eddiemoney
07-11-2020, 01:07 PM
Hi guys
I thought I'd share my experience towing with my sedan, 2011 BMW 328xi, since I didn't see much online prior to me doing this. I recently moved from Ohio to California, and I decided to drive the distance while towing a trailer. It ultimately came down to me being cheap and not wanting to rent a big truck with the towing bed for my car, which would have been 4x as expensive.
Wanted to share that sedans CAN TOW, despite it not technically being "tow rated" by BMW.
I got a tow hitch installed at U-haul, the smallest one (rated for approximately 1700lbs towing capacity for the hitch itself), cost ~$440. They had to redo some of the wiring for my lights to allow for the trailer lights plug in, but its inconspicuous and my lights still work well.
I then rented their second smallest trailer (5x8 trailer, cost ~$360 to drive from Ohio and drop off in CA) and loaded all my stuff.
The drive wasn't bad, especially through flat areas. I got significantly worse gas mileage (as to be expected)- usually I get around 22mpg, I got approx 16mpg on the drive. This wasn't too big an issue though since I was saving so much with the trailer.
One thing to be aware of was that the power of my car decreased as I got to higher altitudes (CO, NM) and I manually shifted a lot of the way or used sport mode to get into lower gears when going through high altitudes. I decided not to drive through the Rocky Mountains due to the high altitude (approx 12,000ft), and drove through Albuquerque and Flagstaff instead (approx 6000ft). I think I could have made it through higher altitudes but decided not to risk it.
Gas cost approx $300, I had to stop every 3-4 hours at a quarter tank due to the poor gas mileage.
Anyways, made it to southern California safely, the drive took me 4 days and wasn't too bad overall. Stopped off in Laughlin, NV and crushed some texas holdem on the way too https://www.bimmerforums.com/images/smilies//smile.gif.
I thought I'd share my experience towing with my sedan, 2011 BMW 328xi, since I didn't see much online prior to me doing this. I recently moved from Ohio to California, and I decided to drive the distance while towing a trailer. It ultimately came down to me being cheap and not wanting to rent a big truck with the towing bed for my car, which would have been 4x as expensive.
Wanted to share that sedans CAN TOW, despite it not technically being "tow rated" by BMW.
I got a tow hitch installed at U-haul, the smallest one (rated for approximately 1700lbs towing capacity for the hitch itself), cost ~$440. They had to redo some of the wiring for my lights to allow for the trailer lights plug in, but its inconspicuous and my lights still work well.
I then rented their second smallest trailer (5x8 trailer, cost ~$360 to drive from Ohio and drop off in CA) and loaded all my stuff.
The drive wasn't bad, especially through flat areas. I got significantly worse gas mileage (as to be expected)- usually I get around 22mpg, I got approx 16mpg on the drive. This wasn't too big an issue though since I was saving so much with the trailer.
One thing to be aware of was that the power of my car decreased as I got to higher altitudes (CO, NM) and I manually shifted a lot of the way or used sport mode to get into lower gears when going through high altitudes. I decided not to drive through the Rocky Mountains due to the high altitude (approx 12,000ft), and drove through Albuquerque and Flagstaff instead (approx 6000ft). I think I could have made it through higher altitudes but decided not to risk it.
Gas cost approx $300, I had to stop every 3-4 hours at a quarter tank due to the poor gas mileage.
Anyways, made it to southern California safely, the drive took me 4 days and wasn't too bad overall. Stopped off in Laughlin, NV and crushed some texas holdem on the way too https://www.bimmerforums.com/images/smilies//smile.gif.