Trailering a 540 - safest place to tie down?

[cact34r]

Hi - I'm new to the forum and have searched for this topic but can't find what I'm looking for. I just bought an 03 540i and will be trailering it home on a flatbed trailer. Can anyone tell me the best attachment points on the car to secure it? Typically I chain down so that the front and back corners are pulling against each other, but I want to make sure I hook safe places under the car.

Thanks in advance.

[mattmartindrift]

what sort of trailer?

uhaul and the like use wheel/tire straps which is nearly perfect otherwise you may want to use the tow hook spots which are on the RF and LR if i remember correctly.

[cact34r]

It's my own trailer - a steel deck flatbed with ramps and a front stop bar and rails around the edges for tie downs.

[Qsilver7]

Although the owners manual does NOT give instructions on where to tie down the vehicle...it DOES explicitly say not to LASH any of the suspension components under the car.

If you have nylon straps...I would run the straps thru the wheels...then back to the tie down points on your trailer. If you only have chains...then I'd carefully wrap the chains where they'd contact the wheels so as not to scratch them etc.

Take note of the text highlighted in YELLOW:

http://www.bimmerboard.com/members/q/original/Towing%20Tie%20Down%20Straps%20E39.jpg

[Mark@EAC]

use straps through the spokes of the wheels is possible. If not, you will have to get creative. I once trailered an e39 from connecticut , and it had no bumper covers so I just used the inner metal bumpers to wrap the chains, worked perfectly.

[f355spider]

Use the wheels as mentioned by Mark. Wrap the straps each with a clean towel to minimize scratches or marks to the wheel paint.

[cact34r]

Thank you all - that is really some helpful information. I look forward to being part of this forum.

[mmm635]

Let me go ahead and add another alternative. In the pic below you will see a T-hook in place of the jack pad. You simply remove the jack pad and the T-hook goes in it's place. Then you can use straps or chains and mount them in a criss-cross manner.

I ordered them through a vendor on E-bay and I keep the set in my trunk/spare wheel well in case my car ever needs to be on a flatbed at the most inopportune time. The hooks were only about $27 shipped.

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_qaZK8KQXkW0/R_W58RmQvMI/AAAAAAAABnY/aKWGSbguy5M/s912/IMGP1495.JPG



Link to Pics: T-Hook Pictures for BMW Transport on Flatbed (http://picasaweb.google.com/mmm635/THookInstall#)