[Ennoch]

Rarely if ever tow but it's nice to have, and it's a one up to my dad who got the 'removable' tow bar on his Evoque which is now so corroded after five years that it's part of the car. He thought that's what I had too until I demonstrated to him. The look of jealousy was a sight to behold!

[Patx]

Originally Posted by jackstrath

Hello,

Now i know there was a topic just the other day on here about fitting the tow bar to an f31 335d but that wasn't using the BMW tow bar.

There is a few used BMW tow bars for sale on ebay and if its possible id like to have the electric folding out tow bar on my 2016 F31 340i.

Iv used the witter kit in the past on my old E91 and it did everything it was supposed to, so if this doesn't work that will be the road im going down.

So this is a final shout out to people to see if anyone has any photos of the electric tow bar on ideally a F31 340i, but a F31 335d would work or a F31, dont want photos from other models as they sadly for me arnt relevant and dont want to add any confusion.

So first off is coding, does anyone know firstly if coding is needed or not? and if so do you think this is something the bimmercode app could do (expert mode)

The physical fitting of the tow bar shouldn't be a issue, its a bolt on bolt off part.

The next thing is electrics, and this is where it go's a little quiet on the subject. BMW list a few options when looking on Real OEM for parts, vague descriptions so im not sure what im listing is maybe included in there retrofit kit?

Using BMW vid decoder - this one was the only one that seemed to work

https://bimmercat.com/bmw/en/vin/decoder

if your look for 8SL code and have it, from what i gather you dont need to run the cables to the fuse box in the passenger foot well - I think, im not 100% sure if it means you have the electrics already there for the trailer or just the fuse box ???

Iv attached a retro fit guide that i found, it looks pretty good.

From What i can gather i need -

71606883983 - Electric Swivel Tow Bar its self (prob from ebay)
71606868822 - Bow to connect what i assume is the heatsheild/rear bumper if not included above.
71606878215 Intermediate plate assy ? (just looks like a spacer plate)
71606889589 - Control unit for trailer hitch
51487325309 Heat shield for rear muffler

and im assuming the trailer control unit doesnt come with the wiring loom which i assume is part number: 71602289549 Which is down as Retrofit kit, electr. additional parts

Im prob going to order that lot from https://www.leebmann24.de , thats if they still ship to the UK now haha!

If anyone can take some photos of there rear fuse box area showing where the electrics come in (just next to the battery) and where they go, and the button placement ect that would be a big help.

If i get round to doing it il be sure to document it so hopefully it helps others!

Thanks

Good evening, of all these references what were needed and what is not?

Thank you

[jackstrath]

Originally Posted by Patx

Good evening, of all these references what were needed and what is not?

Thank you

Hello, i ordered and used the following:


Part number Item Amount Price Total
71606878215 ZWISCHENPLATTE 2 9,58 19,16
71606795381 MUTTER 4 3,63 14,52
51419143799 SCHRAUBE 1 0,57 0,57
07146979392 BLECHMUTTER 3 0,43 1,29
66336854515 MODULHALTER 1 16,41 16,41
71606889589 1 95,59 95,59
71602289549 1 154,62 154,62
51487325309 Heat shield 1

I bought 71606883983 - Electric Swivel Tow Bar from ebay and it came with 71606868822 - Bow installed.

[Patx]

Originally Posted by jackstrath

Hello, i ordered and used the following:


Part number Item Amount Price Total
71606878215 ZWISCHENPLATTE 2 9,58 19,16
71606795381 MUTTER 4 3,63 14,52
51419143799 SCHRAUBE 1 0,57 0,57
07146979392 BLECHMUTTER 3 0,43 1,29
66336854515 MODULHALTER 1 16,41 16,41
71606889589 1 95,59 95,59
71602289549 1 154,62 154,62
51487325309 Heat shield 1

I bought 71606883983 - Electric Swivel Tow Bar from ebay and it came with 71606868822 - Bow installed.

Thank you very much, this information has helped me a lot I am reviewing the manual that you put in another post, the original retrofit manual and I have some doubts, the wiring harness you had to do from the front fuse box or only from the rear fuse box?

thanks again, all help is welcome

[riso1988]

Thanks for all the info jackstrath . Looking to do this myself - working on getting the parts now.

Stupid question, was it at all working without the coding? Read some mixed info on whether or not it is required. Some said it's plug and play just need to code it so it disables parking sensors and traction control others said won't work without coding.

Patx did you ever get yours done?

Thanks!

[Pobsey]

What’s the current cost of the extra bits over and above the actual towbar?

[Dave_Cassidy1]

Originally Posted by jackstrath

Soooo!

After trying to code the car with ISTA, and it seeing the module it just wasn't able to code the trailer unit, why not I'm not sure. No one was sure why!
I was ready to just take it to BMW (although they use the same soft wear) i wasn't sure if they would be able to do a full car re flash or something.

I actually got put in contact from the garage that there was a local coder who has a lot of experience with the F3X cars. Long story short he is actually on here, and we had crossed paths unexpectedly already!

Russel was able to code the car, towbar module and the other modules that all need coding to work correctly, so have full functionality now!

So I'm mega happy i have a fully retro fitted bmw towbar!

Only down side is its not ment for the M performance diffuser, it sits hard to and I'm sure vibrations will rub on it, so for a quick fix until i look at moving the plug iv put some gloss black decal on the middle fin.
Other downside to buying a unit with very minimal use is that its spent most of its time folded away! So it was a little sticky first use, its free'd up now but i think I'm going to still remove the rubber boot and clean and re grease all the moving parts.

Otherwise, so happy iv managed to complete this, thanks for every ones help and input!

Hi Jack

Could you give me the location / contact of Russell that sorted your towbar please? I'm having similar issues to you, I fitted the tow bar, everything seemed to connect up ok exactly as your installation but the things not working. Its been in a BMW main dealer for 3 days now and still not sorted. They think the control module is faulty but it was brand new and I think it's more likely to be a software compatibility issue like you say

Thanks

Dave

[AustinPowered]

yeah, so I did this too in July..

I ordered a towbar unit online when I had a stint in quarantine following a company sponsored all inclusive trip away. Took me about a half day to physically do all the work - bumper off, fit towbar, loom in the electrics (easier than i thought it would be). re-assemble back end..

I took it to my local dealer for coding - they were happy to do it as part of the service the car was due, updated my car firmware too.. charged me half an hour labour for this, so not too bad - they were particularly impressed with the job as well - but then I am an aircraft engineer...

Turned out to be a wise use of my time off - The timing chain on Home Commands (fake) mini snapped about a week later... When she was recovered by the RAC, she forgot to ask them to take the car home *facepalm* so I recovered it on the aframe I used to use to tow my real mini about.. worked well, thank fully!

[jackstrath]

Originally Posted by Patx

Thank you very much, this information has helped me a lot I am reviewing the manual that you put in another post, the original retrofit manual and I have some doubts, the wiring harness you had to do from the front fuse box or only from the rear fuse box?

thanks again, all help is welcome

I was rear fuse box only but i guess this depens on the spec of your car

Originally Posted by riso1988

Thanks for all the info jackstrath . Looking to do this myself - working on getting the parts now.

Stupid question, was it at all working without the coding? Read some mixed info on whether or not it is required. Some said it's plug and play just need to code it so it disables parking sensors and traction control others said won't work without coding.

Patx did you ever get yours done?

Thanks!

No the tow bar would not deploy when the button was pushed.

Originally Posted by Dave_Cassidy1

Hi Jack

Could you give me the location / contact of Russell that sorted your towbar please? I'm having similar issues to you, I fitted the tow bar, everything seemed to connect up ok exactly as your installation but the things not working. Its been in a BMW main dealer for 3 days now and still not sorted. They think the control module is faulty but it was brand new and I think it's more likely to be a software compatibility issue like you say

Thanks

Dave

Iv put him incontact will see if he replys to this thread, he is not a coder in the sence he does it for a living.

[Shonky]

I'm in the process of working out the feasibility of this for a 320i LCI wagon. Rather than create a new thread, seems like a better idea to post here. This seems to be the most complete source of info.

The heat shield (plus brackets etc) referenced appears to only apply to the diesels in LCI. RealOEM says the shield applies to diesels only for F30 and F31 LCI. However does say it applies to 320i/328i/335i in non LCI form (ie N20/N55 engine instead of B48/B58):
https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/par...09&series=F31N
https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/par...309&series=F31

However the retrofit guide says "only for cars without N47 engine". It was written pre-LCI though so maybe that's the issue. Any ideas? Or how to get an newer version?

I realise this is a UK sub forum, but RealOEM indicates it can't be applied to a Australian delivered vehicle.

For vehicles with
National version Australia
L810A=No

Anyone have any idea what's that about? I've seen other posts about BMW Australia saying bike carriers are not allowed after fitting the tow bar at the dealer and advertising it in a brochure. Seems like a local law may be an issue more than anything.