Towing with a BMW X3 3.0l M Sport

[Darcey22]

Hi there
I have just bought a BMW x3 as above to tow my ifor HB506 and 550kg horse about. Someone has told me that it isn’t possible to tow this with this car? The towing capacity is 2000kg, are they talking bollocks?
Also it has a factory fitted electric tow bar. Are these better than detachable ones?

 

[abbijay]

In short, yes they are talking b4lls.
You will now get about 100 people on the forum telling you the only safe thing to tow with is a massive pickup or 4x4 but you are well within the manufacturer's safe limits.

 

[Widgeon]

I hate it when people say things like that, it's so unhelpful. What they might have meant is that they don't think it will perform very well as a tow car. But that's different to whether it is actually capable of towing your setup at all.

From the specs you've given I can't see why it wouldn't handle your 1500kg of trailer and horse. A bit of a hunt around the internet suggests that some people (particularly caravaners) do rate it as a tow car. Personally I would probably join some BMW forums and have a search around to see what people are saying about its performance towing.

 

[holeymoley]

Maybe they have some envy. You can definitely tow with an x3. I tow a single trailer and pony with my x1. Actually looking at going for an x3 now I have 2.

 

[9tails]

Re your other question, I personally wouldn't want to tow with a detachable towbar. Much prefer a fixed one.

 

[Annagain]

Re your other question, I personally wouldn't want to tow with a detachable towbar. Much prefer a fixed one.

The electronically deployed ones aren't detachable, they just fold away.

 

[Barton Bounty]

Hi there
I have just bought a BMW x3 as above to tow my ifor HB506 and 550kg horse about. Someone has told me that it isn’t possible to tow this with this car? The towing capacity is 2000kg, are they talking bollocks?
Also it has a factory fitted electric tow bar. Are these better than detachable ones?

Yes talking b4lls

As for towbar, we have towed with an audi a6 with detachable towbar as well as my truck which has a fixed. The detachable ones arent just on with blu tack so are pretty secure