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      05-09-2016, 05:01 PM   #77
Class5Kayaker
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Drives: 2016 BMW F15, 2014 Porsche 991
Join Date: May 2016
Location: Florida

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Hey everyone,

So I installed my InvisiHitch this past weekend. This thread made it a fairly uneventful process. I called the folks at ExecuHitch on Monday morning because their website didn't actually specify the year of vehicle so I wanted to confirm I got the hitch for the F15 and not the E70 (not sure if they even make it for the E70 any more, but wanted to be safe). I ordered the InvisiHitch along with the OEM Wiring Harness, the 2" Hitch Receiver (for racks (I'm using it for our Thule Trailer Hitch Cargo Box), as well as the 2" Ball Mount for the occasional towing we do. Two days later and FedEx showed up with the box!

The instructions they included were very detailed and made the install a breeze. I removed my back tires and drilled out the plastic rivets so I wouldn't have the center of the rivets floating around in my wheel well. Disassembly of the bumper cover was straight-forward following the instructions they provided along with the tips from the others who have provided input on the previous 3 pages of this thread. Shout-out to skalberti for his initial post on his install experience and ramsal for his tip on mounting the connector further in so you don't have to cut the bumper molding at all (although I think it might have just barely fit on a non M-Sport the way it's set up in the instructions).

I did encounter one problem once it was all hooked up. Initially I got a malfunction warning in the iDrive and the extended display in the dash and HUD. I'll post those details in my next post, but I wanted to give a huge "THANKS" to Daryl at InvisiHitch. I emailed him on Sunday night expecting a reply today, but he responded to my email within an hour!! So I went out and fixed the problem and everything is working perfectly now. Talk about awesome customer service (which is rare these days)!!!! I still need to do the coding for the zoom function on the camera. They include a coding cable along with the contact info of a guy who will code the "bonus" functions for the OEM harness along with a slew of other functions free of charge (included in the cost of the hitch) if you want him to do that (just about everything on the coding cheat sheet from what I could tell). I'm going to go ahead and start coding anyway so the trailer functions will be a good start instead of using the free remote coding that was included.

Here's a couple tips that haven't been mentioned yet (I don't think):
- For the wiring harness inside the car, run the harness up BEHIND the large loom of wires that's already back there before hooking everything up. This will make for the cleanest install once you tidy everything up. I did not do this and disconnecting the four power wires from the back of the fuse panel once they're connected is a ton of work. Just run them where I've indicated with the yellow arrow in skalberti's pic and you'll have an install that looks like it came from the factory that way.


-Put your bumper cover back on and reconnect the PDC sensors before connecting the wiring harness inside the car. Make sure to fire up the car and make sure your PDC functions properly before you connect the harness. I decided to do this after reading Bo2Shelby's post and that also helped me eliminate that as being a possible part of the problem later on once I wired the harness to the car.

- Have a helper there to tell you everything he'd do differently (lol) but mainly for when you remove the four final tabs for the bumper cover in the center of the bumper and pull the cover off. The helper is also useful when initially placing the InvisiHitch on the 8 bolts on the car so you don't damage that super-soft BMW paint as well as initially placing the bumper cover back on the car. Other than that, keep giving him beers to try and reduce the amount of "helpful hints" he gives you.
Other than that, I really have nothing else to input. Awesome product, and it truly is invisible. I've attached a few pics below to give you an idea of what you're buying (if you purchase one) as well as how hidden it truly is.

Original Impact Bumper:



InvisiHitch Mounted:



Bumper Cover Back On (I'm actually downhill a bit on a sloped driveway):



Close Up Shot (I was squatting down at bumper level when taking this):



Ground Level Looking Up (you can finally see it):

__________________


2016 BMW F15 xDrive 35i - Imperial Blue Metallic
2014 Porsche 991- Sapphire Blue Metallic

Last edited by Class5Kayaker; 06-13-2016 at 04:38 PM.. Reason: Correct Typo
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