ML (W164) tow bar fitting

[Mars]

I've had a couple of independents provide me with quotes to have a towbar fitted to the wife's ML320CDi, and another from Mercedes themselves. Quotes are as follows:

Independent 1: ~£600 for tow bar and plug-compatible electrics but will require pre-cut aluminium undertray from Mercedes in addition

Independent 2: ~£600, no mention of undertray (I was hoping it could be cut and filed neatly - how hard can it be?)

Mercedes: £1806 but this includes an additional or replacement strengthened crossmember. This sounds like bull to me.


Has anyone any experiences with adding a tow bar to one of these please?

[Mars]

The Witter site does not give the option for vehicle-specific wiring which is normally about £200. I am very keen to go down this route as this will disable the parking sensors and foglight on the car when we're towing, as well as not interfering with the typically-complex electronics onboard. The Witter site only gives an option for 7-pin sockets too, whereas I'd prefer a single 13-pin socket and an adapter cable (all trailers/caravans in Europe have these 13-pin sockets already, and we're moving that way now too).

Also, I'd like to talk more about this additional crossmember and what it is supposed to do that gives me anything more than a standard Westfalia towbar will that's rated for 3500Kg. Could it be only required for the W163 perhaps? I admit, when talking with the chap at Mercedes, he didn't ask which version of the ML I had, and he mentioned he had recently installed a towbar to an ML. It could have been a W163 I suppose.


Thanks.

[Mars]

Thanks, I'll give it a look.

[Mars]

Hello again.

Well, we got through 2010 without *needing* to get a towbar (managed to work around it) but we will need one before the summer this year. Can anyone answer the question about the strengthened cross-member requirement MB claims is required for this model please? We're going to keep the car for a long time but still would rather not pay £1800 if the MB installation was no different to a 3rd party one.

Thanks.

[Mars]

Thanks. I think those right angles plates are what the Merc dealer might be referring to as "strengthened crossmember". Dunno, but looking at the fitting instructions for the Westfalia towbar for the W164 I reckon no such crossmember is required.

Thanks again.

P.S. Plug-in wiring is the way to go, then a quick reprogramme of the parking sensors courtesy of a Star box which is available for ~£600 on-line. At the end of the day I'm going to go with Towbar Express to fit mine I think because they have a Star box and quote the end-to-end job whereas others claim they can fit it but I'll have to buy an additional piece of trim, and then get it reprogrammed by a Merc dealer.

[Mars]

Towbar Express answered my questions most succinctly so got the business. A chap is on the drive now fitting it.

I've gone for a Westfalia detachable system, with dedicated plug-in vehicle-specific electrics. And Towbar Express has a Star box so they will be able to code the parking sensors and foglight (and reverse light?) so that they are inoperable when something is plugged into the electrics.

Pics to follow.

[Mars]

Straight off the van... this is a seriously heavy item, rated to tow up to 3500Kg. I can see why.



Bumper had to come off (obviously).



Bumper was reinforced from behind with this.



With the crash bar off (I don't know what it's really called) you can see the mountings have crumple zones built into them.

[Mars]

Now that everything's off... the "build" phase begins. This is a gasket to keep water out.



These arms help spread the load to more mounting points.



The main beam offered up.



I'll take more pics in a min... it's still a work in progress.

[Mars]

The cut for the socket is neat, and socket is well up out of the way, but the hitch itself needed a larger cut to allow for the handle that you turn to remove it. Not too bothered. I might make a slot-in cover for this when it's a bit warmer (by God it's cold out there today).



It's going dark. More pics might have to wait.

[Mars]

OK more pics tomorrow but it's finished. Neat job but I'm concerned the coding might not have worked. Am I supposed to have any notification that there's a towbar fitted on the dashboard? Or, do I only get notified if the trailer's lights fail?

I had hoped that the parking sensors would be disabled at the rear when the trailer is fitted. Again, that hasn't happened but the car has a parking sensor disable button the dash which works. As the car has this button, does it mean there's no automatic disabling of the rear sensors?

Finally, I'd hoped that either/both the fog light and/or the reversing light on the car would be disabled when there was a trailer attached, but that doesn't seem to be the case either.

[Mars]

Took some pics today. When crouching low you can just make out the cut for the towbar and the socket.



With the towbar attached.



I'm pleased with the result. It's very neat. And when it's attached it feels totally secure - absolutely no movement. It's rated at 3500Kg but feels as though you could pull a house with it.



The towbar itself is seriously heavy.



That's it..!!

[Mars]

Mine included a new SAM too.