Trailer Hitch Installation - 2002 BMW X5

Installation of a Trailer Hitch on a 2002 BMW X5

Today on this 2002 BMW x5 we are going to install part number 75492 from Draw-Tite. This also applies to part number 87405 from Hidden Hitch.  It is all going to mount up behind here and to this cross member here. Okay take off the bumper cover and there are two main bolts that are right behind this plastic piece here again this part is also removable so we can just pop that out and there is a bolt with a torque setting here that we will have to remove to take off the bumper. Then one above each exhaust pipe. Next we are going to off those screws that go to the fender well and bumper also.

Now go ahead and take the bumper bolts off. We will use a torque spit and the torque spit size is actually T55. Now we have to undo the fasteners here these just kinda snap into place so you can just pop them down and pull them out. This whole assembly should just pop right off. The next thing we need to do is remove these bolts all along here. Again, they use a special torque spit and this time it is a different size. It is a T50. Next we will need to make a mark on our cross member right here. What we are going to do is measure from this edge forward about and inch and 1/ 8th. We will make a line going across. It will not be centered on the beam it will be over towards the front of the vehicle. What that is going to do is make sure when we put our hitch up temporarily that it is in the right spot.

Next what we are going to do is mount the hitch up temporarily to the two outside bolt holes and just for right now we are going to install the bushings and the hardware to hold the hitch into place.  We are going to just snug these down a little past finger tight to hold the hitch into position. All right we have our hitch in position right now the hitch will act as a guide to tell us where to put the hole at and how far to go back. We will just go ahead and drill the pilot hole on that line we made earlier. So we will turn around and make that a half inch hole. Next we are going to take the hitch back off because we need to do that to make room for the bigger sized bit that we are going to use on the cross member. Now with the hitch out of the way we are going to drill it out next with the 11/16th bit. You have to have that size for a rivet or else it will not work. Now we can go ahead and put the hitch back up one more time and that should be the last time. Again we are going to put these in only finger tight because we still need to move the hitch around a little bit.

Now we are going to go ahead and work on the forward attachment and there are a few extra steps we need to take. First off we are going to install the rivet nut and push it right into place. Then whats going to happen is we will put our bolt and conical tooth washer on the bottom. Then we are going lock washer on and it has to be a lock washer against the rivet nut and just thread it together. What we are going to have to is hold this up and tighten it down then we are going to torque the bolt as specified in the instructions, that way that will seat the rivet nut in the frame. That flat washer and that lock washer will be removed then we will re assemble it. Now you can see the rivet is firmly in place we will take out those 2 washers and then we will put the hitch back up. Now we got everything started and snugged down we can go ahead and torque down the bolts as specified in the instructions. With all the bolts installed and torqued down we can go ahead and put the bumper cover back into place. Now we have to cut our fascia here to make room for the hitch. There is no rule to this so you would just want to cut out a notch big enough so you can fit your fascia back into place. I would suggest going up 3 or 4 inches and cut a rectangle shape out of it. Also stay inside of these latches right here these snap points. There you have it for part number 75492 from Draw- Tite.