Towing a trailer with a BMW??

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marinitagsd

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www.marinita-sportshorses.com
As I don't tow the trailer alot lately due to my ongoing illness, hubby has suggested we have a normal car instead of a 4x4. We have an Ifor HB10 that we only normally take one of our girls ( is approx 600kg and the other 500kg) at any one time although we may take both on the odd occasion, would only be a short trip though. Hubby would really like this BMW 528i he has seen but before I listen to him lol I need to know if they are any good as a tow car?? Have looked up to specs and all seems legal to tow our trailer with both girls. Who else has towed with this car with a similar trailer/horse situation and how does the car perform??
Thanks in advance
xx
 
I towed with a 5 series BMW for years (only with one in trailer though). It tows well but is hopeless once you leave the tarmac road. If you go in a muddy field with it you will definitely get stuck. I lost count of the number of fields I was pulled out of by tractor. I have a 4WD now and wouldn't go back to towing with a 2WD.
 
It would be pefectly capable of towing an Ifor with two up, but it won't be legal.
By law the tow vehicle must weigh more than the total weight of what it is towing, and although a 5 series is a heavy car, it's not THAT heavy! Having seen a hideous accident where a car was tipped over and dragged by the trailer it was towing when the driver had to brake suddenly, I really wish people would understand how dangerous this can be.
 
Would be surprised if the weight of trailer and horse would make you legal, I personally wouldn't tow with anything other than a 4x4. Also you will very quickly go through clutches as the cars are not really man enough for heavy loads. Any more thoughts, just watch Top Gear episode on BMWs!!!!:):p
 
It's done, I've seen it but it's not the safest...

How about an A6 Avant Allroad? Even the A4 version has a bit more grunt and doubles up as a nice family car.
 
LittleBlackMule said:
It would be pefectly capable of towing an Ifor with two up, but it won't be legal.
By law the tow vehicle must weigh more than the total weight of what it is towing, and although a 5 series is a heavy car, it's not THAT heavy! Having seen a hideous accident where a car was tipped over and dragged by the trailer it was towing when the driver had to brake suddenly, I really wish people would understand how dangerous this can be.
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please dont post rubbish... the manufacturer sets the maximum safe tow weight it is absulty nothing to do with the car's weight and not a law
 
marinitagsd said:
As I don't tow the trailer alot lately due to my ongoing illness, hubby has suggested we have a normal car instead of a 4x4. We have an Ifor HB10 that we only normally take one of our girls ( is approx 600kg and the other 500kg) at any one time although we may take both on the odd occasion, would only be a short trip though. Hubby would really like this BMW 528i he has seen but before I listen to him lol I need to know if they are any good as a tow car?? Have looked up to specs and all seems legal to tow our trailer with both girls. Who else has towed with this car with a similar trailer/horse situation and how does the car perform??
Thanks in advance
xx
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I would pull it but you would be right on the limit and as others say it would only have to see wet grass to get stuck!!! and if its hilly where you go forget it.. best bet
is a older 4x4 and get small runaround as a 5 series unless diesel are fairly thirsty 30 mpg??
 
It will certainly tow it but as pointed out above, it will not be legal. I towed a IW 505 with a Mercedes E class and S class and both towed it easily. But I had my trailer downrated, can't remember what to, but it made it legal to tow with these vehicles. The S class has 3.2 litre diesel engine and is only 200kg lighter than many 4 x 4s, but even the E class towed very strongly. i.e. if I had to accelerate uphill when towing, it did it quickly. Stopping was also pretty good. I also only ever towed one horse and she weighed about 650kg. When I sold my trailer (to get a horsebox with living), I offered to get it uprated again but the sellers thought it a great idea and said just to leave it. Downrating cost about £30 and was done by my nearest IW dealer by sticking a plate on saying how much it was rated for.

I do think the legislation is badly thought out and it was brought about as a result of a European harmonisation directive. Now if our elected representatives were doing their jobs, they could have sought an opt out for the UK due to special market conditions. On the Continent, most trailers are smaller and more lightweight and single ones are more common, hence they often fall under the limit requiring a 4 x 4 to tow them.

I actually preferred towing with the S class than with a Jeep Grand Cherokee. The latter was so overpowered for the task, it was easy to put too much power on the gas and then to lurch forward, with the S class and E class, everything seemed much smoother.
 
sychnant said:
http://www.towinghorsetrailers.co.uk/towing_weights_law.htm

Take a look at the link, you can work out what you think from there...

But as the BMW you are looking at has a MTC of 2000kg and the IW510 has a Gross Weight (Maximum Authorised Mass) of 2700kg, it's not legal.
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^ This ^

The only way you could make it legal whilst towing a 510 is to have the trailer's plate downgraded to 2,000kg... and then you would only ever be able to carry one horse. The unladen weight is 1,000kg and with your lightest horse at 550kg and with hay on board you are left with 440kg max... plus I still recommend only towing 85% of your car's weight (kerb weight plus passengers, tack etc...)
 
We tow my pony (only ever one at at time) in my dad's E class and a new ifor 506, which was downgraded to 2000 (I think) when we bought it to keep everything legal. Haven't really had any problems with it but wouldn't try to go to local shows held in fields, bit of a shame as those can be great fun, but not worth having to be towed out!
 
I have done some research... the unladen weight of the trailer is 1000kg, max towing capabilities of the car is 2000kg. My estimate on my girls weight is total max! In reality, it is prob far less so legally, I think we would be in limit, but don't want to push it to extremes if we did carry both our girls at the same time. Its goning to be 99% of the time, just one of our girls. My question really is how does the car perform??
Thanks so much everyone for your input, its very valuable information.
x
 
You may be surprised at the weight of your girls.

My NFx 13.3hh gelding weighs in at 382kg (or 323kg on the weigh tape).
My friend's very fine 15.1 arabxwelsh was 497kg and another friends 16.1hh retired ex racing tb was 612kg when the Blue Cross came to our yard with their scales.

One way to be sure you are 100% safe is to take them to a weighbridge, either at a large vets or horspital, Blue Cross or ILPH etc... (small donation of £5 a horse) or aboard the trailer itself on a vehicle weighbridge. :)
 
On tarmac with one on board it will perform fine.
On tarmac with two on board you will struggle pulling away on a hill.
On wet grass or mud you will be TOTALLY STUCK
 
marinitagsd said:
I have done some research... the unladen weight of the trailer is 1000kg, max towing capabilities of the car is 2000kg. My estimate on my girls weight is total max! In reality, it is prob far less so legally, I think we would be in limit, but don't want to push it to extremes if we did carry both our girls at the same time. Its goning to be 99% of the time, just one of our girls. My question really is how does the car perform??
Thanks so much everyone for your input, its very valuable information.
x
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If the cars max tow weight is 2000Kg with an ifor 510 you'd have an available payload of only 1000Kg you will NOT be legal to tow both horses, yet alone tack, hay, water etc! You would be ok with one though, although as said if you had to take a diversion and ended up having to go up a hill you may be rather stuck!!! If you did tow both and have an accident you would not be covered by your insurance and therefore would be prosecuted as an uninsured driver would be.
 
Copied and pasted from the link I posted earlier. Unless you downgrade your trailer to 2000kg, it WILL NOT be legal. And if you do, you will only be legal to carry one horse. Legally you can't tow the two if you are correct about their weights. Don't forget hay and anything else you carry in the trailer, it all counts.

"As a basic guide the unladen weight of the trailer, plus the weight of the heaviest horses to be towed must not exceed the trailer’s maximum authorised mass. This, in turn, should not exceed the car’s maximum towing weight.

So, first of all you need to find out:
The combined weight of the two (or more, for multi-horse trailers) largest horses you wish to travel.

The trailer’s unladen weight and maximum authorised mass (MAM).

Your proposed towing vehicle’s maximum towing capacity (MTC).

Calculations
First calculate the weight of your horses, then visit our towing vehicle calculator where trailer weights and towing vehicles’ maximum towing capacity weights can be found. However, if in any doubt please refer to your manufacturers’ handbooks.

If you would rather work this out manually the following rules, used in conjunction with one another, should help you work out whether your individual towing vehicle / horse trailer combination is suitable for carrying your horses:

X (combined weight of horses + unladen trailer weight) should be below or equal to trailer’s MAM

X (combined weight of horses + unladen trailer weight) should be below the towing vehicle’s max. towing capacity

Use our Towing Weights Calculator to help you work this out

IMPORTANT: Remember you need to allow for the weight of tack / feed / water when calculating the load as this will count toward the max. towing capacity figure. Therefore horses + trailer weight that equals exactly the car’s max towing capacity is still not legal!"
 
lilaclomax said:
^ This ^

The only way you could make it legal whilst towing a 510 is to have the trailer's plate downgraded to 2,000kg... and then you would only ever be able to carry one horse. The unladen weight is 1,000kg and with your lightest horse at 550kg and with hay on board you are left with 440kg max... plus I still recommend only towing 85% of your car's weight (kerb weight plus passengers, tack etc...)
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For gods sake how many times is this Rubbish Going to be posted.. LIGHT TRAILERS ARE NOT SODDING PLATED !!!they show design weights .. the law is not to exceed them or the towing vehicles towing capacity so if you have a 510 say 1000 kg empty put a 500kg horse in and tow it with something that can tow 1800 kg you are legal if you put two 500kg horses in then your not you then need something that can tow 2000+kgs it is what you have in weight simple and the only way VOSA or the police can do you is to take you to a weighbridge or use portable scales....
 
perfect11s said:
For gods sake how many times is this Rubbish Going to be posted.. LIGHT TRAILERS ARE NOT SODDING PLATED !!!they show design weights .. the law is not to exceed them or the towing vehicles towing capacity so if you have a 510 say 1000 kg empty put a 500kg horse in and tow it with something that can tow 1800 kg you are legal if you put two 500kg horses in then your not you then need something that can tow 2000+kgs it is what you have in weight simple and the only way VOSA or the police can do you is to take you to a weighbridge or use portable scales....
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My Fautras is plated at 2,000kg, I have had it downgraded to 1,400kg and had to buy a new plate to replace the original. If you contact Ifor they too will provide a new plate for their trailers - the law reads that the MAM (maximum authorised mass) of the trailer must not exceed the towing capacity of the towing vehicle - http://www.towinghorsetrailers.co.uk/towing_weights_law.htm

All new livestock and horse trailers now have to be plated... light weight trailers are those with single axles and not used for carrying live animals - just your junk to the tip etc...
 
lilaclomax said:
My Fautras is plated at 2,000kg, I have had it downgraded to 1,400kg and had to buy a new plate to replace the original. If you contact Ifor they too will provide a new plate for their trailers - the law reads that the MAM (maximum authorised mass) of the trailer must not exceed the towing capacity of the towing vehicle - http://www.towinghorsetrailers.co.uk/towing_weights_law.htm

All new livestock and horse trailers now have to be plated... light weight trailers are those with single axles and not used for carrying live animals - just your junk to the tip etc...
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Oh stop it ...Trailers under 3500 kg mam and under 1100 unladen are NOT subject to plating or legal plated weights and if you read that web site it does not say mam it says load of the trailer..sorry so much rubbish talked about uk law on towing ....
 
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To those in denial about trailers/plates etc - If you go into the Ifor Williams website and look at the frequently asked questions, the point about the maximum gross weight of the trailer being more than the maximum towing capacity of the car (irrespective of what weight you intend to tow) is answered viz.

"In these circumstances it is possible to get your trailer down-rated. To arrange this please contact our Customer Care department.

On down-rating we would supply a new plate to your distributor who would use it to replace your original plate. Please note that this plate cannot be supplied to anyone other than an authorised Ifor Williams Trailers distributor.

Remember also that you must never carry a greater weight on the trailer than its new plate indicates or you risk falling foul of the law."
 
If you do decide to get your trailer downrated and tow with your 5 Series, remember too that tyre choice will make a lot of difference as to how successfully you can tow in muddy conditions. I once managed to tow my trailer out of Blair due to good tyres when an Audi All Road got stuck in the same place with my S Class. Overall, it was about the same as a horsebox in muddy conditions. The S Class is a luxury saloon car but has limited slip differential, which while not putting it in the 4 x 4 class, means it takes the torque off one wheel if it is spinning and cocentrates it on the others. (It also got around 25 mpg when towing one large horse compared to the Jeep Grand Cherokee which got around 19mpg when towing the same). I remember now that I got my IW505 downrated to 1800kg.
 
Inca2 said:
To those in denial about trailers/plates etc - If you go into the Ifor Williams website and look at the frequently asked questions, the point about the maximum gross weight of the trailer being more than the maximum towing capacity of the car (irrespective of what weight you intend to tow) is answered viz.

"In these circumstances it is possible to get your trailer down-rated. To arrange this please contact our Customer Care department.

On down-rating we would supply a new plate to your distributor who would use it to replace your original plate. Please note that this plate cannot be supplied to anyone other than an authorised Ifor Williams Trailers distributor.

Remember also that you must never carry a greater weight on the trailer than its new plate indicates or you risk falling foul of the law."
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OK right I rang ifor williams and asked about this to which they said we dont know !!!!!!I asked again what they thought the law was? ... IW we dont know ...me well could you ask someone .. iw people ask us for this so we do it!!! .... anyway look it up on dept for transport web site they deal with the road trafic laws.... the facts are on there... however It would be intresting to know if anybody has been prosicuted for this mythical offence...?because it would not stand in a court of law....as this does not apply to light trailers ie under 3500kg in uk law it is the actual weight that matters and I'm fairly sure they would also have to prove that your combination was unsafe ....hope this clears this up ....oh and im not in denial :D
 
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As with everything, it depends who you ask - the organ grinder or the monkey. Its nice to know that you were prepared to query your own strongly held opinion though :p
Are you equally sure it wouldn't stand up in court?
 
so in theory this would be legal?
my cars MTC is 2200kg
the trailers laden weight is 1460kg (my horse weighs around 600kg and trailer unladen is 960kg)

so in theory i could tow 2 horses assuming the second one weighs 500kg or less? i've allowed 40kg for tack and supplies as we would only be going to the vet and back which is a 20 mile round trip
 
blood_magik said:
so in theory this would be legal?
my cars MTC is 2200kg
the trailers laden weight is 1460kg (my horse weighs around 600kg and trailer unladen is 960kg)

so in theory i could tow 2 horses assuming the second one weighs 500kg or less? i've allowed 40kg for tack and supplies as we would only be going to the vet and back which is a 20 mile round trip
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In theory yes, but bear in mind if you are going to be getting close to the MTC of the car be 100% sure of the weights of the horses being carried, tack, hay etc, anything and everything that you will be towing as you will otherwise be gambling your license and a conviction on it. And the only way to be sure is to go to a public weighbridge and get it all weighed! Also bear in mind hill starts etc, even within the MTC of a car some cars can struggle to have the power to hill start towing, especially if close to it's maximum.
 
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