Bmw 320d touring

[DandP]

Hi all
Has anyone had any experience in towing with a bmw 3 series touring/estate? I currently own a Santa Fe which is great for towing but now I fancy a change and I do like the new shape 3 series. I tow approx once a month and doesn't always warrant owning a big 4x4 but I wouldn't want to compromise safety. I understand vehicle kerbweights etc and my Bailey Olympus comes in at 1440 MTPLM.
Any help and advice appreciated, many thanks, Dan.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello Dan, From the information I can find of the latest models 320D Touring, its braked trailer capacity of the car is 1800kg, so the car is legal to tow the 1440kg caravan. However the cars kerb weight seems to be about 1495Kg, which gives a ratio of just over 96%. which compared to the Santa Fe at about 73% The difference will be very noticeable when towing. The general advice is always to keep the trailer as small as possible compared to the tow vehicle and where possible high percentage ratios should be avoided. 96% is not impossible, but should only be attempted with experience and great care.

 

[otherclive]

Perahps a visit to the BMW Owners Club website may help you to obtain a wider view. Whilst Prof is correct in what he says, the two cars are very different with the BMW having a lower CoG and a stiffer, more road biased suspension setup, so although the ratios of kerbweight to van weight have moved away from 85% it doesnt mean that the BMW would not make a suitable towcar. As Prof says there are a number of other factors that contribute to making a suitable/safe tow, not least caravan load distribution. I used to tow at around 93% with a Saab 9000 CSE which never gave any concerns, although being fwd it would occasionally scrabble for grip! There are some useful car-van matching sites which again may help your deliberations, but they are not to be taken absolutely accurate given the differences in car model specififications. What I do is load the car up with the heavy caravan kit which is a left over from my days with lightweight cars, but it does reduce van weight and increase car weight. And we always put the van load low down and as near the center as possible. Thats despite years of having heavy towcars. we are the ones who take a couple of hours after arrival to get set up, although the tea is on quite quickly!