X5 Hitch & OEM Harness & Coding Installation Retrospective

[happydude]

Originally Posted by kasb58

Hello, I have a 2016 F15. Has anyone been able to test the OEM wiring harness and plug successfully with a seven ping or four pin tester? I had the harness installed and coded by an independent shop but when I attach either tester, I see flashing LT, RT and RL. When probing with a meter, I see fluctuating voltage on the four pin. The seven pin tester does show 12v but again the RT, LT and RL are barely flashing more like a flicker. I am wondering if I need a trailer to properly test. Any suggestions? Thanks

I installed my own hitch. The testers I bought did the same. Took it to a hitch shop and they plugged it in and said everything was working properly.

[VTMike]

Can anyone confirm that an E70 hitch will work with an F85?

The manufacturer says that they have slight differences, but this particular manufacturer doesn't list an option for the E70 generation. I DO see a variety of manufacturers offering the same hitch model for both generations, so the differences have to be minor....

I'm interested in a never-used option that I've located for fairly short money, but I don't want to get into too much of a headache with the installation.

I'd love any insight or wisdom that anyone could offer.

[VTMike]

Originally Posted by VTMike

Can anyone confirm that an E70 hitch will work with an F85?

For anyone that might have the same question, this installation went just fine.
I had a body shop do it, but they said it was easy. No cutting required and everything was where it needed to be.

[handygirlatx]

Originally Posted by TheMane

I needed a mount and bracket for the 7 and 4 pole trailer connection that comes with the harness, so bought the HM40978 and the CURT 57204, along with two right-angle brackets from the hardware store to build a mount that fit perfectly. (edited to update, originally said CURT 57202 which turned out to be too long)

Thank you for the excellent post. Can you add a few pics showing how you installed the bracket to the hitch? I've ordered the parts you mentioned and I'll just make it work but a picture is worth a bunch of words (and sweat and toil.)

[scotty339]

Originally Posted by handygirlatx

Thank you for the excellent post. Can you add a few pics showing how you installed the bracket to the hitch? I've ordered the parts you mentioned and I'll just make it work but a picture is worth a bunch of words (and sweat and toil.)

I used the same brackets and mounted it under the bumper. Its out of the way and not visible from the rear which I like.

I put it on after the bumper was replaced and it was a bit of a PITA, albeit it doable. I'd install the brackets and mounts onto the hitch before you put the bumper on if an option.

So in the picture, you can see the Curt L L bracket is attached to the support tube of the hitch with the included band clamp. This was the hardesrt part to get this clamp to bite in this tight space. Once the clamp is started, get it snug, as if it has no pressure on it it will pop open. From the Curt L bracket, coming down into the Hopkins 4/7 pin bracket. bolt the two pieces together. I had to do this after as space was limited, but if you can bolt them together before installing the band clamp you'll save some time. I used the included hardware to attach.

Hope this helps.

[handygirlatx]

Thank you Scotty339. I can clearly see what you did there and it should be a big help. The parts are due tomorrow so I will leave the bumper off until then.

[tukon]

Thanks for the comprehensive overview! I ended up going with the Stealth hitch install, paired with the OEM harness (both to simplify coding and since it has both 4-pin and 7-pin native connectors).

Now I just need to get it coded...

[hpram99]

Originally Posted by TheMane

I also ran a diff on the specific codings that changed if anyone's interested.

Mind sharing? I'm trying to remove previous codings and a diff would be helpful.

[Vangroover]

So I am trying to decipher the color coding of the harness I have against the OEM instructions. I have red, orange, red-yellow, and red-blue (or could be red-violet:



I was able to determine some of the colors in the guide based on this chart:


The OEM guide is this:


I do not know where the Orange cable should go or what that color maps to. Also, as mentioned above, I am not sure if I have red-blue or red-violet. The solid red cable and the red-yellow cable are clearly defined, but the others not so much.

Any ideas?

Thanks,
Jeff

[m4forum]

I was able to install the harness and AAG module but cannot see the module into ISTA or Esys. double check there is power to the module and canbus is connected. both are new. any clues why aag module doesnt show up?

[m4forum]

I found the issue. one of the canbus leads were not properly inserted into the connector. all good.
as reported on other posts AAG doesnt allow to inject CAFD so need to flash it using Esys (there is guide online) .... the only challenge part on my case was not to read VIN before hitting start. went perfectly. all good.
tks for the help!

[LuvMyX5TowVehicle]

@ m4forum - I have the exact problem you described. New OEM wiring harness and AAG module. When we go to code, we cannot see the module.

I saw your post and ran out and disconnected the can bus and looked at the leads on both sides and plugged it all back in but still no luck. How did you go about troubleshooting the issue?

[LuvMyX5TowVehicle]

My issue was resolved by unplugging all the plugs from the back of the fuse box, the plug behind the fuse box, the can bus, the brake controller, etc and replugging it all back in and double checking fuse contacts. I made no changes, but somewhere there was a contact not being made so the AAG module could not be seen from the OBDII connection. Once the all the contacts were working, the "electrical system" error was on the dash and all the trailer lights worked. Then OK from codemycar was able to flash the AAG module and complete the coding.

[rd3500]

Originally Posted by TheMane

1. add K235 to the HO-WORT folder and write the FA/FP to car
2. VO-Code entire car
   

I have been doing a lot of research about this, I am not clear if you also added 235 to salapa element before VO-code or having K235 into ho-wort is enough.

Thanks for the great guide, it is the one that helped me the most.

[rd3500]

now I am afraid to VO code if I don't know the answer

[mtfboaz]

I can't add K235 to the HO-Wort folder. Anyone know why?