Searching the forum reveals quite a few instances of pin 10 trouble, here's my little tale..
I bought a new (used) 2020 reg BMW 3 series Touring (plug-in hybrid) earlier this year, and basically very satisfied with it both for towing and solo driving. I hunted around a bit and found one with an original BMW factory fit electrically deployed tow bar, which is neat.
The first time I towed with it I found that there was no electrical supply to the fridge when towing. As soon as I searched the forums a bit I found that it was not at all unusual for pin 10 in the 13 pin plug (positive supply with car ignition on, used to power the fridge whilst towing) not to be wired up. Which, as has been said many times, is ridiculous. Maybe not essential, but still annoying.
I first went back to the BMW dealer that sold me the car. They replied with 'Sorry, but unless the customer placing the original purchase order specified full wiring including pin 10, it won't have been provided. It's not a fault'.
I called at a towbar fitting company, and they said 'Not at all unusual. But we won't do alterations or repairs to the wiring. We'll only do a complete new wiring installation, which would be £450'. Not paying that, for the sake of a slightly warm fridge between sites.
A few weeks later I happened to be near another towbar fitting company, so I asked them if a supply could be added. At least they came out and did a bit of electrical diagnosis, and said that they'd be able to add in a supply for £150. I was kind-of tempted to go with that, with our 5 week euro tour coming up. But it was impossible to schedule before we set off, so that didn't happen. And as it turned out, a pretty minor inconvenience, since the fridge stayed reasonably cold between sites.
I told myself to stop bothering about it. But since my car needed to go into my local BMW dealer to replace a broken clip (under warranty) I asked them why pin 10 wasn't working. The technician sent me a video explaining that he'd sorted it and it was now working - just needed to be activated within the car's control unit. Sounded too good to be true, but I picked up the caravan from storage today and hey presto the fridge worked on the journey home.
The moral of this story is that if your pin 10 has no power supply (and it's an OEM spec wiring kit) be VERY persistent with the dealer over whether it can be activated via the ECU.
I bought a new (used) 2020 reg BMW 3 series Touring (plug-in hybrid) earlier this year, and basically very satisfied with it both for towing and solo driving. I hunted around a bit and found one with an original BMW factory fit electrically deployed tow bar, which is neat.
The first time I towed with it I found that there was no electrical supply to the fridge when towing. As soon as I searched the forums a bit I found that it was not at all unusual for pin 10 in the 13 pin plug (positive supply with car ignition on, used to power the fridge whilst towing) not to be wired up. Which, as has been said many times, is ridiculous. Maybe not essential, but still annoying.
I first went back to the BMW dealer that sold me the car. They replied with 'Sorry, but unless the customer placing the original purchase order specified full wiring including pin 10, it won't have been provided. It's not a fault'.
I called at a towbar fitting company, and they said 'Not at all unusual. But we won't do alterations or repairs to the wiring. We'll only do a complete new wiring installation, which would be £450'. Not paying that, for the sake of a slightly warm fridge between sites.
A few weeks later I happened to be near another towbar fitting company, so I asked them if a supply could be added. At least they came out and did a bit of electrical diagnosis, and said that they'd be able to add in a supply for £150. I was kind-of tempted to go with that, with our 5 week euro tour coming up. But it was impossible to schedule before we set off, so that didn't happen. And as it turned out, a pretty minor inconvenience, since the fridge stayed reasonably cold between sites.
I told myself to stop bothering about it. But since my car needed to go into my local BMW dealer to replace a broken clip (under warranty) I asked them why pin 10 wasn't working. The technician sent me a video explaining that he'd sorted it and it was now working - just needed to be activated within the car's control unit. Sounded too good to be true, but I picked up the caravan from storage today and hey presto the fridge worked on the journey home.
The moral of this story is that if your pin 10 has no power supply (and it's an OEM spec wiring kit) be VERY persistent with the dealer over whether it can be activated via the ECU.
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