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Tow bar locking fault
Posted: Mon Jul 21, 2014 8:26 pm
by allforus
Had a fault on the tow bar while towing this weekend electric tow bar came up with tow bar not locked do not tow contact dealers
Also it said slow carefully happened to be in second lane with the caravan on the back but of an eye opener stopped and checked all was well contacted the dealer
Then contacted BMW who sent a muppet who couldn't even read the fault codes not impressed
Checked the bar physically and said ok to go restarting the car cleared the fault
Just wondered if anybody else had a similar fault it's already had a complete new to bar assemble
Re: Tow bar locking fault
Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2014 9:57 pm
by catflap
Had a similar problem on previous car - X3 with electric folding tow-bar. I often left it extended and rarely folded it away, this caused the mechanism to partially sieze up on a few occasions and it would come up with a fault like you mentioned when trying to get it to move. The dealer just lubricated it and reset the fault - never had a real problem whilst towing. The one on our new X5 has been OK so far though it's a modified design (much better) compared with the one on the X3.
We took our caravan to north wales (300 miles round trip) and was well impressed with performance and stability even towing 1900kg Bit fed up that our towing mirrors wouldn't fit so bought the dedicated X5 ones from BMW, they fit & work great but what a price!

Re: Tow bar locking fault
Posted: Thu Jul 31, 2014 8:21 am
by allforus
I know what u mean about mirrors tried every set in the shop last weekend at caravan dealers and none fit properly
Guess I will have to splash out again
Re: Tow bar locking fault
Posted: Thu Jul 31, 2014 8:58 am
by catflap
[quote="allforus"]
I know what u mean about mirrors tried every set in the shop last weekend at caravan dealers and none fit properly
Guess I will have to splash out again
[/quote]
About £125 for a pair!
Re: Tow bar locking fault
Posted: Thu Jul 31, 2014 9:13 am
by allforus
Did you get them over the counter or did they have to order them in
Re: Tow bar locking fault
Posted: Thu Jul 31, 2014 9:31 am
by catflap
[quote="allforus"]
Did you get them over the counter or did they have to order them in
[/quote]
Part number is (comes as a pair):
51.16.2.354.903
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do ... fg=95&hl=3
£105 + VAT for the pair.
I had to order mine though they arrived the same day to the dealer.
Re: Tow bar locking fault
Posted: Thu Jul 31, 2014 6:45 pm
by allforus
Checked with dealer today and guess what not in stock only in Germany and May take awek to get here
Got one of my old rubber strapped ones that fit ok so that will do for this trip
To Wales
Re: Tow bar locking fault
Posted: Thu Jul 31, 2014 7:30 pm
by catflap
[quote="allforus"]
Checked with dealer today and guess what not in stock only in Germany and May take awek to get here
Got one of my old rubber strapped ones that fit ok so that will do for this trip
To Wales
[/quote]
That's typical!
Re: Tow bar locking fault
Posted: Thu Jul 31, 2014 7:53 pm
by kjb1
i use these and find then to be superb!! friend runs a caravan parts / storage business and recommended these! and they are excellent:
milenco:

Re: Tow bar locking fault
Posted: Thu Jul 31, 2014 8:57 pm
by allforus
Hi kjb I have one of those but it fouls the mirror glass as it's very tight at the top
Re: Tow bar locking fault
Posted: Thu Jul 31, 2014 8:59 pm
by kjb1
my grips are chamfered so don't have that problem, they are superb fit.
Re: Tow bar locking fault
Posted: Thu Jul 31, 2014 9:22 pm
by catflap
I've got a set of those mirrors but they won't fit my F15's mirror housings.
There's not enough clearance between the mirror glass and the housing even though the fittings are tapered towards the ends.
Re: Tow bar locking fault
Posted: Thu Jul 31, 2014 9:43 pm
by kjb1
that sucks !!
Re: Tow bar locking fault
Posted: Thu Jul 31, 2014 9:46 pm
by allforus
Yip that's what thought as well lol
Re: Tow bar locking fault
Posted: Thu Jul 31, 2014 10:25 pm
by kjb1