[Schmed]

In preparation for a camping trip in two weeks, I figured that I'd get a brake controller wired up on the X3.

After a few days of looking at the X3 wiring, and talking to trailer people, I've come to the conclusion that BMW does not want you using a brake controller with the X3.... which means, they really don't expect you to tow anything more than 1500 lbs.

What stinks about the whole situation is that:

1. They tell you the X3 can tow 3500 lbs
2. They willingly sell you a $1400 tow package
3. They make it incredibly difficult to install a brake controller, which is required for towing anything >1500 lbs.

Not only do they fail to provide any type of wiring harness for brake controls, but the 7-pin connector has 6 wires going to it from the wiring harness inside the vehicle. What wire is missing? Brake output to the trailer. In fact, the Pollak connector has a blank installed in that receptacle. See the hole that's missing a wire?:



But... luckily... Tekonsha makes a brake controller that eliminates the need for me to wire anything from the overly-complicated BMW wiring harness. Too bad it's $300 and I already own a $150 Tekonsha Prodigy brake controller. I just hope it works correctly.

I guess that's the price we pay for BMW's superior engineering. </sarcasm>

Interestingly, my wife's E70 X5 has the factory tow package that includes a very nice electrical connector that you simply wire to your brake controller. They even include the spade connectors to make it all neat and tidy. The BMW Engineer that designed that setup was probably on vacation when the X3 towing setup was being designed.