[FranciscoelCallejero]

Hi I'm a new member here and prospective buyer of the IX50.
I have heard great things about the IX50's towing capacity - trouble is I've never seen a picture of an IX50 actually towing anything.
Has this actually been achieved in real life? I'm in the USA so American answers are preferred, secondarily, if it is possible to DIY a tow hitch, I would love to know how as well. Thank you.

 

[ICS_UK]

You might want to look at this my experience of US roads are they dont have many hills so you should be able to get the ranges indicated iX Towing
Owner picture below (from another group) said was getting 44kWh/100km with his iX50 1.4 miles/kWh (on winter tyres) my current average is 2.2-2.4 for my iX50 (~270-280 range) local motoring. In the US I think you drive quite a bit slower so I would expect miles/kWh in the region of 2.7+, I managed 2.7 when on a journey with speeds less that 75 mph. You will be frustrated this vehilcle loves speed

 

[ecobimmer]

Welcome to the forum @FranciscoelCallejero.
How much are you looking to tow? The iX gets an impressive 750kg unbraked, and a whopping 2,500kg braked

 

[hans.olbrecht]

See also...

and to compare with other cars

Good luck

 

[ix50receiverhitch]

I, too, am a prospective buyer, and located in the US but can't find a two inch receiver hitch that is made for the vehicle. I need to be able to use the hitch for bikes or a very, very light kayak trailer. The absence of a receiver hitch is causing me to hold back on an order. Any advice you can offer would be appreciated!! Thanks.

 

[ICS_UK]

I, too, am a prospective buyer, and located in the US but can't find a two inch receiver hitch that is made for the vehicle. I need to be able to use the hitch for bikes or a very, very light kayak trailer. The absence of a receiver hitch is causing me to hold back on an order. Any advice you can offer would be appreciated!! Thanks.

Thats odd I added it as an option to mine, do you think BMW have not offered it for fear of owners overloading the car a 2.5 ton trailer over here (UK) is large in the US from what I've seen that would be small.

 

[hilld]

Give the aftermarket some time to make them, they always do. I installed an aftermarket hitch on my VW ID.4 for bike racks. The one I ended up getting was from Tork Lift Central (they don't have one yet). Torklift Central | EcoHitch - Rear Mounted Receiver Hitches - Trailer Hitches

 

[FranciscoelCallejero]

Welcome to the forum @FranciscoelCallejero.
How much are you looking to tow? The iX gets an impressive 750kg unbraked, and a whopping 2,500kg braked

Looking to begin with a basic bike rack attached to a hitch receiver.
Know anyone in the US who has done this? Cheers

 

[David (Sydney)]

Hi I'm a new member here and prospective buyer of the IX50.
I have heard great things about the IX50's towing capacity - trouble is I've never seen a picture of an IX50 actually towing anything.
Has this actually been achieved in real life? I'm in the USA so American answers are preferred, secondarily, if it is possible to DIY a tow hitch, I would love to know how as well. Thank you.

In Australia the only tow hitch you can buy at the moment is a non-genuine aftermarket tow bar imported from Europe with EU Certification, not Australian Certification. The car is rated / type approved to tow 2.5t in Australia. The dealer advised I should expect a late 2023 availability for the genuine BMW tow hitch that swivels up / retracts. BMW are still developing the tow hitch for compliance outside of Europe, however few people are ordering tow hitches and BMW isn't spending very much time on development :-(

 

[JonoNZ]

My M60 on the way to NZ has the retractable tow hitch on it. I’ve also seen it on demonstrators here in NZ…so they are definitely available in markets outside Europe.

 

[jeffgtx]

Does the us version have the wiring present in the rear?

 

[Coconut]

My M60 on the way to NZ has the retractable tow hitch on it. I’ve also seen it on demonstrators here in NZ…so they are definitely available in markets outside Europe.

I assume that means it was available in your order configuration or was it included? Perhaps they are prioritising M60 over others (or people from NZ) - although I have seen some others indicating a change to the configurations in lieu of other components that are hard to get. I.e. how did you get a tow bar on yours!?

 

[JonoNZ]

I assume that means it was available in your order configuration or was it included? Perhaps they are prioritising M60 over others (or people from NZ) - although I have seen some others indicating a change to the configurations in lieu of other components that are hard to get. I.e. how did you get a tow bar on yours!?

I don't think NZ is getting prioritised, that never happens! The retractable towbar is an option on the M60 (and all other iX in NZ), but everything else in NZ is standard except for the blue seatbelts.

My M60 has just arrived into Auckland so should have it early next week. Exciting!

 

[Coconut]

I don't think NZ is getting prioritised, that never happens! The retractable towbar is an option on the M60 (and all other iX in NZ), but everything else in NZ is standard except for the blue seatbelts..

My M60 has just arrived into Auckland so should have it early next week. Exciting!

Why does NZ get a towbar option, but we don't get that option in Australia?

 

[JonoNZ]

Why does NZ get a towbar option, but we don't get that option in Australia?

It's the ADR (Australian Design Rules) that cover cars, they don't automatically approve features that already comply with European standards like NZ does. Some of them date back to the days when protecting Australian car assembly/manufacturing was a thing.

 

[Coconut]

It's the ADR (Australian Design Rules) that cover cars, they don't automatically approve features that already comply with European standards like NZ does. Some of them date back to the days when protecting Australian car assembly/manufacturing was a thing.

Ah .. .there you go. Thank you, that makes sense. I'm moving to NZ.

 

[Jack]

Of course our bureaucratic system makes sure of "pretending that Australia is different from the rest of the world"
But does anyone know if BMW are working on providing tow bars ? They advertise that an ix50 can tow up to 2500kg

 

[Coconut]

Of course our bureaucratic system makes sure of "pretending that Australia is different from the rest of the world"
But does anyone know if BMW are working on providing tow bars ? They advertise that an ix50 can tow up to 2500kg

I would like to know the same thing - zero insight from BMW on this. Yet, I see other newly arrived vehicles (such as Ioniq 5) sporting tow bars ... envious.

 

[Jack]

I would like to know the same thing - zero insight from BMW on this. Yet, I see other newly arrived vehicles (such as Ioniq 5) sporting tow bars ... envious.

Hi Coconut, where in Aus are you based, I'm at Hervey Bay. Have ordered a new 1x50 from Coastline in Cloundra, hopefully with a tow bar, currently have an ex demo ix50 which I will sell when my new one arrives. One of the best cars I have ever owned and have had hundreds, including a new GTHO Phase11 that I bought new. (wish I still had it ) I think BMW don't really care about Oz deliveries with tow bars, sad really, hopefully they might get their act together soon. Cheers, Jack

 

[tempo36]

BMW seems to have put zero effort into the tow solution. Its depends entirely on what market you're in whether they allow you to have towing or not, despite the car being absolutely identical. In the US you can get an after market tow hitch, but you can't get the software use with it. Rubbish.