BMW 530 d as a towcar
hi all. i tow an eldiss oddysey 534, the max weight is 1550, but we do travel light and there is just two of us.
I was considering an xc90 as an upgrade to my current car which is a v70 2.0 diesel.
I am looking for a 530d estate around the
58 reg mark, if i go for an xc 90 i will go for one that falls in the lower tax bracket.
Does anyone tow with a 530d, is it a capable towcar, i am sure the engine will be fine but I was thinking more of how it handles when towing a caravan.
If my volvo was the d5 engine I wouldnt change it, but i feel the 2.0 d is a little underpowered although fuel economy is amazing for a car of its size.
Comments
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I had one as a replacement for 2 weeks when my Freelander got damaged. Although a nice car in other ways it was a pig for towing, due to the low noseweight it would cater for. Our 'van had an 80kg noseweight and the BMW really wasn't happy with it.
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I believe this topic as been covered before, may be able to search in historical topic. The 530 tourer ( estate ) has self levelling rear suspension if i remember correctly.
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I had a 520D Touring, very spacious and a brilliant tug especially with the 8 speed Auto-box, towing 1600 Kg
Admiral
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Touring has self-levelling rear suspension as has been said. A 520D would easily cope with your van both from a power and stability point of view. A 530D would be even more on top of the job with just the same stability. And no front wheel drive scrabble
when you give it some beans!0 -
Do not discount a 520D auto in either touring or GT form, more than a capable of pulling your van and self levelling suspension and good fuel economy with 180+ bhp
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I'm looking for a new tow car and have a merc c class 220 In mind but ball weight is a little low ,or merc E class 220 or 250 but have heard that spring break , lastly a BM 5 series 2 ltr all car as estates year about 2011 2012 what are your experiences.my
van is bailey Sancerre so quite heavy and single axle.0 -
I had two E220s in succession. Great towcars when we had a small van but suspension/towball limit was not up to the job when we bought a Bailey Olympus (we now have a Unicorn series 3). I bought a Freelancer which was a great towcar and after 6 years have
just traded it for a Discovery Sport. I appreciate that others will disagree, it I believe a 1500kg van with an 80kg+ nose weight really demands a decent sized 4x4.0 -
Or a decent size car..... And 4wd doesn't have to mean a SUV/Chelsea tractor style vehicle, plenty of 4x4 estate cars around these days.
Indeed. I`ll be replacing our XC60 with an XC70 this summer.
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I'm narrowing my search down now to a Merc E class 220 250 saloon as I'm also concerned about the length of the estate .my van is 1470 kg and at the moment use an avensis estate which comes out at about 88 percent. Question two is what tow ball weight is
the E class 220 saloon as the ball weight of my van is about 80. By the way the avensis as plenty of power for my van but I noticed last year in France on down hills at 60 mph there was a small sway and the van anti snaking came in.roger.
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Good points there David about the length and the 84 nose weight which is ample maybe I should rethink again.
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Apologies to those who queried the need for 4x4. I used the term as shorthand for USV and agree that 4 wheel drive is not essential for most of us. However, after towing a number of caravans with various vehicles over 36 years, I am convinced that, ideally, an SUV is the most appropriate vehicle for towing a large caravan with a relatively heavy noseweight. The short rear overhang and greater ground clearance remove the worry of the tow hitch grounding which I have experienced at times with all of the towcars I have owned, admittedly only occasionally, on entering and leaving my driveway, on ferry ramps and sometimes on uneven road surfaces. As I say, I am talking about the an `ideal' and each of us has to compromise depending upon financial considerations and the uses we put our cars to when not towing.
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