Fitting a Towbar |
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Andrew Rolland
Moderator Group Go away rain Joined: 19-August-2004 Location: Scotland Status: Offline Points: 6579 |
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Posted: 22-February-2009 at 18:28 |
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Some good tips there Alan, soldering will give a much better connection than any scotch blocks. Glad I could help you out. Saying that, my dad is just about to buy a new caravan which now comes with a 13 pin plug, which means the car needs to have a single 13 pin socket. With the type of towbar we have you would struggle to install two sockets on the flip mounting for both 12N and 12S sockets. With a single 13 pin socket you get both 12N and 12S electrics in one single socket. Any other questions, do not hesitate to ask. Andrew |
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Alan330ci
Advanced Newbie Joined: 01-February-2007 Location: Falkirk Status: Offline Points: 33 |
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Well that's the towbar electrics finally fitted, took me over 4 hours in the end but it was better taking my time rather than rushing it.
I done as you advised and took the 12v supply from the battery in the end but as I dont want the bypass relay live 24/7 I have wired it via a 30 amp relay with a switch in the boot to turn it off and on so I can have parking lights on the trailer when connected but turn off the bypass relay when I wont be towing. I didnt use the scotchlocks in the end, i ended up dismantling the connectors one wire at a time and soldering the feedwire on to the spade connectors as you get a better connection and if removed in future will leave little visable evidence. Thanks for all your help and advise Andrew, made my life a lot easier when fitting everything. |
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Andrew Rolland
Moderator Group Go away rain Joined: 19-August-2004 Location: Scotland Status: Offline Points: 6579 |
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The power socket in the boot might not be man enough. It would need to be fused with at least 15 amps to cope with the power. You need the bypass relay to be live 24/7 so that parking lights will work etc. If the power socket in the boot is only live when the ignition is on, you aren't using the correct thing to power the bypass relay. If the battery is in the boot, use it directly with a fuse. It prevents overloading other circuits.
I used the red scotchblock connectors from Halfrauds. The blue ones from Halfrauds are too big for the BMW wiring. Keep the questions coming. Andrew |
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Current '13 62 F10 535i MSport Auto Previous '04 04 E60 545i SE Auto '03 53 E60 545i SE Auto (Stolen) '98 S E39 523i SE Auto |
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Alan330ci
Advanced Newbie Joined: 01-February-2007 Location: Falkirk Status: Offline Points: 33 |
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Hi Andrew
Thank you for this info, my car has different colours but the same amount of wires going to each light so you have answered one of my outstanding queries on if the car had common wires feeding the same bulb. I will now check each wire with a multi meter on Saturday to track down which one is for what light with the help of my glamorous assistant (my wife) then wire it up. Already started on making the loom and just need some more bits from Halfords to do the power side as im going to use the power socket in my boot as the switched 12v feed as i dont want the relay being live all the time. Just one more question did you use Scotchlocks or something else when connecting to the tail lamps? |
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Andrew Rolland
Moderator Group Go away rain Joined: 19-August-2004 Location: Scotland Status: Offline Points: 6579 |
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Alan Wiring colours from my 5 Series. The pin numbers are the number marked on the wiring loom plug that plugs on to the back of the bulb holder. Nearside Earth, Pin 1, Brown Fog, Pin 2, Yellow/Black Reverse, Pin 3, White/Yellow Brake, Pin 4, Grey/Green Indicator, Pin 5, Blue/Brown Tail, Pin 6, Black/Red
Offside Tail, Pin 6, Black/Brown Indicator, Pin 5, Blue/Brown Brake, Pin 4, White/Brown Reverse, Pin 3, Yellow/White Fog, Pin 2, Yellow/Red Earth, Pin 1, Brown.
Standard Notation and colours for a 12N socket Nearside Indicator, Pin 1 (L), Yellow Fog, Pin 2 (54g), Blue Earth, Pin 3 (31), White Offside Indicator, Pin 4 (R), Green Offside Tail, Pin 5 (58r), Brown Brake, Pin 6 (54), Red Nearside Tail, Pin 7 (58L), Black. I linked the bypass relay to the relevant wires above using small gauge wiring that I use on my model railway layout. I had wire that matched the standard colours. For example the nearside indicator has a length of yellow wire linking the blue/brown wire on the car to the bypass relay. This then matches the yellow wire that then goes to the 12N socket. HTH Andrew |
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Be exclusive and drive a Petrol 5 Series!
Current '13 62 F10 535i MSport Auto Previous '04 04 E60 545i SE Auto '03 53 E60 545i SE Auto (Stolen) '98 S E39 523i SE Auto |
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Andrew Rolland
Moderator Group Go away rain Joined: 19-August-2004 Location: Scotland Status: Offline Points: 6579 |
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I did write them down but they are in a note book in my office so no access till tomorrow. What I did to trace the wire colour was remove the light bulb holder from the back of the light cluster. You are now looking at all the bulbs and a maze of silver strips that take the power from the connector to each bulb. I then switched on one light at a time and traced each silver strip back to the connector. From the connector I could then identify which wire went to which pin on the connector and hence wire colour to tap into for the towbar wiring. It is this 'tapping wire' that then goes to your bypass relay. Of course 1 Series wiring may be a different colour to 5 Series wiring. Till tomorrow. Andrew |
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Be exclusive and drive a Petrol 5 Series!
Current '13 62 F10 535i MSport Auto Previous '04 04 E60 545i SE Auto '03 53 E60 545i SE Auto (Stolen) '98 S E39 523i SE Auto |
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Alan330ci
Advanced Newbie Joined: 01-February-2007 Location: Falkirk Status: Offline Points: 33 |
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Hi Andrew
Quick question for you you wouldnt happen to have a note of the BMW wire colours for what light as I am struggling to find this out as i want a general idea before I start checking with the multi meter. Alan |
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Andrew Rolland
Moderator Group Go away rain Joined: 19-August-2004 Location: Scotland Status: Offline Points: 6579 |
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Sounds about right, 4-5 hours time. The bumper is the worst bit!
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Current '13 62 F10 535i MSport Auto Previous '04 04 E60 545i SE Auto '03 53 E60 545i SE Auto (Stolen) '98 S E39 523i SE Auto |
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Alan330ci
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Well that's all the metal work fitted today, took 4 - 5 hours to get the bumper off, and the towbar fitted and the bumper back on.
Just need to do the electrics over the next few weeks and then its all go for the 1st camping trip of the year at easter. |
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Alan330ci
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Dont know about the turbo sorted bit as I have already had a new actuator fitted and a few diffrent software updates to sort our various issues. I may see you on the 15th as I will hopefully have the bar on the car and just the wiring to do then. Alan
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Andrew Rolland
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That is a pretty good price! I suppose the bar for your 1er will be smaller and lighter (which wouldn't be chuffin' difficult) than the one for my 5. I doubt that much will go wrong with it. I wouldn't use the Auto Stop Start that just seems wrong to me but I would be fairly sure that BMW have ironed out the turbo problems by now that wounded reliability on the E46 and E39 oil burners. Just bear in mind my offer to show you the wiring loom at the rolling road day. Any questions, just ask. All the best with fitting it. Andrew |
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Current '13 62 F10 535i MSport Auto Previous '04 04 E60 545i SE Auto '03 53 E60 545i SE Auto (Stolen) '98 S E39 523i SE Auto |
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Alan330ci
Advanced Newbie Joined: 01-February-2007 Location: Falkirk Status: Offline Points: 33 |
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Well I finally got round to ordering the Westfaila removable bar, 12 N socket and Bypass relay today.
Came to £223 for the lot so not too bad and a lot cheaper than the Stealer in Stirlingshire. Wont be another 1 series for me, 3 Series Coupe or Touring next as there will be 3 of us soon and I really could do with something bigger. Dont trust keeping it past 3 years with the Auto Start Stop, turbo and all the other goodies that could go wrong once warranty is up |
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Andrew Rolland
Moderator Group Go away rain Joined: 19-August-2004 Location: Scotland Status: Offline Points: 6579 |
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Hi Alan Mibbie worth bearing in mind the cost of the towbar if you are going to replace the car in 18 months unless of course you are going to buy another 1 Series. Although a 4 year old 1 Series shouldn't pose any problems I wouldn't have thought. I was prepared to pay for a Westfalia bar as I don't plan to change the car for a number of years. Towbars direct were certainly very good. The straight away recommended the Westfalia removable bar for my car. They even told me the the sales rep from Witter said the the Westfalia removable towbars were the best! Let me know how you get on. Andrew |
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Current '13 62 F10 535i MSport Auto Previous '04 04 E60 545i SE Auto '03 53 E60 545i SE Auto (Stolen) '98 S E39 523i SE Auto |
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Alan330ci
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Thanks Andrew i will read through it later on.
It was towbars direct who quoted me for the Westfalia bar and who i will most likley ordering from as he sounded very knowledgeable. As for the 13 pin socket im not bothered about it as im only planning on towing my trailer tent and the car will be replaced in the next 18 months or so before it's 4 years old. |
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Andrew Rolland
Moderator Group Go away rain Joined: 19-August-2004 Location: Scotland Status: Offline Points: 6579 |
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You're very welcome Alan. I got my towbar from these guys £10 for next day delivery I think. http://www.towbarsdirect.co.uk/ and I spent a bit of time reading this guys website. http://www.rydertowing.co.uk/default.htm Also have a read of this http://www.rydertowing.co.uk/downloads/pdf_checklists/Practi cal%20Guide.pdf Something to bear in mind for the future. All caravans from 2009 onwards will come with a 13 pin plug and not a 12N and 12S plugs. Will probably only be a matter of time before trailer manufacturers start putting 13 pin plugs on their trailers, purely to be compatible with caravans. I might be able to make it to the March meet which will be a couple of weeks before Bonnybridge. If you need to know anything else, just ask. Andrew |
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Be exclusive and drive a Petrol 5 Series!
Current '13 62 F10 535i MSport Auto Previous '04 04 E60 545i SE Auto '03 53 E60 545i SE Auto (Stolen) '98 S E39 523i SE Auto |
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Alan330ci
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Thanks Andrew, Fantastic amount of info there.
Think I will go for the Westfalia detachable bar, and probably the bypass relay as i dont think i fancy fitting the BMW kit as it is 13 pin and i only need 7 pin. If I have not fitted one by the 15th March I may see you at Bonnybridge. |
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Andrew Rolland
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Alan Me! Not many of us tow with the BMW's on here. Mine certainly makes a great tug. Hauling a caravan up the M74 inclines overtaking cars was nae bother. I've fitted a Westfalia detachable bar to my E60 and a home made wiring loom. I was quoted a mind bending £1200 for the job from Harry Fairbairns! The OEM bar is Westfalia anyway except mine cost about £250 inc VAT and not the £300 exc VAT the dealer wanted for the bar alone. All in all it cost me just under £300 by the time I paid for a few bits and bobs. I fitted it myself in less time I reckon HF had allowed for! The most difficult job was removing the piggin' bumper! What I did was by a bypass relay from Ryder Towing which was supplied by the company I bought the towbar from for about £20. I bought a length of 7 core cable and a black socket 12N from Halfrauds and made myself a home made wiring kit. The lights in your BMW flash. They are not on all the time but flash faster than the naked eye can detect but to you and me they appear on. The ECU sends pulses of power thru the wires to the bulbs. This means BMW can fit thinner wiring and save £2 of copper on each car which adds up when you make a few cars a year. When you add additional lights, i.e. when towing a trailer to these 'pulsing' systems it can upset the cars electrical system. To get round the BMW's wiring system you need to fit a bypass relay. It works by receiving a signal from the wire that supplies each rear light. Once a signal is received it then switches on a 12V supply from the battery which then sends the power down the 7 core cable to the socket and then into your trailer lights. The bypass relay only draws a few milliamps more from the cars circuits so the car does not detect the extra load as this will be within tolerances. A 21W bulb from one manufacturer will draw more current that a 21W bulb from another, so there has to be 'give' in the system. Using a bypass relay means the cars bulb failure system is unafected by the trailer lights. The bypass relay connects to the cars wiring system at each rear light cluster. You tap into each relevant wire using a red piggy back connector (Halfrauds again, the blue ones that you get with the 7 core cable are too big) one at a time and take a wire back to the bypas relay which is mounted in the boot. The bypass relay requires a fused 12v feed. I took this from the back of the fuse box which is mounted in the boot of my E60 just above the battery. You then connect the 7 core cable to the 12N socket, pass thru the boot floor using a rubber gromit and then wire the 7 cores into the relevant connection on the bypass relay. I removed part #6 from my car and repalced it with part #7 which required a further bit of filing and cutting to fit with the towbar. It means I can replace the original part when I do come to sell it in many years to come. Parts #2 (same page as link above) get removed and the towbar replaces the need for this and part #1 then gets bolted to your towbar. I would imagine the 1 Series will not be too different. Go on the Westfalia website and you will be able to download the towbar fitting instructions. I spent a bit of time Googling towbar wiring (I don't have the links on this PC sorry) and got my head round it that way plus I had a genuine Ford Mondeo towbar wiring loom (which cost my dad about £120) to figure out how a bypass relay would work with all the connections to each light and then onto the socket. The wiring loom that BMW would fit essentially consists of a plug and play system which will include connectors to connect directly into the cars wiring loom at each light cluster and will have a built in bypass relay but it costs a chuffin' fortune. I built my own equivalent loom for about £40. I'm going to the Rolling Road day on 15th March in Bonnybridge, if you come along I'll happily show you the wiring loom I made up which is installed and works like a charm in the boot of my E60. Let me know what you think. Andrew
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Current '13 62 F10 535i MSport Auto Previous '04 04 E60 545i SE Auto '03 53 E60 545i SE Auto (Stolen) '98 S E39 523i SE Auto |
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Alan330ci
Advanced Newbie Joined: 01-February-2007 Location: Falkirk Status: Offline Points: 33 |
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Hi
Im hoping someone might be able to give me a bit of advice and point me in the right direction. My wife and I are campers and with a little one on the way and a small car in my 120d M Sport we have bought ourselves a trailer tent so we no longer need to fill the car with camping gear. Now all the central scotland BMW dealers are quoting between £800 - £1,000 to fit a detachable towbar and 12N single electrics. Tried a couple of independent places but one didn't seem too keen on new BMW's due to the Canbus wiring. So after a bit of investigation I have found out that I can buy a Westfalia detachable towbar for £190 and either buy a bypass relay £30 ish or a BMW specific wiring kit at £120ish. Does anyone on here have any experience of doing electrics on a modern BM and can provide a bit of info in regard to what is the best way forward? Thanks in advance Alan |
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