Today I installed the stealth hitch on my M40i, it is awesome!

Very nice job! I really like the way the receiver is removable. Question: Was it very difficult removing the rear bumper facia?

That really is a Stealth install, cannot even see it in the second picture (wink)!

I installed mine over the weekend with help from my dad. The job wasn't hard but there a few times where you'll need a second set of hands. Having the proper pry-tools helps a lot too. It took us most of the afternoon, but we are amateurs and moved very slowly/carefully. The provided instruction were decent but were written for the standard X3 with no spare tire so there were some steps that were a inaccurate or a bit confusing for my sport bumper and space-saver wheel trim. Nothing too bad though.

I haven't had a chance to put it to the test yet, but the fitment is great.

Here's a good pic of what it looks like under the bumper:


Midway through the install with the bumper cover off:

On the hidden hitch is there a place for the electrical plug for trailer lights? Also, because of the vertical mounting of the hitch tongue do these require anti-rattle devices.

For reference, on a standard add-on hitch for my wife's CX5 added a electrical plug was a PITA and it required an anti-rattle device for the hitch mount or it clunked over most bumps when towing a small trailer.

dereksM3 wrote

On the hidden hitch is there a place for the electrical plug for trailer lights? Also, because of the vertical mounting of the hitch tongue do these require anti-rattle devices.

For reference, on a standard add-on hitch for my wife's CX5 added a electrical plug was a PITA and it required an anti-rattle device for the hitch mount or it clunked over most bumps when towing a small trailer.

The wiring harness is included and the plug is visible in the first photo on my last post; left of the hitch receiver. It is mounted on same bolts used to install the hitch receiver.

As for the anti-rattle, I don't have first hand experience yet but they make two hitch attachments and advertise the ball mount as designed to avoid the clunking you described. The 2" square receiver is not so it will be interesting to see how that works out with my motorcycle carrier. I got both attachments but don't plan to trailer often so I probably won't put that to the test for some time.

deladude wrote

The wiring harness is included and the plug is visible in the first photo on my last post; left of the hitch receiver. It is mounted on same bolts used to install the hitch receiver.

As for the anti-rattle, I don't have first hand experience yet but they make two hitch attachments and advertise the ball mount as designed to avoid the clunking you described. The 2" square receiver is not so it will be interesting to see how that works out with my motorcycle carrier. I got both attachments but don't plan to trailer often so I probably won't put that to the test for some time.

Thanks for the input that is good to know. I'm getting close to placing an order for the X3 M40i and can't decide on OEM hitch or Stealth hitch. I tow a small motorcycle (dirt bike) trailer so having that integration is important. For as much as I tow though having it removable and not visible is a nice feature. I look forward to your feedback when you tow with it.

deladude wrote

I installed mine over the weekend with help from my dad. The job wasn't hard but there a few times where you'll need a second set of hands. Having the proper pry-tools helps a lot too. It took us most of the afternoon, but we are amateurs and moved very slowly/carefully. The provided instruction were decent but were written for the standard X3 with no spare tire so there were some steps that were a inaccurate or a bit confusing for my sport bumper and space-saver wheel trim. Nothing too bad though.

I haven't had a chance to put it to the test yet, but the fitment is great.

Here's a good pic of what it looks like under the bumper:

Cool, thanks for the pics -- looks like a real smart setup. Does this let you keep the kick-to-open sensors for the tailgate?

skier219 wrote

Cool, thanks for the pics -- looks like a real smart setup. Does this let you keep the kick-to-open sensors for the tailgate?

I’ve researched this product, and yes, the kick to open remains operational per Stealth. https://stealthhitches.com/products/bmw-x3-f25-2018-present

XXX3 wrote

I’ve researched this product, and yes, the kick to open remains operational per Stealth. https://stealthhitches.com/products/bmw-x3-f25-2018-present

From my experience so far it works fine with no hitch attachment in place but did not work when the hitch was actually attached to the receiver. I only gave it a few kicks so maybe I just needed to be further away from the hitch.

I was actually trying to figure out how the sensor worked when I took the bumper apart and it appears to be a strip of wire that runs behind the bumper cover and spans most of the bumper so it might work from the right angles.

I put the stealth hitch to the test over the weekend and it did alright. The lights all work (I wasn't sure if I did the wiring correctly) and the hitch didn't fail so that's great, but it didn't pair so well with the bike carrier I was planning to use.

Ground clearance is a bit of a concern, but I'm more worried about the long-term impact on the rear suspension if I use a bike carrier regularly. The rear was sagging a lot more than I would like and it made the steering feel very 'floaty' on the highway. Technically the ~50lb bike carrier and ~350lb motorcycle don't exceed the factory listed tongue weight but the effective weight is probably higher due to the bike being about a foot away from the hitch itself, creating a lot of extra leverage. What do you guys think - too much sag? (see photos below)

Comfort access definitely still works too; which is good and bad as it kept inadvertently opening while I was installing and adjusting the hitch. It happened one time with the bike on the carrier which luckily didn't scratch the tailgate, this time. The only way I have found to avoid this is to take the key out of my pocket when working on the hitch. PDC going nuts was also slightly annoying but I got over it pretty quickly.

I personally wouldn't haul my bike like that, and it's a light KTM dirt bike. I thought about it for some time and ended up going with a 3-rail motorcycle trailer. Most of these CUV's don't have the proper frame rigidity to tow this type of carrier. Probably work for short trips but I would sure be hesitant driving down the HWY or rough roads with that.

One thing to note as you mentioned your effective tongue weight is quite a bit higher than 400lbs. There are some online calculators that can help determine the moment load you are seeing. Depending on how long that fulcrum distance is you are probably easily seeing 600-800lbs at the hitch location.

No way. Get yourself a small trailer. Not enough ground clearance and too much effective tongue weight.

You are gonna mess some $h!t up like that.

I agree with he others, does not good. Look at how much squat you have on the rear suspension compared to the front and your static. When you hit some bumps you might bottom out the rear suspension. Plus, you have added more load to the rear tires, this will cause heat build-up and you do not want this! Get a sharp looking trailer to match your car, you'll be safe and will have zero worries.

I’m with these guys. That is way to close to the ground and if you even take a steep drive you are probably going drag. Get your self a 4x7 trailer and you’ll be golden. That’s what I used to haul my atv and they are pretty cheap at Tractor Supply.

I use one of these for my dirt bike and it works well:

Untitled by dbsears, on Flickr

Need to obviously have a bit of space for it. Trailer is about 350lbs and easily movable by hand, tongue weight is probably about 100lbs. My wife's CX5 with 185hp towes it just fine so the M40i wouldn't even notice it. I find it a much safer and proper way to tow bikes...those hitch carries I've heard too many horror stories.

Thanks for all the feedback and opinions.

I wanted to try the bike carrier out first because I don't have space for a trailer where I live, I barely have space for my bike! The good news is my friend across town has plenty of room and just bought a trailer that I can use so I'm not without options.

That same friend was asking about the possibility of putting airbags, or stiffer springs, in the rear to increase the capacity but that's a non-starter for me as I don't want to do anything to diminish the handling characteristics.

At least its good to confirm the Stealth Hitch has a much higher towing capacity than our vehicle

The other comments are right -- by eyeball, you are probably adding about 2X the weight of the bike in effective tongue weight -- too much!

Quick Q: does the rack interfere with the parking sensors? If I install a bike rack on there, will it be constantly triggering sensors that I am close to an object?

noweyout wrote

Quick Q: does the rack interfere with the parking sensors? If I install a bike rack on there, will it be constantly triggering sensors that I am close to an object?

Yes, with my rack the sensors were in the red 100% of the time. You can disable the sound using the menu system but its a manual process you'd have to do each time you want to mount the rack. I'm not sure if the OEM hitch handles this any better?

I am looking into purchasing the stealth hitch for my future X3 instead of ordering the factory one.

I noticed on their site that there are two options for the electric harness. Stealth and active. Does anyone knows the difference and what is the benefit of the active one? It is 670+$ So there must be some advantages!

Thank you

M.

deladude wrote

Yes, with my rack the sensors were in the red 100% of the time. You can disable the sound using the menu system but its a manual process you'd have to do each time you want to mount the rack. I'm not sure if the OEM hitch handles this any better?

Yes, the factory installed hitch would disable the rear parking sensor.

There are a few other implementation with the factory hitch option such as hitch cam view (can be enabled by coding) and changes to the stability control system to detect and counter swaying of attached trailer.

So despite stealth hitch may look more "stealthy", I think factory hitch is better/safer if you plan to pull a trailer.