I remember Peter Carrol blowing a rear suspension's air bags after towing his racecar with a 540i. But is there anyway, an older e34 or e39 can tow a 2000lbs car with a 1000lbs aluminum trailer. I definitely don't want to buy a truck, and would rather buy a used Touring. I was thinking importing the towing assembly from Europe as BMW doesn't sell them in North America.

A friend of mine in the US tows his e30 Autocross car with Will Zaraska's ex 318Touring (with 3.0 M3 motor).

Your thoughts.

Lee

 

The 540 is a great tow vehicle. The airbag blew because it was really old not because the load was too much. At the time the car had about 160,000km on it. The airbag is rubber. It doesn't last forever.

If fact I would not tow with a 5 series unless you have the air suspension. The suspension on these things is way too soft and the rear would drag on the ground. The air suspension automatically adjusts to the towing condition. The more weight you put on it the stiffer it becomes. It's perfect for towing.

The hardest part about towing with a 540 is getting a hitch. You have to import them from Europe and they are over $1000 if you can get one at all. I understand the company that made the X5 hitch for BMW went out of business. It may be the same one. Not sure.

It's hard enough trying to find a 540 Touring at all. They are extremely rare.

As much as I like it though, I have been digging the idea of upgrading to something newer. It's got 180,000km on it now and has a bit of rust. Though I do really like driving it on a daily basis. I especially like the look of the M5 wheels...

 

 

The new X5 with the 3L diesel has tons of torque and good fuel milleage The chassis would limit the tow to 7700 pounds still... I tried it last week and it has the most impressive engine No vibration, low emissions and it revs up to 5000 RPM!

I can probably find a Californian e39 Touring swapped to a 6 speed tranny for $10k and use it as a double duty vehicule. Buying a truck or van means it will only be used a dozen times per year, and take room in my driveway the rest of the year. Or buy a 1970's Vandura with shag carpet, mirror bowl and start wearing sideburns... Lee

In paddocks, I usually sleep in a VW Wesfalia With 80 HP, it is not a reliable tow vehicle.... But it attracts ladies like you woud not believe

I was towing with an X5 and now I tow with a chevy 2500HD. With the x5 I always felt like I had a caboose and towing an open steel trailer was tiring. With the truck I can forget my enclosed 22 foot box trailer. The x5 3.0 engine was fine. Stability wasn't perfect. I ripped subframes twice. I don't know if this was me or the hitch install or what. Other people have not had the ripped subframes. The x5 worked. The giant truck is night and day. But the giant truck's gas mileage is way down and you need an empty airstrip to park it. I tow a lot and my grocery getter is a slammed mini gp with race seats, suspension and a rollbar so I'm OK with a truck as a secondary vehicle.

Will Zaraska is a living example of how to tow with a BMW. I think the most effective tow vehicle he had was an older (early 90s) 750. He would put his tow vehicle on the track, too. His E34 station wagon is pretty good at towing, too. The main problem trying to tow with a BMW is finding the hitch and wiring up the lights and brake controller. I would imagine that North American market cars would not even have the wiring harness in the car so you have to route it all the way to the dash and make an extra fused circuit. If you are handy working with that stuff you can have a BMW tow vehicle.

 

I followed John's example and got a 2500HD diesel. Integrated brake controller and all that. Just needed to get a ball for the hitch and then it's just plug and play. But it would be a total overkill for an open trailer. The truck is too damn uncomfortable even when towing. My rig is no more that 7000 lbs and the truck just laughs at me. I would really recommend a good SUV with a decent tow rating (6000 lbs) to tow an open trailer. Much more pleasant to be in. Real trucks are great for enclosed trailers.

If you do buy a BMW 5-series Hitch $$$$, skip the BMW electronics ($400) as they are completely incompatible with US trailers. In Europe they have one bulb per function. Over here they are all combined functions.

I used a $35 US made trailer wiring adapter (the version for european cars). It adapted things perfectly. It was the low impedance kind so that the onboard computer does not complain about burned out bulbs etc.

The only hard part was the electronic brake controller. Finding the line for the 3rd brake light in the touring is a bitch. It's under the right rear seat side bolster black with yellow stripe. You can't use the tail light because if you have the turn signal on the brake light flashes. That really sucked.

The E39 even has a spare high current circuit breaker to run the trailer brakes. At least the Touring does.

I'm surprised you can tow with a 3L X5. I would have thought that was too much for the motor. The V8 in the 540 pulls great. And the software in the transmission adapts automatically. In europe they tow everything with wagons. The BMW hitch is rated at 2250kg (5000lbs) if you have electric brakes.

That said, the next vehicle will be 4wd. I had a hell of a time getting the trailer out of the storage lot for Sebring. The RWD 540 sucks a bit in the snow.

You're right...I don't believe it

You haven't seen the ladies...