Not joined yet? Register for free and enjoy features such as alerts, private messaging and viewing latest posts and topics.

Who Supplies OEM Towbars?

General car related chat
Post Reply
User avatar
Don Coffey
Snr Member
Snr Member
Posts: 2452
Joined: Mon Jan 17, 2011 11:25 am
Location: Here, there and everywhere

Who Supplies OEM Towbars?

Post by Don Coffey » Wed Oct 31, 2018 7:05 pm

I’m looking to put a towbar on my F16 X6. I’d like to look at the electric, retractable one but so far have drawn a blank. Brink do one but not for the M Sport versions of the car, westfelia can only supply the detachable version. TriMotive don’t seem to do one for the X6 at all. So any advice will be greatly received.

Don.
Last edited by Don Coffey on Wed Oct 31, 2018 7:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Image

User avatar
gmc15
Member
Member
Posts: 401
Joined: Sat Aug 21, 2010 3:39 am
Location: Durham

Re: Who Supplies OEM Towbars?

Post by gmc15 » Wed Oct 31, 2018 7:17 pm

Think BMW are fitted with Westfalia as OEM.
Here is a link to my local towbar fitting place that I have used many times. It shows the options for the F16.
HTH

http://www.hedley-towbars.co.uk/products.asp?cat=78
x6 M50d

User avatar
X5Sport
Global Moderator
Global Moderator
Posts: 18520
Joined: Fri Sep 03, 2010 4:09 pm
Location: Planet X6......

Re: Who Supplies OEM Towbars?

Post by X5Sport » Wed Oct 31, 2018 7:26 pm

Factory part number is available on Amazon UK but is only rated to 1,800kgs which seems low.

Realoem shows a retrofit kit - but use your VIN to confirm.  It seems to cost well north of £1k if you want the genuine item from various suppliers in Europe.  I’ve seen the full kit for €1,700  :o

.......and fitting is extra
:ant: Never anthropomorphise computers. They hate that.

User avatar
gmc15
Member
Member
Posts: 401
Joined: Sat Aug 21, 2010 3:39 am
Location: Durham

Re: Who Supplies OEM Towbars?

Post by gmc15 » Wed Oct 31, 2018 7:30 pm

Just been looking at the posts in the F16 part of the forum and one post said their X6 had a factory fitted  Bosal bar, so wonder if these are the OEM ones?
Last edited by gmc15 on Wed Oct 31, 2018 7:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.
x6 M50d

User avatar
Don Coffey
Snr Member
Snr Member
Posts: 2452
Joined: Mon Jan 17, 2011 11:25 am
Location: Here, there and everywhere

Re: Who Supplies OEM Towbars?

Post by Don Coffey » Wed Oct 31, 2018 7:56 pm

[quote="gmc15"]
Think BMW are fitted with Westfalia as OEM.
Here is a link to my local towbar fitting place that I have used many times. It shows the options for the F16.
HTH

http://www.hedley-towbars.co.uk/products.asp?cat=78
[/quote]
I spoke to westfelia today but their only option is the detachable version. If the electric option isn’t available at a realistic price then this is likely to be the one I go for.
Image

User avatar
Don Coffey
Snr Member
Snr Member
Posts: 2452
Joined: Mon Jan 17, 2011 11:25 am
Location: Here, there and everywhere

Re: Who Supplies OEM Towbars?

Post by Don Coffey » Wed Oct 31, 2018 7:58 pm

[quote="X5Sport"]
Factory part number is available on Amazon UK but is only rated to 1,800kgs which seems low.

Realoem shows a retrofit kit - but use your VIN to confirm.  It seems to cost well north of £1k if you want the genuine item from various suppliers in Europe.  I’ve seen the full kit for €1,700  :o

.......and fitting is extra
[/quote]

I did speak to BMW Parts today as well, but the detachable version was £1050 supply only!!
Image

User avatar
Don Coffey
Snr Member
Snr Member
Posts: 2452
Joined: Mon Jan 17, 2011 11:25 am
Location: Here, there and everywhere

Re: Who Supplies OEM Towbars?

Post by Don Coffey » Wed Oct 31, 2018 8:08 pm

[quote="gmc15"]
Just been looking at the posts in the F16 part of the forum and one post said their X6 had a factory fitted  Bosal bar, so wonder if these are the OEM ones?
[/quote]
I’ve had a look at the Bosal website, and although it looked promising, a quick search however shows only the detachable version available. I’ve emailed them on the offchance they do do it. Thanks for the lead.

Don
Image

User avatar
moggyboy
Member
Member
Posts: 96
Joined: Thu Jun 09, 2016 12:21 am

Re: Who Supplies OEM Towbars?

Post by moggyboy » Wed Oct 31, 2018 10:55 pm

Bosal are the OEM.
Bosal do not want anything to do with punters direct, they only want to supply BMW for factory fit.
I had a problem with my retractable and tried in vain to get Bosal interested in supplying components or advice but their attitude was very, very F off, we only supply BMW direct.
Westfalia get hit with some of the flak from customers with failed retractables but wrongly as they are not the suppliers. As stated in your post Westfalia supply detachables not retractables.
I believe you can get a fully retractable fitted by a BMW main dealer but for circa £2k but that does include the fancy code work into the canbus trickery.
God help you if a factory fit retractable goes wrong as the only option seems to be a full replacement at a BMW dealership for £2k ish or if you are very lucky getting one off of a front end crash car from a scrappy.
I solved my problem with the latter thankfully.
As a side note, did you know that most police X5's have the retractable tow bar fitted as part of their original spec and go to the scrap yard at the end of the X5's life barely if ever used.
Hope this helps.

Leslie
Snr Member
Snr Member
Posts: 1276
Joined: Sat Sep 29, 2018 10:58 am

Re: Who Supplies OEM Towbars?

Post by Leslie » Wed Oct 31, 2018 11:14 pm

Don't think the dealers will sell many at 2k !

Jayx5
Member
Member
Posts: 371
Joined: Wed Nov 21, 2012 9:11 pm
Location: chelmsford, essex

Re: Who Supplies OEM Towbars?

Post by Jayx5 » Thu Nov 01, 2018 6:58 pm

I was chatting to a guy who was taking off my tow bar on our vw touran before it went back(lease car) and  he said Witter have bought out westfalia and have moved there manufacturing to romania and quality has dropped so he no longer uses them and reckons tow sure are the best quality and that there made in England.
I don't know how true any of that is.
2010 space grey se dynamic pack and lots of toys

User avatar
Don Coffey
Snr Member
Snr Member
Posts: 2452
Joined: Mon Jan 17, 2011 11:25 am
Location: Here, there and everywhere

Re: Who Supplies OEM Towbars?

Post by Don Coffey » Fri Nov 02, 2018 3:37 pm

[quote="moggyboy"]
Bosal are the OEM.
Bosal do not want anything to do with punters direct, they only want to supply BMW for factory fit.
I had a problem with my retractable and tried in vain to get Bosal interested in supplying components or advice but their attitude was very, very F off, we only supply BMW direct.
Westfalia get hit with some of the flak from customers with failed retractables but wrongly as they are not the suppliers. As stated in your post Westfalia supply detachables not retractables.
I believe you can get a fully retractable fitted by a BMW main dealer but for circa £2k but that does include the fancy code work into the canbus trickery.
God help you if a factory fit retractable goes wrong as the only option seems to be a full replacement at a BMW dealership for £2k ish or if you are very lucky getting one off of a front end crash car from a scrappy.
I solved my problem with the latter thankfully.
As a side note, did you know that most police X5's have the retractable tow bar fitted as part of their original spec and go to the scrap yard at the end of the X5's life barely if ever used.
Hope this helps.
[/quote]
Thanks Moggyboy,

Makes a lot of sense about Bosal. Their pictures look like the oem ones but unsurprisingly I haven’t received any reply from my email. I think I’m going to go down the detachable route £2k isn’t going to happen.

Do
Image

User avatar
Don Coffey
Snr Member
Snr Member
Posts: 2452
Joined: Mon Jan 17, 2011 11:25 am
Location: Here, there and everywhere

Re: Who Supplies OEM Towbars?

Post by Don Coffey » Fri Nov 02, 2018 3:38 pm

[quote="Jayx5"]
I was chatting to a guy who was taking off my tow bar on our vw touran before it went back(lease car) and  he said Witter have bought out westfalia and have moved there manufacturing to romania and quality has dropped so he no longer uses them and reckons tow sure are the best quality and that there made in England.
I don't know how true any of that is.
[/quote]

I’ll bare this in mind. Thanks.

Don
Image

User avatar
B5tew
Member
Member
Posts: 206
Joined: Tue May 03, 2011 12:47 am
Location: Bristol

Re: Who Supplies OEM Towbars?

Post by B5tew » Fri Nov 09, 2018 6:41 pm

I have just fitted a Westfalia Detachable towbar on my F15 X5 and the quality is great also fitted dedicated electrics that are plug and play with no coding required Purchased from PF Jones
I did look at used electric towbars on eBay but it all got a bit complicated once you start looking at the electrics side of it
https://www.pfjones.co.uk/tow-bars/bmw-towbars.html
2015 Space grey 30d F15

Post Reply