» Site Navigation | | » Recent Threads | | 1999 M3 Swap 09-07-2023 10:10 PM 06-01-2024 03:04 PM 7 Replies, 409,661 Views | | My 318ti build 05-21-2024 04:48 PM 05-28-2024 06:42 PM 1 Replies, 3,391 Views | | OMG!OMG! 05-28-2024 08:53 AM 05-28-2024 08:53 AM 0 Replies, 1,328 Views | | | | | 09-17-2013, 01:00 PM | #1 | Member Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Kansas City, MO Posts: 57 | 318ti Trailer Hitches . . . not that hard to find As you know, years ago Da'Lan made a tow hitch specifically for the 318ti, and then for some reason stopped making it. Since then it seems that every other Ti guy out there is looking for a hitch with no luck. I've seen numerous threads of people asking for a hitch option without anyone presenting a solution . . . Well, here it is. It turns out that the Curt Z3 hitch # 11748 is a perfect fit! I ended up ordering one off of ebay for about $257.00. http://www.curtmfg.com/part/11748 I originally expected that I would have to modify it in some way but it ended up fitting perfectly! Here is a copy of the installation instructions to help explain the installation steps: Installation is pretty basic: You'll want to loosen each rear torx bumper bolt from the underside of the left and right bumper shocks. The bolts should drop straight out. Then you just slide the bumper back to allow you to get each horizontal bumper strut (as illustrated in the instructions above). You really do need to do this in order to get any tooling up there at all. From this point its easy, just set each end of the hitch on top of the bumper strut bars, slide the u-bolts around the bumper strut and through the hitch, secure with the nuts, and put the bumper back on. The only tricky part of the install is attaching the tail bracket to the trunk cross beam. There is no internal access through the top side of the trunk to get inside the cross beam (like whats pictured above). Instead I drilled holes all the way through the bottom of the cross beam and through the trunk into the car. I used my own 4" bolts to pass through a small 3x5 steel plate I used inside the trunk as a washer, through the cross beam and out through the underside of the car. They I used 2 more regular washers and lock nuts on the underside of the car. All in all I'm very happy with how it turned out. The hitch seems plenty sturdy and will allow me to easily pull my race trailer to the track. Now everyone can stop hunting for one and just go get one. | | | 05-14-2014, 10:34 PM | #2 | Junior Member Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: San Antonio Texas Posts: 9 | Yup. what he said. Bolts that go inside bumper to bumper struts are difficult to get tight, you have to get the right length bolts for the unibody.. but after the drilling and grinding, IT fit and the inverted hitch works ! | | | 08-03-2014, 11:08 PM | #3 | Member Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Montgomery, AL Posts: 50 | Guys, quit wasting your time putting a hitch on a Ti. Go out & buy a used Silverado pickup. Just kidding, Stu | | | 08-22-2014, 06:19 PM | #4 | Member Join Date: Mar 2013 Location: Pelham, NY, USA Posts: 90 | Hitch But when you put the bike carrier in it the bikes scrape on the ground. Just kidding | | | 06-11-2015, 09:43 PM | #5 | Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Georgia Posts: 595 | Z3 hitch Will this fit the TI? __________________ 1996 Ti 280k miles and still going.... 1993 964 - holding on to this one 2001 Burban, 240k miles 2018 Suburban Z71 Last edited by bazar01; 09-18-2016 at 03:57 PM. | | | 06-11-2015, 11:02 PM | #6 | Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Georgia Posts: 595 | Found a used 318TI specific hitch for $150. Can't wait to get it and install. __________________ 1996 Ti 280k miles and still going.... 1993 964 - holding on to this one 2001 Burban, 240k miles 2018 Suburban Z71 Last edited by bazar01; 09-18-2016 at 03:57 PM. | | | 06-18-2015, 10:23 AM | #7 | Junior Member Join Date: May 2015 Location: Lincolnshire Posts: 1 | I have just pulled one off my 318ti in preparation for racing it so if anyone in the UK needs a towbar for the a e36 ti let me know! | | | 06-29-2015, 01:02 AM | #8 | Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Georgia Posts: 595 | Got it today and had the rear part installed on the rear bumper. The front brace is a little tricky so it has to wait until I can drill two holes close to the diff. __________________ 1996 Ti 280k miles and still going.... 1993 964 - holding on to this one 2001 Burban, 240k miles 2018 Suburban Z71 | | | 03-16-2016, 11:05 PM | #9 | Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 1,895 | This is an old thread, but I am considering this. My question is how heavy can we pull? My TI is an automatic and I would like to tow my very light track motorcycle, so the weight would be minimal, but still I would like to have an idea of the safe range with trailer weight included. __________________ ... ʎɐqǝ uo pɹɐoqʎǝʞ ɐ ʎnq ı ǝɯıʇ ʇsɐן ǝɥʇ sı sıɥʇ | | | 03-19-2016, 03:01 PM | #10 | Junior Member Join Date: May 2014 Location: Ohio Posts: 22 | Towing capacity is 2810 lbs including trailer according to: http://m.mynrma.com.au/motoring-serv...ws/bmw/179.htm __________________ 1998 BMW 318ti 1995 BMW 318ti 1992 Subaru SVX 1992 Honda Del Sol (SOLD) | | | 03-19-2016, 06:10 PM | #11 | Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 1,895 | THANKS! Quote: Originally Posted by S3thW | __________________ ... ʎɐqǝ uo pɹɐoqʎǝʞ ɐ ʎnq ı ǝɯıʇ ʇsɐן ǝɥʇ sı sıɥʇ | | | 03-27-2016, 07:44 PM | #12 | Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2016 Location: Long Island Posts: 4 | Hello All - new to this forum, glad to have found it! My first question - does this hitch fit on a 2 door? Looking under the car it would seem that the spare wheel would be in the way, and I can't tell if the pictures above show a wheel. Any help would be greatly appreciated. | | | | Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests) | | Posting Rules | You may not post new threads You may not post replies You may not post attachments You may not edit your posts HTML code is Off | | | |