Quote:
Originally Posted by JonnyCrash
My guess — and this is only supposition— is that they removed it to prevent any liability from someone opening the tailgate while trying to remove a bicycle from a trailer-hitch mounted bicycle rack or similar. It would be quite easy to accidentally activate the sensor when unhooking something from a hitch-mounted rack.
I believe the UK has a ball-hitch as standard, and therefore would not accept the same kind of North American hitch accessories, thus making that issue moot. I may well be mistaken though.
Whatever the reason, I’m sure BMW felt it was a good one: it certainly wouldn’t affect the cost to them to have kept it, which forces me to believe that it was a deliberate choice based on solid reasoning.
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Sorry, don't buy either of those arguments at all. The NA package already disables lots of systems when towing, it would have been trivial to have a sensor to indicate something is inserted into the receiver to prevent auto opening functions. And as is, there are still plenty of ways to open your hatch from the car or remote into your bike rack. There are a ridiculous amount of sensors already in the car, one more would have made no difference.
No, this was obviously an afterthought-style incompetence, where the guy designing placement of the kick sensors forgot about towing and the guy designing the NA tow package afterwards either didn't care or was under a deadline to "just get it done". Not end of the world, but not letting BMW off the hook on this one.