said that I did not need it.
I made it quite clear that without the kit I could not power the required items, fridge and batter charger, in my caravan and he told me that I would need to return the car because, as they had decided it was not required, they had not fitted it.
Bottom line is that German, and other nations, caravans do not use a leisure battery but a damped transformer provideing 12v so do not need the pins that we do in the socket and I knew this having owned a Hobby.
It is also clear that even having specified, in writing, and having the manufacturer pay for the supply and fitting of the required parts, there is no guarantee that you will get what you specified even if you are a 'well informed', thanks to others, caravanner.
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I have had both BMW X5 and Porsche Cayenne from new. When ordering I specifically requested, in writing, that I needed all 13 pins wiring. Both cars arrived with only 7 pins. Neither dealer had a clue, and in fact the Porsche dealer tried to sell me a 13 to 7 converter!!!
I had both cars wired correctly at a local caravn place, and both BMW and Porsche picked up the tab.
Bit puzzled by the OP,s comment about his sat dish and fridge(not switching from gas automatically). Neither of thees are anything to do with the car wiring. Fold the dish down before hitching up, and swith the fridge over to battery using the buttons on the front. That's what they are for.
Paul
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I think the OP needs to take a step back from his story (rant....) and do some reading/research from experienced caravanners.... The original wiring issue is annoying but common to German Cars. To the best of my knowledge Sattellite dishes need folding away manually and fridges need switching over to different fuel supply by hand.
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I think the OP is referring to the fact that if you have an auto power/fuel sensing fridge, it'll change over automatically when it sees another power source. My fridge will find 240AC when on hook up & also find 12DC when I plug my caravan into the back of my car .... I need to do nothing (better than the last caravan as I was usually miles down the road before I'd remembered to change my fridge over to 12DC)
I can only assume that the OP 'auto' satellite is also clever enough to stow itself away when it sees 12DC when the car is plugged in ..... some auto movers do the same.
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Having read the original comment I couldn't agree more. I collected my new X5 in December and have had no problems. When I ordered it, my salesman specifically asked me how I wanted the tow bar wiring, which they did to 13pin and everything works fine with no issues. It is also a cracking tow car and I can not fault it so far. I wouldn't let this deter you from looking at a BMW.
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The issue with the BMW X5 as most German made cars is not a design fault.
Over the last 12 years every car I order with Factory fit towbar is specified with twin electrics. As a caravaner you should check what you need.
This an extra no different to picking your colour.
I have just taken delivery of my new x3 and despite the dealer telling me it would be wired with twin electrics it wasn`t. They tried to blame BMW wiring diagram to not being experienced at this. It is now wired as was in my spec.
It also appears on investigation that there are 2 adaptor kits, with a large difference in costs.
Towbar with electric extension and retraction. Concealed when not in use.
Additional wiring connectors may be required depending on towing usage.
Trailer Stability Control is included when this option is specified.For a twin-electrics solution an additional adaptor cable and further programming are required, which must be purchased separately.”
For the twin –electrics option an adapter can be purchased from our parts department for £62.00 incl VAT, this however will NOT power the fridge although it will power the caravan battery.
If you require the fridge to be powered whilst towing an addition part is required (approx. £150.00) and 3 hrs labour to connect/ activate it. Labour is £125.00 per hour.
Buyer responsibility. VW now detail twin electrics in their options details.
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This saga demonstrates why, when we come to change our towcar it won't be German or Sanish or in fact any European manufacture it will be good reliable Japanese.
PS have seen several European outfits travelling with sat dish in the up position.
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All members who own "the best tow car in category BMW X5", this car is dangerous!
I think that should be edited:
'All members who own "the best tow car in category BMW X5", this car can be dangerous, when in the wrong hands!'
The only bit that surprises me other than driving off before knowing the dish is properly stowed, is the ignorance of the BMW dealership; the issue here and with various other brands is universally known to competent people in the trade.
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I don't understand the comments about German and other European vehicles having potential problems with the wiring. My new VW Touareg had the tow bar and electrics fitted by the dealer (admittedly very expensive), but absolutely everything works - charger, fridge, parking sensors automatically disabled, TSC etc etc. Even get a diagram come up on the infotainment system when reversing showing the van on the back plus a warning message on the dash showing which trailer lights are out (if any). It seems to be a total and seamless integration with the cars electronics and I am really pleased with how it works
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l feel sorry for Tony some of the comments laid at him on this forum are disgusting, l thought this forum was supposed to be friendly, in his view he was making people aware of what problems he had, those that have been constructive good on ya! the rest are not worth listening to. Tony l can understand your frustration what's the top of the range BMW X5 60k plus, the dealer should have known what was required for UK BMW X5. l have just purchased top of the range Santa-Fe my dealer new everything l required, took me through everything before l left. Hope everything is now sorted and you have many days and weeks of touring,
Best of Luck
Heethers
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+1
It's not all German cars. Our Passat Alltrack came with a factory fitted towbar with all 13 pins wired - the VW brochure even states that the 13 pin towing electrics are fully wired for fridge etc.
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Once a new car has been received from the dealer and checked on delivery/collection would you not check that everything (lights,indicators,brake lights,fridge,battery charge folding satellite dish) worked correctly before driving off, I do even though my dashboard lights tell me everything is OK the wife still tours the van checking all the lights etc every trip even when the van was collected from the dealer when new.
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Do you mean he should have taken the van with him to collect a new car so he could check it out when hitched up, l certainly didn't. When l collected mine, all l did was to inform the dealer that l was going to tow a caravan with the car and that l required a 13 pin single socket to conform to the British towing regulations. The dealer told me that wasn't problem as quiet a few customers want their vehicles for towing. Most dealers are aware of the towing regulations but it seems BMW are not. To be honest l could have been in the same boat as Tony as l looked at the X3 but couldn't justify the price for what l was getting.
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My X3 had the same “problem” despite making it clear the towbar was for towing a UK caravan, but what was really annoying was that the only (and expensive) way to remedy the situation was to rip out the whole towbar loom and replace - this because the plug was moulded and couldn’t take the extra two pins. Westphalia produce an additional (two pin) loom, but BMW elect to fit a Westphalia plug that can’t take it, even though one is available. My new X3 arrives soon and we expect a similar situation. I realise that BMW’s main market isn’t the UK, and that most BMWs don’t go anywhere near a caravan - but surely it should not be beyond their imagination to produce an installation which can take the required retro wiring without having to resort to such extreme (and wasteful) measures.
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we got our new BMW X1 in February, when we ordered it i requested a tow bar with 13 pin electrics i told them what i needed for the fridge, charger and ATC. About 2 weeks later BMW called and said they would struggle with the 13 pin for a 12v supply. I told them not to fit it and i contacted witter. They fitted a detachable tow bar with 13 pin electrics and it works perfect. £630 fitted. I was shocked back then that BMW couldn't do this for me. I wanted to take delivery of the car and not have to worry about getting it fitted after.
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Pardon?
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I am on my second BMW X3 and always use Indespension to fit a new towbar and electrics; cheaper and they know what they are doing. The local BMW dealer also uses Indespension but still charges the list price ! I also looked at the electronic towbar but decided against it because of the wiring loop needing a supplementary kit and the cost.
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