Towing with BMW 320i

[mundaya]

Has anyone towed with a BMW 320i 2l
M Sport? I would only ever be towing one horse (weighing approx 550kg) in an ifor William 505 trailer. I believe towing capacity for the BMW is 1,600kg so horse, trailer and kit should all be under this. Any input welcome. Tia.

 

[Breagha]

I believe the unlaiden weight of the Ifor 505 is about 900kg + your horse 550, so you wouldnt be able to tow with it.

 

[mundaya]

I believe the unlaiden weight of the Ifor 505 is about 900kg + your horse 550, so you wouldnt be able to tow with it.

Would or would not? If it can tow 1,600 unladen weight of trailer plus horse is approx 1,455.

 

[Breagha]

Would not be able to. As you have to add the weight of tack, you, fuel, water etc

 

[ApolloStorm]

I don’t believe you have to include any weight in the car. But that’s quite a tight margin either way. If you want confirmation ROG towing clinic is brill

 

[Breagha]

Does towing capacity include the weight of the vehicle?
Towing capacity is how much the truck can pull, while payload capacity is how much it can carry. ... That includes the curb weight – the truck with nothing in it – plus whatever goes in, including passengers and cargo.27 Dec 2017

 

[ApolloStorm]

So the 1600kg towing capacity is just for trailer weight, horse weight and anything else you’re putting in the trailer. In which case it’s doable but tight, is it an existing combo? Otherwise there’s similar cars which can tow more and lighter trailers which would give you that safety net

 

[Tiddlypom]

So the 1600kg towing capacity is just for trailer weight, horse weight and anything else you’re putting in the trailer. In

Exactly that.

There will also be listed in the car’s handbook a figure for the gross train weight (also can go by other names), which I think that the other poster was referring to.

The gross combined weight rating or gross combination weight rating (GCWR), also referred to as the gross combination mass (GCM), gross train weight (GTW), is the maximum allowable combined mass of a road vehicle, the passengers and cargo in the tow vehicle, plus the mass of the trailer and cargo in the trailer.[1][2] This rating is set by the vehicle manufacturer.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gross_combined_weight_rating

I am not familiar with the car that the OP is enquiring about, but agree with others that ‘sporty’ cars generally do not make good tow cars. Their set up, suspension and gearing are not cut out for it.

 

[Ranyhyn]

My little sporty BMW is having a stress wee just thinking about it.

 

[SmartieBean09]

We used to tow our caravan with our BMW 320 touring. Caravan was unladen 1200kg and laden around 1450. It towed fine. Could easily find a car to tow better but we had no problems.