BMW X5 as TV?

Would a BMW X5, 3.0 with manual transmission be big enought to tow a 2027sl? According to the towing specs it can haul 6000#, but it seems from reading this board there are other considerations to take into account.

Thanks for you input.

Pat

The owners manual says it's good for 6000# if the trailer has brakes, 1650# without trailer brakes. I was just concerned because of all the posts about insufficient capacity or barely sufficient capacity. If we get one, we plan to take it out west for 8-9 weeks and I didn't want to wreck my car or the trailer. We camped in a tent last year for 9 weeks, and thought this year we'ld try it again in better style!

I've since read on a bimmer board that one guy routinely tows an airstream and another tows a car with the same model as ours. So it does look as if it will be ok.

I was just looking for a little reassurance, that I was getting the facts straight.

Pat

[Bill]

"Out west" covers a lot of territory. Do you have some specific destinations or routes in mind? I-70 through Denver woldn't bother me much. I-70 through the Eisenhower Tunnel, just a few miles west, would terrify me.

Bill

Bill;

We haven't decided on our route this year. Last year we basically did Rt 66 to Ca (with stops at GC and Sante Fe), north to SF, Yosemite, Jackson Hole/Tetons, Glacier, Badlands, Oshkosh (Eaa Flyin), back to Stl. (In a Costco tent ).

We missed all of Colorado, Utah, Oregon, Wa. That's what we want to pick up this year, and go back to Yosemite and Glacier if we can. I would not take the trailer on the Going to the Sun highway. We would park it on one side or the other and just drive our SAV. I know nothing of the Eisenhower Tunnel!! Is this a really scary thing?

Texas camper;

search, using the word "eisenhower"

Done

Thanks for the warning Bill.

Pat

[rickst29]

for their brake controllers. Every brake controller in the 2006 catalog says "Note: Not recommended for use with BMW X5 Sports Utility Vehicles". I can't imagine why they say this... about the only things I can think of are (a) somehow, Beemer has made it IMPOSSIBLE to make those 4 wiring connections. Or (2) if Beemer's brakes are wired backwards (hot versus cold) from everyone else's, then it would probably blow up the BC electronics the first time you touch it. But in these days of widely standardized and subcontracted parts, I'd be amazed if BMW didn't do their brake systems more or less the same as everyone else's.

(Once, I had an Italian Death Cart^h^h^h^hSports Car with "backwards" wiring for everything. When I left it out in the rain, sometimes the lights would go on "all by themselves" and run the battery down. And when someone saw how I was gonna attach their jumper cables, they usually FREAKED OUT. "You're pu-pu-putting the gu-gr-gu-ground wire goes WHERE?!?!?!?" But maybe it never rained in Italy, back then...)

You've obviously capable of configuring for adequate towing weight capacity. But, because a good brake controller is CRITICAL to avoid all the things you're afraid of, and the Prodigy (Tekonsha "Prodigy" == Draw-Tite "Intela-Stop Ultra") is perhaps the most highly regarded of all BCs among the posters in this Forum, I suggest checking into this possible issue immediately.