I am planning on buying a new Swift Challenger 540 and towing it with our 520D. Does anyone on the forum tow with these and what are they like. Should I consider a different car as this car will be used for towing / holiday purposes only.
BMW 520D 2007 Manual
- Thread starter RobertP
- Start date
Hi Robert. We tow a 1500kg Stirling with a 530d so our van is a similar weight. The 530d has a 2000kg limit (I think yours is 1800kg) so its well within its capabilites and its an excellent stable towcar. Ours is also a manual so no worries with any overheating of an autobox and being rear wheel drive its the next best configuration to have if you dont need a 4x4. IMO its one of the best two wheel drive tow cars you can buy.
Hi There,
We tow a Bailey Series 7 Provence (1490KG) with our 58 plate 520D M-Sport Touring (manual). We are more than happy with the car / van combo and have towed to the South of France, Loch Ness, Paris, Cornwall etc etc with it.
We have 2 young kids, so don't exactly travel light! We get around 27Mpg when towing and 42Mpg solo (although it's the wife's car solo, and mine when we are towing
)
the only 'downside' is that the M-Sport required a removable tow-ball, and this limits the noseweight to 75KG (very difficult to achieve), rather than the (I believe) 90KG with the fixed BMW jobbie availabe on the SE. This had something to do with the body kit on the M-Sport apparently.
We are new to caravanning, and the car / van were bought new in Oct 2008. We have been on around 25 trips now (long and short) and have covered well in excess of 8,000 towing miles with no issues at all. That could be in part to the ATC fitted to our Bailey but probably also due to the excellent towing characteristics of the car itself. We went for the M-Sport specifically for it's stiffer suspension (which is self-levelling in the Touring). I suspect the stiffer sidewalls of the run-flats help too...
We easily keep up with traffic, and it's all too-easy to find the speed creeping up too much on long motorway stretches....
We are considering a new, larger, van for 2011 and will probably be forced to look at 4x4s for their greater weight but I can't fault the 5 Series at all.
HTH
Vince.
We tow a Bailey Series 7 Provence (1490KG) with our 58 plate 520D M-Sport Touring (manual). We are more than happy with the car / van combo and have towed to the South of France, Loch Ness, Paris, Cornwall etc etc with it.
We have 2 young kids, so don't exactly travel light! We get around 27Mpg when towing and 42Mpg solo (although it's the wife's car solo, and mine when we are towing
the only 'downside' is that the M-Sport required a removable tow-ball, and this limits the noseweight to 75KG (very difficult to achieve), rather than the (I believe) 90KG with the fixed BMW jobbie availabe on the SE. This had something to do with the body kit on the M-Sport apparently.
We are new to caravanning, and the car / van were bought new in Oct 2008. We have been on around 25 trips now (long and short) and have covered well in excess of 8,000 towing miles with no issues at all. That could be in part to the ATC fitted to our Bailey but probably also due to the excellent towing characteristics of the car itself. We went for the M-Sport specifically for it's stiffer suspension (which is self-levelling in the Touring). I suspect the stiffer sidewalls of the run-flats help too...
We easily keep up with traffic, and it's all too-easy to find the speed creeping up too much on long motorway stretches....
We are considering a new, larger, van for 2011 and will probably be forced to look at 4x4s for their greater weight but I can't fault the 5 Series at all.
HTH
Vince.
Hi Vince,
Are your sure you are limited to that? I have a Witter detachable swan neck on my M sport (Its a saloon but same body kit you need the modification insert for) and Witter says it has a 90kg limit which I have just double checked on their website. If you go for a Witter you should be OK. BTW this was an easy DIY fit and I can reccomend it to anyone one.
Jeff.
Are your sure you are limited to that? I have a Witter detachable swan neck on my M sport (Its a saloon but same body kit you need the modification insert for) and Witter says it has a 90kg limit which I have just double checked on their website. If you go for a Witter you should be OK. BTW this was an easy DIY fit and I can reccomend it to anyone one.
Jeff.
Hi Vince
Interesting to hear your story regarding the 520D. We currently live abroad (United Arab Emirates) and drive a 2009 525i SE Auto and with 231 BHP, I am sure would make a great tow car. However,we are planning to spend 2 months of the year in Europe with a caravan and the proposed car is a 56 plate 520D SE (my old car bought back).
The 520D would only be used for towing the caravan and when holidaying. Having previously used this car (not towing) on holiday in France I was slightly concerned regarding its towing performance. There was definite rear end sag when the car was loaded (non Sport version) that can only be made worse when towing, and the 56 plate models have 163BHP as opposed to the 2008 verions of 177BHP. In addition we are planning to tow a slightly bigger caravan 1540 MTPLW.
However, if your 520D is proving to be a really good tow car then with the added handicaps as mentioned above it should still be an acceptable tow car.
Best Regards
Robert
Interesting to hear your story regarding the 520D. We currently live abroad (United Arab Emirates) and drive a 2009 525i SE Auto and with 231 BHP, I am sure would make a great tow car. However,we are planning to spend 2 months of the year in Europe with a caravan and the proposed car is a 56 plate 520D SE (my old car bought back).
The 520D would only be used for towing the caravan and when holidaying. Having previously used this car (not towing) on holiday in France I was slightly concerned regarding its towing performance. There was definite rear end sag when the car was loaded (non Sport version) that can only be made worse when towing, and the 56 plate models have 163BHP as opposed to the 2008 verions of 177BHP. In addition we are planning to tow a slightly bigger caravan 1540 MTPLW.
However, if your 520D is proving to be a really good tow car then with the added handicaps as mentioned above it should still be an acceptable tow car.
Best Regards
Robert
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