Hauling with a BMW X3

[IvyHall]

Anyone do it?

I know it’s not ideal but I’m in a pickle.

I have a 2008 BMW X3 3.0 in great well maintained condition. With the tow package and sway bars I’m looking at 4,000lb towing capacity. I just looked into buying a 2500lb trailer to pull my 1200 pound horse. My daughter and I will be riding in the car with a few items so let’s just say 160 pounds total. So I’m up to 3860 lbs.

Here is why I’m considering this:

My horse needs to make the 35 mile round trip to the equine hospital 20 times over the next 9 months. He will stay overnight each time so it will actually be 40 trips. This is not only going to get expensive but it’s been impossible to find reliable trailering. We cannot deviate from the treatment protocol. The best option seems for me to get a trailer and do it myself but funds are very limited. So should I get the trailer and haul with the x3?

I have one other option: a family member has offered me her truck and trailer to use for 9 months. She lives out of state, 6 hours away. She has several retirees on her farm and my concern is she will need her truck and trailer in the event of an emergency. She has told me that in the event of an emergency she has friends who can help her but it still makes me quite anxious for her to be without her truck and trailer for 9 months.

So, what should I do? Help!
Thank you

[jenm]

Borrow the truck and trailer.

I hope everything goes well for you and your horse!

[cutter99]

Don’t do it with the BMW. Not enough vehicle for towing. Not a long enough wheel base and if you have the option to borrow a truck and trailer that would be much safer.

[GA_Horse]

Is that your only trailer option? Have you looked into a used Brenderup single?

Brenderup singles

[Jim_in_PA]

X3 is a bit too light for that unless you opt for a Euro trailer. The larger, heavier X5 would work better for a light-weight north American trailer like the one I haul with, but even then, a Euro trailer would be better suited. So unless you want to opt for the Euro rig…borrowing a suitable tow vehicle is a better idea.

[SharonA]

You need a truck and trailer; your friend has a truck and trailer she isn’t using. Your car is not designed to tow live weight and you would have to go spend lots of money on a trailer (and probably a transmission cooler, though they’re not that expensive).

Borrow the truck and trailer. Your friend is the best judge of whether or not it will be a hardship for her to be without it. If it’s not bothering her, it seems a no-brainer to borrow her rig. Safer, cheaper, easier, less worry.

An adult plus what I assume is a school-age child is only 160 lbs? Jeez. I feel vast. (Just teasing you, OP; and envious).

[IvyHall]

Thank you all for the input. I’m going to borrow the truck and trailer for 9 months, it seems like the safest option.

Oh, and my daughter just turned 3 and is a massive 27 pounds

[stoneymeadow]

just some more food for thought in case you change you mind over the next 9 months

I am a BMW owner. Have had the X3 and now have the X5. I would never, never, never even consider hauling with either as being safe. The towing weight is just part of the equation…it is the ability to STOP a loaded trailer that is the more critical part of the equation. Don’t care why type of trailer it is, the X3 does not have the wheel base nor weight to stop a trailer SAFELY.

Before I hauled my first horse I was riding with a very experience friend. She was pulling a smaller 2 horse straight load gooseneck with a Ford F150, and was well under the weight max. Truck and trailer in excellent condition. We were coming down an incline, not even a big one, to a stop light at the bottom. She was going under the speed limit at about 40 MPH. Light changed. I will never remember the feeling of that truck not being able to stop that loaded trailer…gives me shivers even now remembering. We stopped in the middle of the intersection. fortunately it was very early morning and no traffic.

I bought my first truck and trailer a couple months later. had planned on the F150 but bought the F250 to pull a 3 horse slant gooseneck because of that experience. Never regretted it but the next truck was a Chevy 3500 Dually…and will stick with a dually here on out.

So, please, for your own safety and the safety of your daughter, do not use your X3 to haul even if it is the last option on the planet. Nothing is worth the risk and the money you would have to pay someone else is worth every penny.

good luck!!!

[IvyHall]

Thank you for the additional information.

My husband and I never really thought the X3 was a good option, but (of course) the salesman at the trailer dealership said it would be ok. Of course.

Thanks again!

[DHCarrotfeeder]

Not that trailer salesmen are liars, but they don’t have to pay the repair bills, support the warranties, buy new tires and brakes, etc. The salesman who sell tow vehicles are also not well motivated to seek your safest solution either, in many cases.

Those vehicles are designed for mild off-road use moving themselves. They are also designed for handling a small trailer occasionally. I could see hauling a 3000lb travel trailer to/from the beach once per season, for example. But that’s a low, stable weight and very infrequent use. You’ll be hauling at the load limit, using a tall, shifty load. You may tow on uneven terrain at times, which can put heavy stress on the drivetrain. If nothing fails, the vehicle will still wear down faster, and BMW drivetrain parts are not cheap. Also, I see X3’s and X5’s for sale at relatively low prices, so that gives some indirect indication of the reliability / repair cost of this platform.

I’m not picking on your vehicle choice, but for towing a horse it’s just not as practical or well sized as most other options.

[IvyHall]

Thanks again!

And to clarify, we didn’t buy the x3 to haul, it’s my husbands daily driver. I’ve never owned a trailer as I’ve always boarded at nice show barns that trailer for me. However my horse was diagnosed with lymphoma in February and will need to make 20 trips to the hospital for chemo. 2 or 3 trips and my trainer would definitely be able to and happy to rearrange her schedule for us but this is just so many trips(40 actually bc he will stay overnight) that I have been looking into every other possible option. I thought towing with the x3 (it’s my husbands and he loves it btw, it’s a nice car) might be an option. Through my research I have learned that it is not.
Thank you again.

[DHCarrotfeeder]

Sounds corny - but buy a used pickup and sell it when you’re done? Buy for $8k, sell for $7500, or keep it.

Or do the same thing at half of the budget. An old F-250 4wd will highway pull a one- or two-horse trailer like a champ and cost just a few grand, and sell for what you paid. If you buy it now (spring) you’ll get better pricing and if you sell it before the coming winter you might even turn a profit. I mention 4wd because those are always in demand, and with a 2wd you might have a longer wait to find a buyer.

[GA_Horse]

The London Olympics found it safe to haul a horse with a BMW:

http://www.motoringchat.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/BMW-London-2012-fleet-used-for-towing-horse-ambulances.jpg

The X3 is rated at 3,500lbs and the X5 is at 5,000lbs. A solo European trailer is about 1,300 pounds, and a lot of horses weight 1,000 pounds, totalling 2,300 pounds. A X3 pulling that sounds safer than a base model F-150 pulling a loaded gooseneck.

Also, my guess is the brakes are much better in a BMW than an F-150. Heck, the BMW costs 3 times a much.

[DHCarrotfeeder]

[QUOTE=GA Horse;7472126]
The London Olympics found it safe to haul a horse with a BMW:

http://www.motoringchat.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/BMW-London-2012-fleet-used-for-towing-horse-ambulances.jpg

The X3 is rated at 3,500lbs and the X5 is at 5,000lbs. A solo European trailer is about 1,300 pounds, and a lot of horses weight 1,000 pounds, totalling 2,300 pounds. A X3 pulling that sounds safer than a base model F-150 pulling a loaded gooseneck.

Also, my guess is the brakes are much better in a BMW than an F-150. Heck, the BMW costs 3 times a much.[/QUOTE]

The London Olympics was given those vehicles for use, just like these: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2081005/Olympic-VIPs-whisked-London-4-000-BMWs--green-Games.html

If I was loaned one to use for two weeks for free, I’d probably try it. It was used as a “horse ambulance”, not routine hauling. But there are many things I would consider in a rental I would not do with my own property.

Cost is irrelevant. And brakes are not something to guess about.

[SharonA]

http://www.motoringchat.com/wp-conte...ambulances.jpg

Getting off the topic, but, this looks like terrible commercial artwork. The trailer is angled up too high, the trailer looks tiny compared to the tow vehicle (I have a Brenderup Solo and even hooked up to Greenie the Minivan, who is no petite princess, my trailer looks a lot bigger than the trailer in the picture) and it looks like the front of the trailer is literally attached to the rear bumper, as if it had no tongue. The tires on the trailer look about half the size of the ones on the tow vehicle, which I find unlikely. Not that I really care, but, it’s tacky. Just sayin’.

[GA_Horse]

I just researched the brakes. X3 stops 10% faster/less distance than an F150.

[ryansgirl]

[QUOTE=GA Horse;7472333]
I just researched the brakes. X3 stops 10% faster/less distance than an F150.[/QUOTE]

Um you should NOT be relying on the tow vehicles brakes to stop the trailer. That’s a disaster in the making.

[GoForAGallop]

[QUOTE=GA Horse;7472333]
I just researched the brakes. X3 stops 10% faster/less distance than an F150.[/QUOTE]

10% is not a lot. That’s in manufacturer tests, not real life situations. You’re also ignoring literally every other single factor that goes into stopping. Like: vehicle to trailer weight ratio, tow vehicle wheelbase, bumperpull vs gooseneck (they will function different in a brakes-to-the-floor instance), etc, etc, etc.

Stopping aside: the F-150 is built for towing. It has the suspension to tow (ever towed something with a comfort suspension? It is a sloppy mess.), the bigger engine, the tougher transmission (the X3, in fact, is known for having a particularly weak transmission), the transmission cooling to handle driving under load, etc, etc, etc.

A Brenderup Solo for a couple trips a few times a year? Fine. Not an appropriate vehicle for a regular trailer at the frequency OP is talking about. She’ll be lucky if burning out her transmission is the worst that will happen.

[asterix]

[QUOTE=GA Horse;7472126]

Also, my guess is the brakes are much better in a BMW than an F-150. Heck, the BMW costs 3 times a much.[/QUOTE]

This is completely irrelevant. Have you actually done the math and figured out how to tow a specific (loaded) trailer? Have you hauled much? It really comes down to numbers.
Different configurations of the same model can have very different ratings - it depends on a variety of factors, including how much the tow vehicle itself weighs (thus the 4wd version often can tow less than the 2wd version, due to the weight of the 4wd system), the rear axle ratio, and a number of other factors.

You NEVER want to be within a few hundred pounds of your rated max. Do you always know how much weight you have in gas, water, passengers, and gear?

The smart thing to do is understand the numbers, and know what your proposed vehicle is rated for, and what, exactly, you will be towing. At the back of my truck’s manual is a 10 page chart of the tow ratings for all the different variations of THAT model year of that truck.

[GA_Horse]

[QUOTE=ryansgirl;7472346]
Um you should NOT be relying on the tow vehicles brakes to stop the trailer. That’s a disaster in the making.[/QUOTE]

Totally agree. A post above implied that the issue in towing is not so much the ability to pull as it is the ability to stop. I think the issue is both. Trailers over 1,500 pounds should have their own braking system so as not to tax the tow vehicle’s brakes. In fact, f150’s have tow ratings ranging from 5,500 pounds to 11,500 pounds, but all f150’s have the same size ventilated disc brakes, so Ford is looking at other factors in determining the tow rating.

If an X3 is rated to tow 3,500 pounds, there should be no reason why it can’t pull and stop with a 3,500 pound trailer. Just the same as an f150 rated to tow 10,000 should be able to pull and stop with a 10,000 pound trailer.

I don’t see why people automatically discount a car’s ability to tow the stated tow rating, which is probably understated anyway for liability reasons.