I am installing ours tonight on our 2006 4.4l! Despite the write-ups I have been very confused and frustrated! Your video is finally shedding some much needed light on this project. many thanks!
Thanks, for a great educational video, I learnt a lot from your video to save me a ton of time on my install. I picked up my complete hitch for $300.00 CDN which is a great deal where I live. Pretty clean with maybe some surface corrosion on pick up. I was going to clean mine up and paint like you did. I took a better look after a washdown and it didn't even have surface rust on it. Tiny bit of surface rust on bumper support, that's it. I will fix that as you did. I will be a one man install as well, and I have my Home Depot pail waiting. Good tip, as I would have been running around the shop looking for something that height. Now I will be able to sell my jeep that I kept around for years to tow my boat 1/2 mile down the road to the boat launch twice a year. Have you pulled anything like a boat or trailer with yours, how is that? I have a 4.4L so I figured it will easily have enough power. Great Job again and Thank you. Kevin
RAD thank you very much for this video as I was somewhat confused what to do with the OEM support bar and had to go searching for this video just to find out I can throw it away :D Anyone else up for this job - take some time to adress rust issues. Once you have the whole assembly undone you'll have a lot of space to do some basic jobs. Take a dremel and sand down any spots you may discover. If they literally start dusting off orange/brownish you're in for the job. Go deep onto the metal, then clean it with isopropylene (grease remover that will evarporate itself) and finally use some rust converter that will isolate the bare metal and stop oxidation. Usually those things go dark violett or black once the reaction is done. Depending on your product wait the advertised time on the back label and then add some putty over it + paint or simply spray rubber (the black mass that stays soft for years and is basically what the manufacturer puts as undercarriage coating). As you are waiting for the chemicals to do their job you can continue doing prep work for the towbar. Once everything is done you can then put everything back and be happy that you just helped your car to stay on the road for a longer period of time. Also check both of your side boxes from the bottom. The one on the left is carrying the changer, DVD module etc. and the one on the right carries your fuses and maybe a subwoofer if you got the DSP option. In most cases they will be heavily rusted and if you hit the jackpot then you can punch from the outside into the inside with just your fingers. As bad as this is you gotta stay positive. It is a bodywork job that can be done regardless of the final look. Nobody is going to see it later. Just don't forget to check for metal conservation after this job is done (taking off the corrodet part and replacing it with a new one by welding it on). BTW if you are from Europe and you are by law required to have your tow bar + hitch registered in your cars paperwork then take a look before you start buying stuff. A lot of the E53 X5 do actually have the option already registered BUT the 1st owner DID NOT purchase the set. That means you can retrofit the OEM Westfalia tow bar without having to visit your local office and get it legally added into your paperwork. Because it already is. PS: BMW ETK says that all the M10 and torx screws are to be torqued up to 55Nm in case you need to know. Or search the internet for the "Westfalia Tow bar Installation and Operating Instructions" PDF (german original name "Anhängevorrichtung Montage- und Betriebsanleitung, Originalbetriebsanleitung") or Google this: "303 207 600 001 BMW X5 (E53), 2000 Siarr: 14-38" and it should point you to the right PDF that includes all the steps.
I did this job about 8 years ago on my 4.4i, and had to refresh my memory as I found a car with the stock hitch at the Pick N Pull and had a helluva time trying to get the bumper off, I gave up after 2 hours. Now I realized I totally forgot about those super long bolts and the fact that the bumper cover plastic and the crash bar came off as one unit. I was trying to take out the plastic rivets with the crash bar on the car, imagine that!!
Very much appreciate the detailed video! What do you think about modifying the existing fender’s crash bar to fit the hitch? I’ve got the oem hitch from an x5 in a yard, but the fender was already gone so I couldn’t get the insert…any thoughts on it before I start?
Great video, found an oem hitch at the junkyard today, going to get this week. $23 maybe a few bucks more for the modules. Way better then the $250 cheesy aftermarket hitches. Nice to know what tools to bring!
Follow up. Very easy job until I tried to reinstall the bumper support. The one at the junkyard was bent so I had to reuse mine. It required some major modifications. Many welds needed to be cut, and much metal removed. I wish I would have taken some pictures to help others. Rest assured it can be done!
@@tomneron2135 I bought mine used on eBay but didn't come with the crash bar, so I had to use an angle grinder to cut out the whole reinforcement plate and a little bit more cutout in the middle to make it fit...
Hey...is it ok to do all this without disconnecting the battery? I didn't see you do a hitch light test, but I presume this all worked fine with the battery still connected?
It took me awhile to find one. I searched craigslist, facebook marketplace and ebay for a couple months. Ended up finding one at a auto recycling shop in town. Keep searching!
I am installing ours tonight on our 2006 4.4l! Despite the write-ups I have been very confused and frustrated! Your video is finally shedding some much needed light on this project. many thanks!
I have the same vehicle. Do your door handles have issues?
Thanks, for a great educational video, I learnt a lot from your video to save me a ton of time on my install. I picked up my complete hitch for $300.00 CDN which is a great deal where I live. Pretty clean with maybe some surface corrosion on pick up. I was going to clean mine up and paint like you did. I took a better look after a washdown and it didn't even have surface rust on it. Tiny bit of surface rust on bumper support, that's it. I will fix that as you did. I will be a one man install as well, and I have my Home Depot pail waiting. Good tip, as I would have been running around the shop looking for something that height.
Now I will be able to sell my jeep that I kept around for years to tow my boat 1/2 mile down the road to the boat launch twice a year. Have you pulled anything like a boat or trailer with yours, how is that? I have a 4.4L so I figured it will easily have enough power. Great Job again and Thank you.
Kevin
RAD thank you very much for this video as I was somewhat confused what to do with the OEM support bar and had to go searching for this video just to find out I can throw it away :D
Anyone else up for this job - take some time to adress rust issues. Once you have the whole assembly undone you'll have a lot of space to do some basic jobs. Take a dremel and sand down any spots you may discover. If they literally start dusting off orange/brownish you're in for the job. Go deep onto the metal, then clean it with isopropylene (grease remover that will evarporate itself) and finally use some rust converter that will isolate the bare metal and stop oxidation. Usually those things go dark violett or black once the reaction is done. Depending on your product wait the advertised time on the back label and then add some putty over it + paint or simply spray rubber (the black mass that stays soft for years and is basically what the manufacturer puts as undercarriage coating). As you are waiting for the chemicals to do their job you can continue doing prep work for the towbar. Once everything is done you can then put everything back and be happy that you just helped your car to stay on the road for a longer period of time.
Also check both of your side boxes from the bottom. The one on the left is carrying the changer, DVD module etc. and the one on the right carries your fuses and maybe a subwoofer if you got the DSP option. In most cases they will be heavily rusted and if you hit the jackpot then you can punch from the outside into the inside with just your fingers. As bad as this is you gotta stay positive. It is a bodywork job that can be done regardless of the final look. Nobody is going to see it later. Just don't forget to check for metal conservation after this job is done (taking off the corrodet part and replacing it with a new one by welding it on).
BTW if you are from Europe and you are by law required to have your tow bar + hitch registered in your cars paperwork then take a look before you start buying stuff. A lot of the E53 X5 do actually have the option already registered BUT the 1st owner DID NOT purchase the set. That means you can retrofit the OEM Westfalia tow bar without having to visit your local office and get it legally added into your paperwork. Because it already is.
PS: BMW ETK says that all the M10 and torx screws are to be torqued up to 55Nm in case you need to know. Or search the internet for the "Westfalia Tow bar Installation and Operating Instructions" PDF (german original name "Anhängevorrichtung Montage- und Betriebsanleitung, Originalbetriebsanleitung") or Google this: "303 207 600 001 BMW X5 (E53), 2000 Siarr: 14-38" and it should point you to the right PDF that includes all the steps.
Brilliant walk through, made fitiing mine yesterday a doddle. and yes I fitted the Westfalia towbar which is clearly a supeerior piece of kit.
I did this job about 8 years ago on my 4.4i, and had to refresh my memory as I found a car with the stock hitch at the Pick N Pull and had a helluva time trying to get the bumper off, I gave up after 2 hours. Now I realized I totally forgot about those super long bolts and the fact that the bumper cover plastic and the crash bar came off as one unit. I was trying to take out the plastic rivets with the crash bar on the car, imagine that!!
Very much appreciate the detailed video! What do you think about modifying the existing fender’s crash bar to fit the hitch? I’ve got the oem hitch from an x5 in a yard, but the fender was already gone so I couldn’t get the insert…any thoughts on it before I start?
Great video, found an oem hitch at the junkyard today, going to get this week. $23 maybe a few bucks more for the modules. Way better then the $250 cheesy aftermarket hitches. Nice to know what tools to bring!
Follow up. Very easy job until I tried to reinstall the bumper support. The one at the junkyard was bent so I had to reuse mine. It required some major modifications. Many welds needed to be cut, and much metal removed. I wish I would have taken some pictures to help others. Rest assured it can be done!
@@tomneron2135 I bought mine used on eBay but didn't come with the crash bar, so I had to use an angle grinder to cut out the whole reinforcement plate and a little bit more cutout in the middle to make it fit...
Hey...is it ok to do all this without disconnecting the battery? I didn't see you do a hitch light test, but I presume this all worked fine with the battery still connected?
Great video mate very helpful indeed.
Hi iv just installed me hitch but iv no lights working is that wat the module is for to have the lights amd indicators working?
Is there any way to tell an OEM one from just looking at it before tearing it all apart
Where did you plug the harness in from the hitch itself?
Very informative video. I wouldn’t trust the aftermarket hitches for this car. And they look Awful with the support brace hanging low
Undercarriage protection. My Reese functions just fine.
Great video. Does the module need to be coded to the car?
It does not.
Awesome, but im looking for videos about a newer x5 e70
Where can I get those running boards?
Where can I buy one thats anOEM hitch I need one asap. Please let me know
It took me awhile to find one. I searched craigslist, facebook marketplace and ebay for a couple months. Ended up finding one at a auto recycling shop in town. Keep searching!
Lkq parts is your best option
احسنت 👍👍👍👍👍👍
Could you list the hardware needed to do this install