Tow Bar

[L3nny]

Just got a quote of £345 to supply and fit a detachable tow bar to my BMW E90

Looking on Ebay you can buy them for £150 - £200

Does that price sound about right?

Also will I be licensed to tow a trailer with a bike on it or do I need to take another test?

That is about the cost I'd expect. Though, if you're prepared to hunt around a bit I'm sure you could get it cheaper.

As for can you legally tow it, look carefully for the regulations, but in summary it depends. You can always tow a trailer of up to 750kg MAM with anything up to a 3500kg MAM vehicle (a van). You might just sneak under depending on the kind of trailer you get. I imagine the single bike ones don't weight much more than 200-300kg and your bike around the same, so if the MAM is 750kg you should be fine.

However, there is also another weirder rule which allows you to tow a combination up to 3500kg MAM, provided the MAM of the trailer is less than the unladen weight of the towing vehicle, which for your BMW is probably around 1700kg.

[punyXpress]

" Does that price sound about right? " depends how good you are with electrics although SVs are a good training ground!

[Nick_69]

Im in the same boat as you and am looking for a tow bar, but i got a quote of around 240 but that was on a ford fiesta

Your towing rights depends when you got your license, as far as I know, I can tow anything as long as its within the vehicles capabilities.


Btw, towsure were cheapest when I had one fitted years ago.

http://www.towsure.com/category/Towbars

[maviczap]

Ask Wideboy, he had some issues with getting one fitted to his Beemer

[Wideboy]

for my 3 series i managed to get a "removable" one from PF Jones for 90 quid, then all i needed was a relay box for 20 quid from tow sure (required to bypass the canbus system on bmw's). Its not fully removable like the lock-in ones but they're the best part of 400 quid the last time i looked. All that's visible is two little flanges to put bolts through to hold on the towbar but they're under the car so you can't really see them, bargain in my book.

requirement wise its all been said but if you have the same license categories as me (750kg limit) you're not allowed to tow braked trailers, strange i know.

also check with your insurance you're covered for towing as some companies do but will only cover your trailer and contents at third party... And tell them you have a tow bar as believe it or not they count it as a mod.

[Mark_h]

I've fitted my own towbar to my last 3 cars. Since about year 2000 ish cars have to have towbar fixings by law so no need to drill your bodywork. Bypass relays make the wiring fairly simple once you've traced your wiring. Unless you intend to tow a caravan regularly just go for single electrics. If you are happy with electrics and scotchlocks don't worry about the vehicle specific wiring kits as they are a lot of money for a bit of loom.

My last two have been detachable ones and if you mess about with the wiring mount plates you can have a totally invisible install.

I like the Bosal fixing system. It's not cheap but I just keep an eye on ebay and get them used.

These guys http://www.towequipe.co.uk have the fitting instructions. Trickiest bit is usually getting the rear bumper off without having six arms.

If the E90 is like most BMWs the battery will be in the boot which keeps the wiring simple. Put a switch on the live supply to the relay box though otherwise the ticking each time you touch the brakes when not towing will do your head in although it may be that I'm a bit too sensitive to these things.

[Ch00]

Do you have B + E on your licence?

[L3nny]

Not sure I fancy doing the wiring myself. The electronics on the car are so complicated I am bound to break something.

I'd rather have one which is completely hidden when not towing, bit of a tart like that.

I passed my car test in May 97 got categories Am, A, B1 and B