Fitting a Westfalia Detachable Towbar & Dedicated Electric

[barnowl930]

No it is a Westfalia part number.

Westfalia make the towing equipment for BMW and others.

BMW could probably supply it in one of their BMW branded boxes for a stupid price.

[wilkoturbo]

I many thanks Will they have that part on there site ???

[barnowl930]

Try towequipe or p f jones.Should be around the £30 mark.

[Cannondale]

Another big thanks to UrbanFlow from me. I have just ordred a towbar and electrics from PF Jones and will hopefully fitting it this Sunday. I wil have this guide printed off ready for use.

One question my car has the DSP subs in the righthand side of the boot. Are these easy enough to work around or take out?

Rich...

[Cannondale]

Been busy fitting a Westfalia towbar today ready for our first outing in the X with the caravan next week.

The guide was exellent and gave me useflly info all the way through, Thanks

I have two problems, with mine being a 4.8 the exhausts were in the way and it was hard to get at the T55 torx to get the bumper off and on. I worked around this by loosning the exhaust brackets off and moving them as far over as I could. The other problem I had was when I dropped a washer and it went under the subs, I had to remove them to get the washer back. But apart from that it was an easy enough job, took me just under 6 Hours but I did have use of a freinds workshop which helped.

[UrbanFlow]

[quote=""Cannondale""]Another big thanks to UrbanFlow from me. I have just ordred a towbar and electrics from PF Jones and will hopefully fitting it this Sunday. I wil have this guide printed off ready for use.

One question my car has the DSP subs in the righthand side of the boot. Are these easy enough to work around or take out?

Rich...[/quote]

Hey dude - thanks for the nod. Glad my guide continues to be of help to people.
As for the DSP subs - sorry mate - can't answer that one - mine doesn't have

[UrbanFlow]

Hey Cannondale - see you fitted it all OK!

Was great to see you laid out all the parts beforehand in your first pic. And printed my guide out too...

Enjoy!

[Cannondale]

I was just going to get a bar fitted, but the best price I could get was just under £600. The Bar and electrics cost me £355 delivred. Printed your guide out and that was it.

Without your guide I doubt I would have tried the job, as the giud was so good I gave it a go and saved £245, not bad for a few hours on a Sunday

Thanks again

Rich...

[exodice]

Sorry Im a bit late, fellers, but I have only just got my X5 4.4 and found this a very excellent article. For what its worth I found that Tow Trust do a tow bar for £111 all in, plus I found the Westfalia module to suit the bMW for £72.50, so things must be getting cheaper. The tow bar is a flanged one ,which I chose because I can then use a ball and pin type tow ball. In fact Im fairly certain that the flanged and removable towball kits are the same apart from the neck and ball, which can be retrofitted if you changed your mind and wanted to lose the ball off the back.
My only point with this article is the is the instruction to "look inside the hole where the exhaust is and remove the T55 bolt."which is slightly misleading.I was temporarily thrown until I realised he meant look upwards in the area to find the bolt which is pointing vertically up, not the more obvious T50 bolt that is in more clear view, but is the wrong bolt!
I noticed that some towbars are rated to only 2.5 tons, unlike the Westfalia which goes up to 3.5 tons. However, on speaking to Towtrust they tell me that theirs is actually tested to over 5 tons, but they had forgotten to update their spec sheet! A bit remiss!
We need more intelligent well written articles like this. Brilliant job.
Does anyone know why the brake ABS lights and the other two light up? Is it just because the battery was disconnected or is is down to the Westfalia module?.Also, why was my battery dead by the following morning? Any ideas anyone?

[roger chatfield]

Top tip when getting your Westfalia wiring kit from PF Jones.

Order the 7 pin wiring kit instead of the 13 pin (7 pin is cheaper)

You get sent the 13 pin wiring kit with a natty little plug in adapter to covert the 13 pin socket to 7.
13pin socket on left, adapter on right.


Adapter pluged in.


This way you'll save money and have the best of both worlds.

Rog.

[roger chatfield]

Massive thanks to Urbanflow, I printed out your guide and it's been invaluable, I didn't even bother using the Westfalia instructions, you should get a job writing manuals for Haynes..

I deviated from your guide once, I too found that the nuts holding my exhaust heat shields on were in a poor state so instead of removing them I just pulled them down slightly, just enough to allow me access.




I must say I'm very impressed with the quality of the Westfalia kit, it's very well made and fits the X5 like a glove, no fitment issues at all, I was going to go for a cheaper bar setup but I'm glad I bit the bullet and got the Westfalia.

BTW I've got a hard copy of Urbanflow's guide, if anyone wants it drop me a PM and I'll get it in the post, also if anyone near Plymouth wants a hand fitting theirs, drop me a line, I'll be glad to point and laugh..

Rog.

[willis7864]

execellent instructions

hi everyone i have a 55 reg x5  3.0 d.
problem i got is ive just fitted a titan detageable tow but when i went to open the tail gate it catchs the rear bummber,if i push down on the bummber i can get it open but its marking them both.
how can i stop this,can i adjust the tail gate so i can lift it a little.

it use to just touch before i fitted the bar but not enough to case concern.

please help before the wife trys to open the tail gate and brake

thanks

[LincsX5]

Rather than adjusting the tailgate, if you actually can, I think you need to look at adjusting the bumper. Have you tried altering the alignment as per Section 13 of UrbanFlow's How-To?  If this doesn't do it then the bumper support may need some fettling  :judge:

[X5Sport]

A late update, but BMW do not install all of the wiring even if ordered.  You need to go back to your Dealer and demand they correct the error.  There is apparently a repair kit made for the UK market to cover the issue.  Mine was done for free under warranty! 

Richard

[Oldbuzzer]

Hi,great pics thanks ,my girl and me would have done it in a day but damaged parcel came  vi.ups and one mounting bracket was missing  PF Jones goner sort it ,quite enjoyed really. Apart from grit in eyes skinned knuckles,and bruises its all in the game lol. Learned a lot saved a lot thanks UrbanFlow.