Towing with an E34 M5

[Cal]

I am thinking of buying either an M5 or 540i 6 speed. I need to tow an MX5/Miata race car about 8-10 times a year. The car and trailer will be a shade under 1400kgs/3000 pounds. The towbars for E34's in Australia are made by Hayman Reece and are rated at 1400kgs. Does anyone have experience towing with e34's?

Thanks,

Cal.

[JAlfredPrufrock]

Where are you sourcing this "towbar" you speak of?

[Cal]

Where are you sourcing this "towbar" you speak of?

It's already on the M5 I'm looking at. Otherwise you just order it from Hayman Reece (Australia's biggest towbar manufacturer)

Cal.

[genphreak]

It's already on the M5 I'm looking at. Otherwise you just order it from Hayman Reece (Australia's biggest towbar manufacturer) Cal.The HR is a couple of bits of steel that are vut to size and drilled to fit. If already on there, check the wiring (often poor) and that it is installed properly (most are badly done). You can always source the original removable tow bar setup from a breaking yard. They were popular here... search for horsecock (and beware the recent thread about jerrying a bodge up bar).

I can tow all sort of things with my e34, they are very good as the brakes are big, engines strong and the towbars are a thousand times better than the usual fare. If I tried to tow a freight train I would rip the back of the car off before damaging the tow bar installation. :) Nick

[Nick.Hay]

Man....

Sell the MX5, and race the M5!!! :D :D

Good to see another Aussie online... I'm in Tassie

[jrobbo]

Cal,

I've often towed with my M5, although probably only about 700kg or so, not any more, but in any case, it was easy, no problems at all.

Regards

John

[Montreal525]

I don't know, I woudn't tow more than a small trailer with an E34. Passenger car are not meant to tow heavy charges (more than a 1000kg). When I was a kid, people had a rule of thumb saying you can tow as much as your car but back then we had big american cars with V8's and bulletproof transmissions. Truck trannies are set-up to take the abuse. Electronic transmissions suck at towing as they always upshift or downshift under load.

That's my opinion from experience. If you tow a race car, I would find an old pick-up as a tow rig. Bonus, you get more room for equipement and save milleage on the Bimmer...

My 2 cents...

Jeff

[azale]

It's already on the M5 I'm looking at. Otherwise you just order it from Hayman Reece (Australia's biggest towbar manufacturer)
What was the seller towing? I'm sure he has as more experience towing with an M5 than anyone here. Adding another 75% in mass to a vehicle is a big deal. I'm sure the clutch and transmission can handle it (at least for a little while) but that is a lot of wear and tear that I can safely say for which the drivetrain was not designed. Does the trailer have electric brakes? I don't even want to think about slowing that load down from 45 mph.

I can't believe you really want to tow with it. If you can afford an M5, you can probably scrape together enough money for a mid-size truck or SUV that can tow that load. you might even be able to find one cheaper than a new M5 clutch and transmission.

Sounds like a bad episode of Monster Garage, between the 1981 Ferrari 308 GTISI Pasta Machine and the Porsche 944 Golf Ball collector.

If you end up doing it anyway you MUST post a picture.

[632 Regal]

get an old truck and forget the BMW tow car scenereo...

[RTV]

Towing with E34 is NO problem. Have been towing caravans alot with my 520i! These caravans are about 1500kgs. The owners manual says a 520 can take up to 1600kg, and the 540 i think it said 1900kgs. can get the exact kgs if anyone interested...

[VentoGT]

... search for horsecock

...Just make sure you don't search Google for that term as I'm sure you'll get quite a bit of off topic [and off-color] material :D

[Elekta]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/ggil-tx/bmw/DSCN0791.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/ggil-tx/bmw/49f20fa8.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/ggil-tx/bmw/DSCN0723.jpg

[Elekta]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/ggil-tx/bmw/DSCN0643.jpg

I think my tow rating is 1750kg which might be 3500lbs (?)

It's more than enough for towing a small track car and/or yard mulch, atv's, etc

As long as you don't drive like a fool, you won't ruin anything. For the touring, not driving in the highway gear (5th) is best, so keep it in S mode and you'll be fine.

[Alexlind123]

If the owners manual says its OK, then it is. I personally would not tow because i have access to other vehicles which are more suited to it, and i would worry about my transmission. If i had a manual transmission, i would have no second thoughts.

[The Bigfella]

A bit OT - but this did remind me of when I borrowed a 5 ton truck, had it fully loaded with firewood and it broke down a couple of blocks away. I got my unregistered Jensen Interceptor out and hooked a rope onto the truck. The Jensen had the rear tyres smoking at 60kph coming up the hill - but did the job with ease. Nothing like a 7.2 litre tow car.

Wanna buy the Jensen? :)

Ian

[stx133]

assuming the m5 is manual, if auto use 4th or sport mode, not 5th
3356

use level-riders to support the rear end as the loaded weight of the trailer will increase the camber on back tyres. low profiles on the m5 can generate quite a bit of heat on the inside corners esp. when the back end is pushed down more, increasing the camber. you dont want a rear tyre blowout

[Anthony (M5 in Calgary)]

use level-riders to support the rear end as the loaded weight of the trailer will increase the camber on back tyres. low profiles on the m5 can generate quite a bit of heat on the inside corners esp. when the back end is pushed down more, increasing the camber. you dont want a rear tyre blowout

If the M5 has SLS, adding trailer tongue weight will not change the rear camber up to the weight limit of the system. If the system weight is exceeded, there will be a camber warning on the dash.

I'm thinking about getting a hitch for mine so I can pull a utility trailer to and from the Home Despot for bulky purchases...

[Elekta]

my friend will tows all kinds of goodies behind his 5 speed 525. Told me that he is in the market for a tds tourer for added pulling power
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/ggil-tx/bmw/DSCN8147a.jpg

use it if you got it I say

[VentoGT]

STX, all e34 M5s are manual.