BMW X5 Factory fit towbar

I don't have a X5 but a 535d touring, they are the same factory fit balls and they are swan neck and will fit an Alko.

I had an X5 with a factory electric towbar until May. Fine with Alko, but put in sriting to your dealer that they must wire up for all 13 pins. The German manufacturers normally ony wire 7 pins.

 It ost me £500 to have mine wired correctly, which BMW refunded because I had the original instruction in writing.

Hi Harris 550 we have a x5 with the factory electric tow bar  and it fits perfectly and is a fantastic tow car, also I am  a senior BMW tech and no BMW factory tow bar comes wired for battery and fridge, you would need the twin electrics fitting at the dealership 

Hi mollysmummy

For  some reason Bmw do not let you spec twin electrics from the factory on any of there cars which does cause some trouble with customers 

Bmw don't make anything easy 

Hi Harris 550 maybe you can spec it now  but it's news to me unless your dealer will fit it for you as part of your deal either way you get what you need.

im sure you'll be pleased with it when you collect it 

I can't see why you can have a fully wired 13 pin socket, either fully wired by BMW at the factory ...... or at the very least if the connectors are not in the MBW socket to wired up, then cut it off & start a fresh with another. I'm sure that if Vauxhall can supply a 13 pin wired socket for a car that had been out of production a number of years atthe time, then a brand that likes to portray itself as a premium brand can manage to do the same

That's what we have to do cut socket off the factory loom and fit the new loom to existing loom and then wire in the extra wires for fridge etc, 

Some one needs to take BMW hierarchy to one side  

On the continent I don't  believe that they understand the concept of supplying the fridge and battery charger from the car, after all, their caravans often don't even have a battery (nor did ours in earlier times). At least BMW now understand how to do
the wiring and our X5 is fine but with my first 5 series I had to give them a wiring diagram. It took the dealer some time to sort it out with the factory in Germany. They were worried because it turned out that they knew of ways that the car alarm could be
defeated via the 13 pin DIN plug.

If the continent don't use fridge or battery charging, why would they have developed a 13 pin plug/socket set up and not just improved the original 12N? 

When i bought my X3 (with factory fit t/bar and 13 pin socket) i explained to sales man that i wanted fridge and battery charging, he knew exactly what i was talking about and all worked fine from the off

In the sales information booklet it did mention  (  alongside the towbar ) that a supplementary wiring kit was needed.

 ...and that I think is the key, ie someone that knows rather than think they know

Not knocking any manufacture or dealership,– tow bars, electrics, weights and caravans in general all appear to be off the radar of the ‘average’ sales person –unless you ‘screw him/her down’ - I know there is always an exception to the rule – but that
normally applies to the sales person being a caravanner !

Hi mollysmummy

For  some reason Bmw do not let you spec twin electrics from the factory on any of there cars which does cause some trouble with customers 

Cos Euro haven't used 12N & 12S for years .... I was referring to a fully wired 13 pin. The 13pin OE loom I bought for my Vauxhall a few years back had plug & play lighting, but the fridge & charging side needed to be wired up seperately ..... nothing that
would be beyond a tame tech 

12N & 12S was never used on the Continent.

They must've used a 12N as otherwise why would they have had the alternative 13 pin socket ie a 12N in the middle, with a row of spade connectors around it? Can't remember its name, but I saw one on the back of a Dutch car when I went to offer a hand after
he'd damaged it

Hi mollysmummy

For  some reason Bmw do not let you spec twin electrics from the factory on any of there cars which does cause some trouble with customers 

Cos Euro haven't used 12N & 12S for years .... I was referring to a fully wired 13 pin. The 13pin OE loom I bought for my Vauxhall a few years back had plug & play lighting, but the fridge & charging side needed to be wired up seperately ..... nothing that
would be beyond a tame tech 

12N & 12S was never used on the Continent.

They must've used a 12N as otherwise why would they have had the alternative 13 pin socket ie a 12N in the middle, with a row of spade connectors around it? Can't remember its name, but I saw one on the back of a Dutch car when I went to offer a hand after
he'd damaged it

THe 12N is still in use on the Continent. My trailer has a 12N plug. However, the 12S was never used.

I think you must be referring to the 13 pin Jaeger socket which was compatible with the 12N but had 6 additional flat pin connections. It never really made the breakthrough in the market and more or less disappeared a couple of years after the true 13 pin
version appeared.

Hello please could you help, I am about to purchase a pre reg X3 and have just been told that I need to convert the 7 to 13 pin at some exterminate cost that we are currently in discussion with. My question however is the tow ball/bar ok for a caravan (swift with alko) and how do you find it as a towcar . thank you