[lumpydog]

Originally Posted by Captain Gumbo

I do not recommend towing a boat this big with your X5. I only had to move it a few hundred yards from the ramp to the mechanic shop, and even that far was a harrowing experience.

You can tow a boat that big with a G05, all day long. Just not on that trailer. What's up with the trailer? It's way out of spec for the boat you're towing. The axles are too far back - super dangerous.

[Bimmelim]

Originally Posted by lumpydog

You can tow a boat that big with a G05, all day long. Just not on that trailer. What's up with the trailer? It's way out of spec for the boat you're towing. The axles are too far back - super dangerous.

What consumption do you guys get when towing caravans and boats of 3500-4000lbs.

I will pick up my 45e this week and tow a 4000lbs boat trailer next week.. driving home on a 300miles trip. Only 50mph top speed on the roads

[AxisF80]

Heading to the track!

[teefive]

Originally Posted by Bimmelim

What consumption do you guys get when towing caravans and boats of 3500-4000lbs.

I will pick up my 45e this week and tow a 4000lbs boat trailer next week.. driving home on a 300miles trip. Only 50mph top speed on the roads

On my 40i with a 3800lb Airstream and flat roads, I'm averaging about 15-17. Note, wind and hills play a major role. I was driving into a headwind and got 11. Always had plenty of power though.

[fidalgoisland]

Originally Posted by teefive

Towed my new Airstream 600 miles. It's about 3800lbs dry and the X5 did great. I'm using a Blue Ox WD hitch to level out the load.

What model Airstream? Thanks!

[moholland]

34 degrees this morning. So boat doesn't go in for another month or so... does this count for the in the meantime?

[teefive]

Originally Posted by fidalgoisland

What model Airstream? Thanks!

2021 Bambi 22FB

[Keny]

Got my toy hauler 2 months ago. The dry weight is only 3450 lbs and no problem for my 40i.

[larryn]

Spent the weekend getting things setup, packed and configured in the driveway, then spent a few hours doing parking practice before dropping it off at storage.

Thursday is first camping trip. Cannot wait!

[elp]

Originally Posted by larryn

Spent the weekend getting things setup, packed and configured in the driveway, then spent a few hours doing parking practice before dropping it off at storage.

Thursday is first camping trip. Cannot wait!

I think we have a very similar model of trailer on order and it is exact reason why we decided to upgrade to a X7 so we can tow it. What is the model of your trailer and how do you find it towing so far? Do you have a WDH and Sway control on it?

[larryn]

Originally Posted by elp

I think we have a very similar model of trailer on order and it is exact reason why we decided to upgrade to a X7 so we can tow it. What is the model of your trailer and how do you find it towing so far? Do you have a WDH and Sway control on it?

It's 2021 Surveyor 203RBLE, 4900lbs dry. I do have a WDH and sway control. We really only have driven about 120 miles with it so far, but pretty damn solid, even going through a very windy rain storm. It doesn't like 70mph, but 60-65 works really well.

The X5 is a 2021 45e, tow package, and that gives you damn big brake upgrade, air suspension, the tow bar and wiring for the trailer and the trailer setting in iDrive. That changes the sensors to allow getting close to the ball (and preventing the proximity sensor from constantly beeping), and puts the air suspension in trailer mode, to do pseudo weight distribution.

[elp]

Originally Posted by larryn

It's 2021 Surveyor 203RBLE, 4900lbs dry. I do have a WDH and sway control. We really only have driven about 120 miles with it so far, but pretty damn solid, even going through a very windy rain storm. It doesn't like 70mph, but 60-65 works really well.

The X5 is a 2021 45e, tow package, and that gives you damn big brake upgrade, air suspension, the tow bar and wiring for the trailer and the trailer setting in iDrive. That changes the sensors to allow getting close to the ball (and preventing the proximity sensor from constantly beeping), and puts the air suspension in trailer mode, to do pseudo weight distribution.

This is so great to hear! And I just now realize that you TV is a X5. I have been quite concerned that towing with an unibody vehicle might be too much of a stretch especially when loaded, so your situation really helps and gives me confidence. My trailer is a Surveyor Legend 19BHLE at ~4000lb dry, so it's a bit lighter than yours. Did you install a break controller? If so which one did you go with? Thanks.

[larryn]

Originally Posted by elp

This is so great to hear! And I just now realize that you TV is a X5. I have been quite concerned that towing with an unibody vehicle might be too much of a stretch especially when loaded, so your situation really helps and gives me confidence. My trailer is a Surveyor Legend 19BHLE at ~4000lb dry, so it's a bit lighter than yours. Did you install a break controller? If so which one did you go with? Thanks.

I have the wireless Curt controller with the optional BT button. Seems to work pretty good.

Congrats on the 19BHLE! We considered the 19, but wanted the second axel and the one we got has a gargantuan kitchen.

[bono]

Just to clarify, air suspension does not transfer weight like a weight distribution hitch does.

Originally Posted by larryn

It's 2021 Surveyor 203RBLE, 4900lbs dry. I do have a WDH and sway control. We really only have driven about 120 miles with it so far, but pretty damn solid, even going through a very windy rain storm. It doesn't like 70mph, but 60-65 works really well.

The X5 is a 2021 45e, tow package, and that gives you damn big brake upgrade, air suspension, the tow bar and wiring for the trailer and the trailer setting in iDrive. That changes the sensors to allow getting close to the ball (and preventing the proximity sensor from constantly beeping), and puts the air suspension in trailer mode, to do pseudo weight distribution.

[larryn]

Originally Posted by bono

Just to clarify, air suspension does not transfer weight like a weight distribution hitch does.

Yes, hence the word pseudo. Got a real WDH for the real thing. I might be wrong, but it certainly feels like it is adjusting front to back height on uphills and downhills, when the WDH is stagnant, once setup.

[jad03060]

Someone said, and I'd have to look for references, that the body of the X5 doesn't work well with a WDH system...under worst case situation, you might fracture the body as transferring load directly through the body outside of the normal suspension points puts loads where they are not designed.

The two axle air suspension will try to maintain proper vehicle heights, both front and rear, regardless of the load, as long as it's within the specified limits.

You not only have to take into account the load in the vehicle, but the total vehicle plus trailer weight, so even though you might be able to tow close to a 7K trailer, once you start to put people and luggage into the vehicle, it can be easy to overload the package.

[gofast182]

Originally Posted by Bimmelim

What consumption do you guys get when towing caravans and boats of 3500-4000lbs.

I will pick up my 45e this week and tow a 4000lbs boat trailer next week.. driving home on a 300miles trip. Only 50mph top speed on the roads

My rig is posted on the first page of the thread (G05+Trailex Aluminum Trailer+S2000) and weighs about 4000lbs which is similar to the one with the E46 on this page. Last weekend I got 13.5MPG towing from NJ to Watkins Glen NY into a headwind most of the time. On the way back to NJ with no headwind I got 15.2MPG. I tow 75-80MPH on open highway.

[larryn]

Originally Posted by jad03060

Someone said, and I'd have to look for references, that the body of the X5 doesn't work well with a WDH system...under worst case situation, you might fracture the body as transferring load directly through the body outside of the normal suspension points puts loads where they are not designed.

The two axle air suspension will try to maintain proper vehicle heights, both front and rear, regardless of the load, as long as it's within the specified limits.

You not only have to take into account the load in the vehicle, but the total vehicle plus trailer weight, so even though you might be able to tow close to a 7K trailer, once you start to put people and luggage into the vehicle, it can be easy to overload the package.

All good info we should all take into account, minus the "someone said" portion. It's always the same guy from the prior X5 generation who did not order the tow package and installed an aftermarket hitch and got notice of no WDH for that application. Wrong vehicle, wrong application, but he's adamant!

Regarding weight, you should hear the conversations my wife and I have regarding "how much does that weigh?" versus "isn't it cute?". I sent her a couple videos of death wobble, and I win! Always balance what weight you add in the trailer to keep tongue weight ratio consistent, and I never run with any full tanks on the highway, ever.

[elp]

@larryn curious if you know how much hitch weight did the WDH helped to reduce in your setup? I'm wondering in terms of the cargo capacity of your car, which I think are all very similar across all X5 and X7 models, at about 1200lb. So at that cargo capacity limit, your trailer (and not too much different from the one I'm expecting) is going to be at about ~500lb, with full tank of gas (~200lb), 4 passengers (~500lb), that puts it pretty much at capacity and not leaving anything else go into the trunk. Is this an issue for you?

[bono]

Payload is not that relevant for towing, in particular when using WDH. More relevant are axles and tires limits.

Another thing is that the yellow sticker on my e70 shows a generic 1100 lbs payload, where the real payload is almost 1400 lbs as measured at CAT scale. You can check correct payload data in German specs sheets. I recall that X5 with air suspension has 1600 or 1800 lbs payload.

My tongue weight is between 800-900 lbs. I fact I don't carry much in trunk when towing. Why would that be a problem? You have like 100 trucks capacity in the trailer that you are towing.

[elp]

Originally Posted by bono

Payload is not that relevant for towing, in particular when using WDH. More relevant are axles and tires limits.

Another thing is that the yellow sticker on my e70 shows a generic 1100 lbs payload, where the real payload is almost 1400 lbs as measured at CAT scale. You can check correct payload data in German specs sheets. I recall that X5 with air suspension has 1600 or 1800 lbs payload.

My tongue weight is between 800-900 lbs. I fact I don't carry much in trunk when towing. Why would that be a problem? You have like 100 trucks capacity in the trailer that you are towing.

Hmm, everywhere I read about towing says the gross capacity weight rating should not be exceeded and the tongue weight will count toward that number. The rear axle weight rating is interesting, is 1600-1800 number excluding the weight of the car? I always understood this as GCWR = GVWR - Curb Weight. This number often comes out to be higher than what the yellow sticker says, by ~600lb.

[bono]

Use GVWR, this is a firm number. Full tank of fuel, weight the car. Deduct the result from GVWR. This is payload.