Fitting a Westfalia Removable Towbar to a BMW E61 535d M Sport 5 Series Touring

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Fitting a Westfalia Removable Towbar to a BMW E61 535d with M Sport Packet
Working on a more modern vehicle for a change; after deciding to sell my aging Mercedes I needed to find a suitable replacement. The BMW 535D seems to fit the role very well but as it had no tow bar fitted I needed to install one so I could tow the race car to and from the circuits.
I went with the full Westfalia kit as I liked the idea of a detachable tow neck that is fully hidden when removed from the car. With the Westfalia electric kit it can also disable the rear parking sensors and let the car know a trailer is attached. I find it holds the car in gear for a little longer making pulling away and getting up to speed easier and should stiffen the rear suspension too. With this in mind it does seem a far better option than a universal kit.
Fitting the actual tow bar was very straight forward. The electrics were a little bit more complicated, different versions of the car do have specific wiring, the kit suits them all you just have to find the connections for your car.
With any questions don’t hesitate to get in touch, the parts I used are as follows:
Westfalia 303460300107 7 Pin tow bar electrics specifically for the M Packet
Westfalia 303235600001 detachable tow bar specifically for the M Packet
BMW 51127897216 lower rear bumper insert/spoiler (does require painting to body colour)
BMW 51127897224 tow bar cover flap (does require painting to body colour)
BMW 51127896619 for the bumper insert/ trim panel with the correct cut out

Опубликовано:

13 сен 2024

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Комментарии : 35

@harjunLFS 3 года назад

Thank you for this video, it was very helpful. I installed mine in a similar fashion to yourself after getting a bit confused by the Westfalia hieroglyphics!

@davidrussellwilks 3 года назад

Yes, I felt they could have been a bit better!

@harjunLFS 3 года назад

@@davidrussellwilks overall how did you get on towing with the e61? I’ve only just got mine and plan to tow ~1.5T trailer/race car combo. My only concern is traction and pulling away on uphill/gravel/off-track type scenarios.

@davidrussellwilks 3 года назад

@@harjunLFS So far I’ve been absolutely delighted with how the E 61 tows, I’ve got the 535D version so it has plenty of torque. Quite a big step up from Mercedes W124 that I had previously. I’ve not tried it at all in any off road situations though, so I couldn’t really comment. The self-levelling array suspension does work very well, you might find the trailer helps load up the back wheels a bit to give you a bit more grip?

@harjunLFS 3 года назад

@@davidrussellwilks awesome, mine is an lci 535d too, so that’s reassuring! Yes I imagine it’s a huge step up in grunt from a w124! Thanks again.

@tonyreeve6681 3 года назад

Excellent video David & a nice car too! I will be using this to fit a tow bar to my 05 535D E61. Thank you!

@davidrussellwilks 3 года назад

Many thanks Tony, hope all goes well with the fit. Are you going for the Westfalia one or something different?

@nathanmoore9113 3 года назад

Can You please make a video on all the modification's on the MGB and just a walk-around? Thanks.

@davidrussellwilks 3 года назад

Thanks for your message, if I get some good weather I'm going to do a brief walk-around of the MGB and go over some of the modifications for a 2000 subscriber special. I've started making a video on the history of the MGB, I don't think that will be ready before Christmas though.

@nathanmoore9113 3 года назад

@@davidrussellwilks sounds good can't wait to watch it.but any info on the MGB would be great because I'm looking to go buy a MGB myself.

@davidrussellwilks 3 года назад

@@nathanmoore9113 You'll find the video here ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-gplffmow_9g.html&lc=Ugxt49OrrLfXN69r-HV4AaABAg

@MrByootox Год назад

A good and clear video on how to do this fella 😊, one small question... is your original screw in towing hook in the boot as well ?

@davidrussellwilks Год назад

Thanks for your message, the screw in towing eye usually lives in the tool set (with the screwdriver and pliers).

@MrByootox Год назад

@@davidrussellwilks I run a 61 as well but haven't found mine, I'll assume it's been lost before I got it then.

@catafataceanoficial6359 3 года назад

Hey David I’m about to install the same tow bar from westfalia on my E60 LCI and I have a problem...I don’t know what to do with the orange cable... what did u do with it? It’s supposed to connect to a green/grey cable ! You’re saying that u may have a black/ yellow cable or a green/grey for the stoplight! Not true... the black/yellow is for the stoplight and the orange one is for green/grey ! This cable has power on it only wenn you put the key in the ignition! But I can’t find it! Please help me! Thanx and have a merry Christmas 🎄

@davidrussellwilks 3 года назад

I think the orange wire is used if you don't have the parking sensors on your car. My car has the sensors so I didn't connect the orange wire at all. You are correct, green/grey is for ignition live, and this is what the orange would connect to if you don't have parking sensors. I misread the instructions for the two sets of wiring in the video.

@catafataceanoficial6359 3 года назад

@@davidrussellwilks thx for taking the time to answer! I also have PDC but I noticed that u installed the 7 pol kit ...I have the 13 pol! So u didn’t connect the orange wire ? And everything works fine? Thx again! Merry Christmas

@davidrussellwilks 3 года назад

Yes, that's correct, I left the orange wire disconnected.

@dano203 5 месяцев назад

hey. thanks for the video. when you have a tow bar attached and not towing, does the parking sensor pick it up?

@davidrussellwilks 4 месяца назад

No, I think it's low enough to avoid the sensor. The sensors do turn off automatically once a trailer is attached though.

@dano203 4 месяца назад

@@davidrussellwilks Hey, thanks for the response. I can confirm that E61 with an M sport bumper doesn't pick up the tow bar attached on the parking sensors.... and as you said, with vehicle dedicated wiring loom it turns sensors off when the trailer is attached...

@frankmcshane94 Год назад

Hi David were did get parts to complete rear bumper video was great very helpful cheers.

@davidrussellwilks Год назад

Thanks for your message Frank, the parts came from different sellers on eBay BMW 51127897216 lower rear bumper insert/spoiler (does require painting to body colour) BMW 51127897224 tow bar cover flap (does require painting to body colour) BMW 51127896619 for the bumper insert/ trim panel with the correct cut out

@frankmcshane94 Год назад

thank you

@ocracing6102 2 года назад

Carefully studying this video, makes so much more sense than the woeful westfalia instructions. Does the bl/ye wire for the brake lights have an ignition live? Or is it only live when the brake pedal is pressed? Cheers

@davidrussellwilks 2 года назад

I'm afraid I don't know, I tested the wire with the ignition on to make sure it was the brake light

@BoyanSemerdzhiev 3 года назад

Hey David and thanks for posting this video, it has been very helpful! You reckon the rear diffuser would also accommodate the electric swiveling tow bar hitch? I'm looking into buying the complete M Sport pack for my E61, but I'm also using the tow hitch actively and that question is the only thing that is holding me back for now.

@davidrussellwilks 3 года назад

I'm really not sure on this, from what I can tell the electric tow bar does look quite a lot larger than the detachable one. There's no reason you couldn't modify the diffuser to suit but I don't think the gap in the bumper insert is enough to allow the towbar out. It might be worth a search on realoem.com to see what might work?

@simonthompson8129 Год назад

Hey David, can you point me in the direction of the electrical tester you had?

@davidrussellwilks Год назад

Thanks for your message Simon, I was using the Facom 705 toolsense.co.uk/facom-705-automotive-voltage-tester.html

@MassaF109 2 года назад

Do you know if there is an adapter for a square receiver to use a bike rack?

@davidrussellwilks 2 года назад

Thanks for your message, I don't know of anything unfortunately

@KawaFan01 Год назад

Hi! Can you tell me whats the length of the 8 bolts?

@davidrussellwilks Год назад

Sorry, I can't remember.

@AlisterMcConville 11 месяцев назад

M10 x 25. In my opinion x8 M10 bolts into just the rear panel don't seem very substantial to be pulling 2-2200kg. I modified mine by welding two round steel sections onto the tow bar frame, that fit up the chassis rails, and treaded with 3 additional m10 bolts on each clamping them into the chassis rails.