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      08-20-2014, 10:56 AM   #1
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Complete Invishitch install on a 2015 X5D with pics and tips

So I just took delivery on my 2015 X5D M Sport. With only 39 miles on her, I started with the hitch mod. I was deciding between the factory and the Invisihitch. For the M Sport the factory will not work. For the price and quality, no matter what X5 line you have, Invisihitch is the only way to go! This kit is top notch! I opted for the full kit with active harness. Everything was included, EVEN a coding cable! I already have the coding cable and software, but I was extremely pleased to know that they even threw in a nice long coding cable. I've never installed any of these hitches before. I'm fairly mechanically inclined and from start to finish it took me 3 hours and 35 min. That's including the time to make a few drinks and create a playlist on my ipod for some install music. The instructions are spot on and written word for word. So I'm not gonna write that, I'm just going to add to it and provide some pictures as to appearance and a couple tips I used that helped my install.

First off here's all that's included in the complete kit with active harness:



Next if you don't have a trailer you can go to Wal-Mart or any parts store and get a test plug, and then return it the next day....... like I did



First, I didn't drill out the plastic rivets as my drill was too big and I didn't want to remove my rear wheels. So I used a trim panel tool and cut the tops of the rivet off and pushed the stem of the rivet out of the hole afterwards. The supplied replacement rivets are reusable, but a tad bigger in size.



The fender flares use plastic clips and you have to pull pretty hard. I recommend you get your fingers as close to the clip as possible as this will make it easier to pop the clips loose. The clips are located along the back edge.




A little hook tool like this made my job a ton easier




On the M Sports you can't reach up behind the rear fascia and push the reflectors out, either that or I have fats hands? So I used my hook tool with a rag to protect the paint. Standing facing the rear of the vehicle, I slid the reflect to the left to create a small gap on the inner side of the reflector and pulled that end out first with the hook toll. Once the reflector started to come out after releasing the first clip. I held that edge up with my finger and with the rag protecting the paint, I slid my hook tool to the left while pulling out to release the 2nd clip in the middle. That's just a plastic clip in the middle where the first clip you release is metal.



I highly recommend placing a sheet or blanket under the rear of your car. When you release the PDC plug the fascia is going to drop, unless you have someone helping you. The sheet or blanket will protect your fascia and then you can just slide it out of the way to begin working on your hitch.




Next I routed the active harness cable according to the instructions. There is a set of wires that clipped to the factory bumper so I zip tied it to the new harness and popped out the plastic plug and installed the new rubber grommet. It's the hole on the right



You'll have a good bit of slack in the active harness. Make sure you leave enough slack to reach the trailer light plug once its mounted . You can zip tie the slack to the under side of a plastic piece that sits on top of the new hitch. I placed it here so it wouldn't hinder the re installation of the rear fascia.




Follow the wiring diagram for the inside power connections. The CAN cable is small, really small. Only two wires in it and well hidden in the black tape. Also the PIN locations on the plugs were very hard for me to see as they were just about microscopic. Either that or I need new contacts? On the left and right side of the plugs are numbers. So on the left side of the plug theres #1, so you start with that PIN and count left to right to find your slot. Keep in mind it may start with the #14 so if you're looking for PIN #8 you need to flip the plug over to the other side. I slid the module into the white holder on the far left side, because that was the only one big for the module to lock into. Zip tie everything and keep it looking factory.




Here's some side by side comparisons of the new hitch VS the old bumper. This is a very well made hitch. Kinda over kill, but hey we drive BMW's so we're not into mediocrity.








So here's what it looks like without the fascia once installed.





You'll have to cut the fascia to make room to go around the trailer light plug. I didn't have a dremel, but I had a handy hack saw that I used to cut around and then just filed the edges to smooth out.





The finished results.



The trailer test plug wasn't plugged in all the way so it shows that I had a light out. The only thing I had to code was the Macro zoom feature. Other than that it recognized the new harness and programmed everything itself.


Last edited by skalberti; 05-13-2017 at 11:34 AM..
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      08-20-2014, 11:10 AM   #2
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Nice !!!
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      08-20-2014, 11:36 AM   #3
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can you provide the towing capacity and total cost, if you don't mind?
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      08-20-2014, 12:39 PM   #4
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@skalberti, nice write up.
Congrats on the car also.
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      08-20-2014, 12:57 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by r33
@skalberti, nice write up.
Congrats on the car also.
Thanks, I also installed the euro trim as well. Thanks for the speedy shipping!
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      08-20-2014, 01:01 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by chrisny
can you provide the towing capacity and total cost, if you don't mind?
Total cost for everything was $1219. The factory hitch is well over $2000 and will not fit the M Sport. The towing capacity of the hitch will exceed the towing capacity of the X5. So you have to look at which model you get to determine your towing capacity. My X5D is rated at 7000 lbs.
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      08-20-2014, 01:14 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by skalberti View Post
Total cost for everything was $1219. The factory hitch is well over $2000 and will not fit the M Sport. The towing capacity of the hitch will exceed the towing capacity of the X5. So you have to look at which model you get to determine your towing capacity. My X5D is rated at 7000 lbs.
Perfect, thanks. Well done, looks great.
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      08-20-2014, 02:27 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by skalberti View Post
Total cost for everything was $1219. The factory hitch is well over $2000 and will not fit the M Sport. The towing capacity of the hitch will exceed the towing capacity of the X5. So you have to look at which model you get to determine your towing capacity. My X5D is rated at 7000 lbs.

Nice write up with pics! I have the factory hitch from BMW and I have a 35d M Sport no cutting of bumper at all. I didn't have dealer do electronics on it because I only use for bike rack, total cost installed was $1,250.00. Nice clean install!

Joe
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      08-20-2014, 02:31 PM   #9
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I think the only thing that you won't be able to do on the M Sport is install the Carbon Fiber Rear Piece.

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      08-20-2014, 02:34 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jpsjr70 View Post
Nice write up with pics! I have the factory hitch from BMW and I have a 35d M Sport no cutting of bumper at all. I didn't have dealer do electronics on it because I only use for bike rack, total cost installed was $1,250.00. Nice clean install!

Joe

Wow, that's odd. My parts department said that the factory hitch didn't have a part number for the Msport? Do you know what the part number is? Thanks!
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      08-20-2014, 02:43 PM   #11
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It's the same hitch for all bmw x5's. There's only one number for them if you go to getbmwparts.com you will see the product number. Looks great, congrats on the new x5!

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      08-20-2014, 02:52 PM   #12
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Wow. That's a really nice step-by-step.
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      08-20-2014, 02:52 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jpsjr70 View Post
It's the same hitch for all bmw x5's. There's only one number for them if you go to getbmwparts.com you will see the product number. Looks great, congrats on the new x5!

Joe
Thanks!, I think our parts dept is smoking crack. They always give me the wrong info.
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      08-20-2014, 04:14 PM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jpsjr70 View Post
Nice write up with pics! I have the factory hitch from BMW and I have a 35d M Sport no cutting of bumper at all. I didn't have dealer do electronics on it because I only use for bike rack, total cost installed was $1,250.00. Nice clean install!

Joe
Can you post a photo? Would like to see how noticeable the hitch mount is when the collar is removed. Thanks
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      08-20-2014, 04:19 PM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Socal2025
Wow. That's a really nice step-by-step.
Thanks! I'm really glad I went this route. It's truly invisible when not in use, heavy duty and you can't beat the price.
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      08-20-2014, 05:04 PM   #16
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I too have the Invisihitch installed on my x35d. the ONLY thing that can be seen without the receiver installed is the little cap over the wiring plug...and if you don't know what you're looking for you don't see it. it's definitely way less than the BMW set-up.

I'll do my first towing of the boat with the x5 in a couple of weeks and I'll do a writeup of how it performs at that time.
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      08-21-2014, 05:27 AM   #17
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Invisihitch

Nice post, I still cannot believe you can't order a hitch installed from the factory. Wake up BMW, every other manufacturer does it. All this extra work and it could be as simple as checking a box, trailer hitch.
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      08-21-2014, 07:35 AM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by plake View Post
Nice post, I still cannot believe you can't order a hitch installed from the factory. Wake up BMW, every other manufacturer does it. All this extra work and it could be as simple as checking a box, trailer hitch.
Couldn't agree more. Not that the Invishitch isn't nice, it's a great product. But it's very expensive and, if you're leasing (as most of us are), 1500 bucks is a LOT to spend on a car that you're going to give back in 36 months. Compared to the 500 bucks that a similar option costs on a Mercedes ML, of which, you only pay ~40% of the cost. It's the difference between ~50 bucks a month and ~5 bucks a month. That's a huge swing, and, for a truck that's offered in diesel, ridiculous that you can't get a hitch option right from the factory that's cheap and can be residualized into the lease.
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      08-21-2014, 07:56 AM   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by skalberti View Post
Thanks!, I think our parts dept is smoking crack. They always give me the wrong info.
Trust me when I tell you, it seems all bmw parts department are clueless except for a few that take pride and know there product. I did all the leg work for that hitch and demanded that they price match internet pricing since I purchased my X5 at the dealer. Don't get me wrong, I use getbmwparts.com 90% of the time because the guys there know their shit and support our website and their prices are really aggressive. From day one I have educated my sales guy and parts guy by showing them what bmw has to offer. The only issue I have with bmw is that education of products must be ranked 6, image is 1. Coming from driving Porsche, Audi, and Mercedes, I will say product education is ranked at 1, accessories 2, image 3. I'll shoot pics of my bmw oem hitch later.

Joe
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      08-21-2014, 08:22 AM   #20
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jpsjr70
Quote:
Originally Posted by skalberti View Post
Thanks!, I think our parts dept is smoking crack. They always give me the wrong info.
Trust me when I tell you, it seems all bmw parts department are clueless except for a few that take pride and know there product. I did all the leg work for that hitch and demanded that they price match internet pricing since I purchased my X5 at the dealer. Don't get me wrong, I use getbmwparts.com 90% of the time because the guys there know their shit and support our website and their prices are really aggressive. From day one I have educated my sales guy and parts guy by showing them what bmw has to offer. The only issue I have with bmw is that education of products must be ranked 6, image is 1. Coming from driving Porsche, Audi, and Mercedes, I will say product education is ranked at 1, accessories 2, image 3. I'll shoot pics of my bmw oem hitch later.

Joe
+1 I've had my dealership call and ask me questions about cars and features. For some reason BMW just doesn't give out much information to their dealers. These forums are a huge source of knowledge.
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      08-22-2014, 10:40 AM   #21
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Thanks for the write up. I installed this on my wife's '11 E70 and we plan to add it to her '15 35d m-sport as well.
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      09-24-2014, 05:23 PM   #22
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Looking.....

Looking for any followup to the ^^ postings.
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