Towing with a car?

[jhnmdahl]

So this Stealth Hitch company https://stealthhitches.com/products/bmw-hitch-shr31009

claims you can tow 6000 lbs with a BMW 5 series and their hitch. I was looking at an X5, but now I’m wondering how much difference there really is between a 5 series sedan and SUV. It would be the the same power train and structure, inline 6 cylinder, all wheel drive, either way, but it just feels wrong to tow even my 210 with a car. Anybody have any insights?

John

[Titaniumboy]

No insights, but from a historical perspective cars used to tow boats all the time.

[Tuscany]

More importantly than towing capability to me, is braking power. That’s why I use a truck.

[AsLan7]

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So true T.

With advances in power plants, most modern car engines have the torque to tow. Hook up a third class hitch to the frame and she’ll pull well.

To me there are two larger concerns.
1. Can she stop. Our SUV has massive brakes.
2. Will she have the traction to tow especially at a slippery or steep boat ramp. That’s when AWD or 4WD keeps you from being “ that guy” on YouTube who, to quote Paul Simon, keeps you from slip sliding away. At least make sure it’s an X drive if you go that route.

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[Snowman8]

No insights, but from a historical perspective cars used to tow boats all the time.

You are correct but back then cars had full frames and weighed as much as a the new trucks. Most or all of them had heavy V8 big block on the front axel too.

[jhnmdahl]

Thanks guys. An X5 comes in around 5,000 lbs, while a 5 series is around 4,000 lbs. An F150 can weight 4000 lbs with a V6 and short bed, but it still makes me wonder if it's big enough. Brakes are fine (also comparable to an F150), but as Aslan says will I wish I had another thousand pounds above the wheels for traction? With brakes, powertrain, etc. being very close to the same, vehicle weight is the thing I can't get past.

[johnehr]

It worry about destroying the transmission or ending up as a boat ramp champ if you ever forget the e-brake. I wouldn’t do it.

[billk2632]

I used to occasionally tow my SeaRay 185 (18ft, 2800lbs dry) with my wife's Lexus RX330. The Lexus had a towing package rated at 3500lbs - I was right on the edge of that and it was a white knuckle experience -- I never towed very far, a few miles to the ramp a couple times a year - pulling the boat up the ramp felt like something was going to break every time. The few times I towed any distance I rented a truck (local Toyota dealer rents cars/trucks). The difference towing with a Tundra vs the Lexus was night and day. Now regarding cars, back in the day we towed all of our boats - Correct Craft ski boats - with my father's Buick Centurian - that was a big car, on a real chassis, 400ci motor - towed like a beast. Cars and even SUV's are just not built that way today. A smaller SUV or even a car might be ok for limited short distances, but if you are towing anything of any size on a regular basis, you need a bigger SUV or a truck. I think you would be handing your transmission a short life on a BMW. Heck, I even start to question the newest trucks ability to two big loads - hate the trend toward turbo charged V6's over a good old V8 - a V6 twin turbo yadada looks good on paper and performs good until you hitch up 5,000lbs to it every week and expect it to last 150,000 miles. Would you want that motor in your Cobalt to replace your 350hp V8? I mean it develops the same maybe more HP, it should be great right? There is an old saying "there is no replacement for displacement".
The good news is I don't tow anything these days - I send a text and like magic my boat comes out of a building and into the water!
That's just this old guy's opinion.

[VTENGR]

This brings up a good point RE towing capacity. If an automaker list a towing capacity of 5,000#, surely that's not just the structural limit of what the car and engine can handle - it must take braking, transmission, etc also in consideration.

The X5 for example get's a higher towing capacity if you opt for the factory installed hitch. The only changes in the car are slightly larger brakes and the wiring for the hitch. Engine, transmission, oil cooler, etc are all the same. So BMW accounts for braking in their towing capacity.

I can only imagine the lawsuit that would happen if X automaker says your car can tow 5,000#, but we didn't say it could stop 5,000#. The NHSTA would put a stop to that very quickly.

[sailor55330]

Guys-

Figuring out what a vehicle can tow is not really a crystal ball experience. There is a governing body that actually has defined tests and standards for a vehicle and it's ratings. Here's a good article:

https://www.motortrend.com/how-to/1502- ... -standard/


Now, this is strictly based on mechanical ability, not feel or comfort, but it at leasts helps identify what the vehicle must do. This took away all of the hyped up towing....for example, my vehicle was rated for 9100 lbs towing prior to J8207....TOyota adopted it early and with no changes to the drive train, the lowered the ratings to 7400.

What you must decide is how close the limits and what level of "pucker" you are comfortable with.

THought it might be an interesting read.

[jhnmdahl]

Our tow vehicle was a Touareg, which is heavier than a 5 series but lighter than an X5, and also a six cylinder. I don't think I would have any hesitation in an X5 at all, but knowing the same powertrain is available in a sedan with great brakes and is rated to tow 6k had me scratching my head a bit.

Reading J8207, it makes me wonder if stealth hitch actually did the tests dictated in the standard to say a 5 series can tow 6000 lbs?

[Big Block Power]

Reading J8207, it makes me wonder if stealth hitch actually did the tests dictated in the standard to say a 5 series can tow 6000 lbs?

Why can't I see that hitch?

[AsLan7]

Reading J8207, it makes me wonder if stealth hitch actually did the tests dictated in the standard to say a 5 series can tow 6000 lbs?

Why can't I see that hitch?

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Maybe we can incorporate that into the Invisible Boat thread.
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[Canterbury]

Brakes will not be an issue. A BMW 5 series brakes will stop all day long from triple digit speeds without fading, that is what they are designed for. An X5 probably has the same size, or smaller, brakes and it is carrying more vehicle weight to begin with. The towing capacity is based upon a lot of factors related to the structure, transmission, cooling, engine, brakes, etc and these are established by the mfg. As previously stated, they are avoiding lawsuits.

I have had many a discussion over the years about ONLY towing with a full size pickup and the number one reason I hear? They have better brakes. No such thing as magic brakes, they are nothing but big heat sinks that need proper cooling, no way to flip a switch and increase the capacity. The more mass involved, the more heat going into the rotors and other components that needs to be released away. If truck brakes actually DID HAVE magic brakes, Formula 1 teams would steal the F150 engineers to work on their race cars.

If the towing limit for a 5 series sedan (or better yet, the wagon) is 6,000, I will be looking into one tomorrow.

[johnehr]

I have a ford expedition and feel like none of us are experts. The gear ratio on my car is not updated for heavy duty towing (which I regret whenever I tow) and I know I am wearing out my transmission with way more stress when towing >4k pounds. I have a lift and 35” tires which makes it worse. Tow packages on my car had a lot of upgrades that I wish I had (cooler, gear ratio, suspension, and on and on). If you tow something with a vehicle that is not rating to tow the weight, it better be a car and set of passengers you don’t care about. If you just need to get around the neighborhood with a light boat and tow once or twice a year, then the gamble is small.