Not joined yet? Register for free and enjoy features such as alerts, private messaging and viewing latest posts and topics.

Towing questions again

General car related chat
Post Reply
Gazzi c
Member
Member
Posts: 61
Joined: Fri May 25, 2012 12:25 am
Location: Mansfield,Nottinghamshire

Towing questions again

Post by Gazzi c » Mon Aug 27, 2012 10:19 pm

Hi all just another question regarding towing a caravan I have a 3.0 petrol auto will I need to add an oil cooler to the car and what are the benefits of one and is there anything else that I should be upgrading or checking prior to towing thanks gaz
E53 3.0i sport, acs foot pedals, acs handbrake lever, acs titanium door handles mirror and fog light inserts, Remus quad exhaust, tinted Windows & E70 3.0 D pretty standard at the mo

User avatar
Cannondale
Member
Member
Posts: 244
Joined: Sat Jan 07, 2012 10:00 am
Location: Durham North East

Re: Towing questions again

Post by Cannondale » Mon Aug 27, 2012 10:52 pm

Just back from the Alps towing our 1635kgs caravan, did over 2000 miles towing with no problems. Mine is a 4.8 but has no oil cooler, we went up some very big hills with no problems.


Rich...
2005 4.8is Carbon Black, panoramic roof,Comms, adj susp, black nappa leather, fr/rear seat heat, Elec adjt rear seats, fr/rear aircon,tinted windows, xenons, autodim r/v mirror, folding mirrors, DSP,Prof Speaker,alu side steps, Westfalia removable towbar,

User avatar
B5tew
Member
Member
Posts: 206
Joined: Tue May 03, 2011 12:47 am
Location: Bristol

Towing questions again

Post by B5tew » Mon Aug 27, 2012 11:28 pm

There has been a lot of talk about extra cooling being required on all BMWs on caravan talk but I have never had a problem with any of the 3 BMW autos I have towed with
I used to tow with a 318i auto and never even had the cooling fan come on
To be honest you will probably not even know the caravan is on the back
Happy Caravanning


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
2015 Space grey 30d F15

User avatar
shadrack
Snr Member
Snr Member
Posts: 2631
Joined: Wed Aug 24, 2011 9:19 pm
Location: north yorkshire

Re: Towing questions again

Post by shadrack » Tue Aug 28, 2012 6:22 am

[quote="Gazzi c"]
Hi all just another question regarding towing a caravan I have a 3.0 petrol auto will I need to add an oil cooler to the car and what are the benefits of one and is there anything else that I should be upgrading or checking prior to towing thanks gaz
[/quote]

I used to tow on my old 3.0i (not a caravan) but a 13x6 trailer with all sorts placed upon it inc tractors etc so probly having a gvw exceeding what you will have with the caravan and mine was fine, admittingly I've barely towed anything on my 3.0d but when I have its got far more pulling power though, but I would think you won't require any upgrades to the 3.0i
current: 2016 Vw Crafter
              2007 318d touring
              2008 Transit sport van            
              1964 vw beach buggy
              1988 e30 325i convertible

User avatar
wilkoturbo
Member
Member
Posts: 982
Joined: Wed Mar 02, 2011 7:57 pm

Towing questions again

Post by wilkoturbo » Tue Aug 28, 2012 8:42 am

Shad rack love the , I used tow tow NOT A CARAVAN ! Lol
bmw x5 le mans blue

User avatar
shadrack
Snr Member
Snr Member
Posts: 2631
Joined: Wed Aug 24, 2011 9:19 pm
Location: north yorkshire

Re: Towing questions again

Post by shadrack » Tue Aug 28, 2012 9:31 am

[quote="wilkoturbo"]
Shad rack love the , I used tow tow NOT A CARAVAN ! Lol
[/quote]

All it is I've found out there's these places all over the country where you hand over money and in return they give you a temporary house\ensuit room for however long you need so I've no need to take a portible home with me! Lol
All joking aside though it should be fine if you intned to tow a mobile porta loo with a bed without the need for anything to be added other than a towbar!
current: 2016 Vw Crafter
              2007 318d touring
              2008 Transit sport van            
              1964 vw beach buggy
              1988 e30 325i convertible

Gazzi c
Member
Member
Posts: 61
Joined: Fri May 25, 2012 12:25 am
Location: Mansfield,Nottinghamshire

Re: Towing questions again

Post by Gazzi c » Tue Aug 28, 2012 6:51 pm

Thanks for the input guys  ;)
E53 3.0i sport, acs foot pedals, acs handbrake lever, acs titanium door handles mirror and fog light inserts, Remus quad exhaust, tinted Windows & E70 3.0 D pretty standard at the mo

User avatar
gmc15
Member
Member
Posts: 404
Joined: Sat Aug 21, 2010 3:39 am
Location: Durham

Re: Towing questions again

Post by gmc15 » Tue Aug 28, 2012 7:54 pm

Towed a 1500Kg van all over Europe with a 3.0d and with a 4.6 and never had any problems :)
x6 M50d

User avatar
wilkoturbo
Member
Member
Posts: 982
Joined: Wed Mar 02, 2011 7:57 pm

Towing questions again

Post by wilkoturbo » Thu Aug 30, 2012 5:35 pm

Image easy
bmw x5 le mans blue

User avatar
X5Sport
Global Moderator
Global Moderator
Posts: 18781
Joined: Fri Sep 03, 2010 4:09 pm
Location: Planet X6......

Re: Towing questions again

Post by X5Sport » Thu Aug 30, 2012 5:58 pm

I know when we toyed with the idea a few years back, and the salesman asked what the 'tug' would be and I told him an X5 3.0d he said we could pull pretty much anything he sold without any modification.

If memory serves, the Caravan Club used to advise that the weight of the trailer & load should never exceeded 80-85% of the GVW limit of the tug.  You could go to 100% if you were very experienced.  What you never do is exceed the GTW (or whatever it is now called - the 'Gross Train Weight' of the whole system combined) as then you are in all kinds of trouble.

I used to tow a mobile lab trailer that weighed somewhat more than the Disco V8 in the fleet, and we paid the price!  Closed the A1, bent the Disco chassis and badly scared the crew when the trailer had a little 'lay down' one Friday afternoon!!  That 'train' had no need of added radiators or oil coolers at all and was also an Auto.  We used it a lot in the Whitby area playing with the Fylingdales radar in the 90's.  It went up and down some pretty steep hills I seem to recall.  Never had any overheating issues at all.  Stability issues.....just a few niggles.. :o :o

R
Last edited by X5Sport on Thu Aug 30, 2012 6:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.
:ant: Never anthropomorphise computers. They hate that.

User avatar
shadrack
Snr Member
Snr Member
Posts: 2631
Joined: Wed Aug 24, 2011 9:19 pm
Location: north yorkshire

Re: Towing questions again

Post by shadrack » Thu Aug 30, 2012 7:11 pm

i can vouch that the hills are very steep near fylingdales!
current: 2016 Vw Crafter
              2007 318d touring
              2008 Transit sport van            
              1964 vw beach buggy
              1988 e30 325i convertible

Post Reply