execuhitch OEM wire harness coding question

[squish]

I wanted to buy the execuhitch based on reviews I have read here. Even though they were way more than other hitches, I was going to spring for it. Then I got an email saying the price was more than the website.

My question is if anyone knows the difference between their harness nad the OEM harness? the cost difference is 863 vs 1148.

I read that I can code the hitch backup camera (and I have the cable) but can I also do the following with their wiring and not the OEM one:

Stability Control - change when towing
Park Distance Control rear - disable when towing

Is there anything I would miss out on if I can code all 3 above?

I don't plan on doing much towing with the X5.

Thanks

[alphaod]

You need the OEM harness and factory coding to get stability control when towing if I'm not mistaken. Otherwise if you're just planning to add a bike rack or whatnot, then there is no need to get the OEM stuff.

[squish]

Thanks, I may tow a couple things and probably not a long distance or heavy, but I'm not sure if the additional stability control changes is worth $300.

[Johnhanson]

What they sell IS the OEM harness. Just call them or email with any questions. Super helpful and knowledgeable. By far the best hitch solution whether you are wired or not.

[taxjoc]

Originally Posted by Johnhanson

What they sell IS the OEM harness. Just call them or email with any questions. Super helpful and knowledgeable. By far the best hitch solution whether you are wired or not.

As I mentioned on "that other forum," I purchased the invisihitch with the OEM wiring harness. There was an excellent post with tons of pictures on the installation of this hitch. I plan to give a full supplement to that earlier detailed post. But, for now, I have to say that this is an excellent hitch with great instructions. A few of our fellow posters offered really good tips which I also followed during my install. I have some further tips I will offer in my supplement. The OEM wiring harness really is the way to go. It connects perfectly as if it was designed to be there (which, of course, it was). Sadly, after my install I did receive an error message in my instrument cluster and on the screen. The folks at invisihitch indicated that Okee over at code my car will be able to fix that and that some X5s have to be coded to accept the trailer wiring harness (I'm not so sure about that but we will see). I am in the process of scheduling an appointment with Okee so he can do his magic.

[mad_max]

I just called Invisihitch, they quoted me about $1100 including the wiring harness, is that what everyone paid? They also said no cutting is required on the bumper, just the aluminum heat shield underneath. But I saw on another thread here the OP had cut the bumper. Can someone clarify? I have a M-Sport.

[taxjoc]

Originally Posted by mad_max

I just called Invisihitch, they quoted me about $1100 including the wiring harness, is that what everyone paid? They also said no cutting is required on the bumper, just the aluminum heat shield underneath. But I saw on another thread here the OP had cut the bumper. Can someone clarify? I have a M-Sport.

I paid $1,219 and I received it the very next day via FedEx. The package included the hitch, bike rack mount, ball mount with 2" ball, BMW wiring harness, and the coding cable. I have an X5 with the M-sport package (not to be confused with an X5M). I did not have to do any cutting of the rear bumper or the aluminum heat shield. Perhaps invisihitch modified their wiring bracket to avoid having to cut the bumper. Mine fit very well, not even tightly. The hardest part for me was disconnecting the park distance control ("PDC") connector. Unplugging that stinking connector just killed me. Just picture this scene: my 4'10" wife holding the entire bumper up in such a way that I could reach in to unplug that connector. After pliers, screw drivers, and other tools (and a lot of four letter words) I finally got that connector disconnected after about 30 minutes fussing with it and many cuts and scrapes on my hands. That was the only hiccup for me on the install.

[neuro0]

Originally Posted by taxjoc

Sadly, after my install I did receive an error message in my instrument cluster and on the screen.

I have the same problem. I am waiting for invisihitch response to that issues.

Mine is "Trailer electrical error" despite I have not hooked up anything. Not happy after spent all this money.

[taxjoc]

Originally Posted by neuro0

I have the same problem. I am waiting for invisihitch response to that issues.

Mine is "Trailer electrical error" despite I have not hooked up anything. Not happy after spent all this money.

Yes, that was my error as well. Invisihitch referred me to Okee over at Code my car. The folks at invisihitch indicated that Okee is able to solve most of these problems. I have a call in to Okee now. I am very anxious to get this problem solved. Tired of seeing that warning sign on my instrument cluster.

[neuro0]

Talked to invisihitch today. Basically i got the same response like your. I am hoping coding will solve thua this problem.

[TZANIDO777]

Originally Posted by taxjoc

Yes, that was my error as well. Invisihitch referred me to Okee over at Code my car. The folks at invisihitch indicated that Okee is able to solve most of these problems. I have a call in to Okee now. I am very anxious to get this problem solved. Tired of seeing that warning sign on my instrument cluster.

I got this same message on my dash but it does not read out as an error, it just simply says "Trailer electrical wiring" and that is it...I hooked it up to my trailer and everything works...turn signals...brake lights everything works fine despite that message on my dash and after a while only the yellow triangle stays and the message stops showing up.

Curious to hear what this is all about.

[Class5Kayaker]

Hopefully my post linked below might help some of you getting "Trailer Lamp Malfunction" in the dash and/or the "Trailer Electrics Overload" errors on the iDrive after installing the OEM harness supplied from Invisihitch.

http://f15.bimmerpost.com/forums/sho...6&postcount=78

Try disconnecting and reconnecting the 2-Pin CANbus wire. Mine wasn't seated together perfectly. If that doesn't fix it, then triple check all your connections (making sure the harness wires are hooked up to the right connector pins). That has been the other cause of issues for other forum members.

I did not get any coding done. The only thing the coding should be needed for is the camera zoom function. Everything else happens automatically because the car recognizes the fact that the harness is hooked up.

[mad_max]

So the package comes with the hitch and bike rack mount?

[Class5Kayaker]

Originally Posted by mad_max

So the package comes with the hitch and bike rack mount?

The basic part is just the bumper replacement piece. Then you have an assortment of "al-a-cart" setups to pick from. Receiver hitch only (for bike racks), ball mount for trailers, InvisiHitch wiring harness (will not integrate fully and you won't get lamp malfunction indications which is a nice thing to have IMO, or disable the rear PDC), or OEM harness which gives you full integration (disables rear PDC when trailer lights are hooked up, tells you when trailer bulbs are inop, etc.).

If you're just looking for hauling bikes, you could do without a wiring harness and deal with the PDC sensors going crazy every time you put it in reverse. Some members opted for getting the harness even if they only plan on hauling bikes because you never know if you'll need to tow later and you have to completely take everything apart again to hook up the wiring harness. Plus you can hook up a trailer wiring tester when hauling bikes which will make the car think a trailer is hooked up and will disable the rear PDC sensors (and annoying alarms due to your bikes).

I went for the whole thing (bumper replacement, hitch receiver, ball mount and OEM wiring harness) and it cost ~$1200 USD. My main use is for our Thule Trailer Hitch Cargo Box which has trailer wires. It uses the bike-rack receiver hitch, but I also do occasional towing so I got the ball mount too (it's inexpensive). It was delivered in 3 days and took me about 4 hours to initially install (taking my time so I didn't ruin my brand new $65K car's paint/bumper molding). Then I had a slight problem slight problem that literally took me 10 minutes to fix once the InvisiHitch folks responded to my email.

[neuro0]

Originally Posted by Class5Kayaker

Hopefully my post linked below might help some of you getting "Trailer Lamp Malfunction" in the dash and/or the "Trailer Electrics Overload" errors on the iDrive after installing the OEM harness supplied from Invisihitch.

http://f15.bimmerpost.com/forums/sho...6&postcount=78

Try disconnecting and reconnecting the 2-Pin CANbus wire. Mine wasn't seated together perfectly. If that doesn't fix it, then triple check all your connections (making sure the harness wires are hooked up to the right connector pins). That has been the other cause of issues for other forum members.

Mine was installed by a recommended installer. I also double checked the wiring and the CANbus pin. They are all correct. Since the harness is BMW oem, I kinda expect no error will be shown on the dash.

I am hoping the coding will resolve the error, but I am not optimistic. Simply put, what is there to code? According to the invisihitch person I talked to, this error has been showing up frequently recently. We paid extra for the oem harness, this should be perfect integration to our BMW. Otherwise, may as well save some money and go for the invisihitch harness.

[mad_max]

I'm thinking of stopping by their Atlanta workshop on my way to the Smokies have it installed. They quoted $1400 installed. But the coding will still be done online by their coding guy. Has anyone in the Atlanta area have it installed by them and still have the warnings?

[spike5150]

Bmwusa lists both a wiring harness AND a trailer lighting module with the OEM hitch as required for towing. Maybe you're missing a piece?

[neuro0]

Originally Posted by mad_max

I'm thinking of stopping by their Atlanta workshop on my way to the Smokies have it installed. They quoted $1400 installed. But the coding will still be done online by their coding guy. Has anyone in the Atlanta area have it installed by them and still have the warnings?

Maybe you can have them coordinate with the remote coding guy to have it done at the same time. That way, they can work on it until you are satisfied if the error come up.
The actual wiring connection to the car itself is quite simple you are careful. It is just that some wires are quite small and you may put it in the wrong slot.

[neuro0]

Originally Posted by spike5150

Bmwusa lists both a wiring harness AND a trailer lighting module with the OEM hitch as required for towing. Maybe you're missing a piece?

The invisihitch BMW OEM package comes with both wiring harness and the lighting module. However, I only think the lighting module is BMW OEM. The wiring harness itself is made by invisihitch which nicely integrate into the hitch receiver.

[opasha]

This might take care of it for all of you having the instrument cluster error. I can help you or you can code it yourself. All you have to do it seems is:

Connect => Read FA (VO) => Activate FA (VO) => Read ECU (VCM) => Left-Click on AHM ECU => Click on "Detect CAF for SWE" => Select the CAFD matching your I-Level => Select OK => Right-Click on AHM (the ECU itself not the underlying CAFD) => Select CODE. VO coding the AHM ECU (I remember reading the importance of AHMU in E70 models etc) should take care of the warning. Let me know what happens.

http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=862629

[taxjoc]

Originally Posted by TZANIDO777

I got this same message on my dash but it does not read out as an error, it just simply says "Trailer electrical wiring" and that is it...I hooked it up to my trailer and everything works...turn signals...brake lights everything works fine despite that message on my dash and after a while only the yellow triangle stays and the message stops showing up.

Curious to hear what this is all about.

Well, I probably should not have said "error." Yes, mine is the same as you quote. Also, yes, my trailer lights work except the left turn signal blinks rapidly but the right turn signal blinks normally. Yes, it is that yellow triangle that stays on in the instrument cluster even after the message stops showing up that I want to go away.

[taxjoc]

Originally Posted by Class5Kayaker

Hopefully my post linked below might help some of you getting "Trailer Lamp Malfunction" in the dash and/or the "Trailer Electrics Overload" errors on the iDrive after installing the OEM harness supplied from Invisihitch.

http://f15.bimmerpost.com/forums/sho...6&postcount=78

Try disconnecting and reconnecting the 2-Pin CANbus wire. Mine wasn't seated together perfectly. If that doesn't fix it, then triple check all your connections (making sure the harness wires are hooked up to the right connector pins). That has been the other cause of issues for other forum members.

I did not get any coding done. The only thing the coding should be needed for is the camera zoom function. Everything else happens automatically because the car recognizes the fact that the harness is hooked up.

I actually followed your post very carefully. I did disconnect and reconnect the 2-pin CANbus wire four different times just to make sure. It did not fix my problem. I also checked all of my connections. I even took out the fuses and made sure they were good. I am confident I connected all of the wires properly. So, I am now hoping the folks at code my car can help. Stay tuned...