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Subject Topic: BMW 520/ 530 touring and Bailey Cartegena Post Reply Post New Topic
Persongasman15
12/2/2015 at 12:37pm
 Location: Wales
 Outfit: Autotrail Cheyenne 840D View gasman15's Profile View Profile   Reply to gasman15 Reply   Quote gasman15 Quote  
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Hello everybody.
My brain is now getting maxed out about what I can tow and what I can't, and why two cars which are basically the same 1 will be acceptable and one won't.
I am thinking of buying a new Bailey Cartegena for doing the the "big" tour with the Mrs and a change in life, but want a car thats sensible to tow with.
I want a Discovery or Shogun, but they are priced so ridiculously and expensive to run that I want something more normal.
As we have had BMW's in the past we are thinking of an 09 age 520d se Touring auto, or a 530d se Touring auto as they are big enough for my personal tastes, and of a standard I want.
I have had Mercs (lovely), Volvo V70 (%4£* pile of £$%^"), and don't really need a 4x4 as sometimes the tax gets stupid, and the economy even more so.
So why does a 530 apparently fit the kerbweight but a 520 not when they have basically the same 6 cylinder engine? Could I tow with this 520 or will I float off to never never land?
Any recommendations for anything else - just don't mention the V word or my wife will explode (again!).
Thanks for your help


Personkawasakiversys
12/2/2015 at 12:43pm
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Whatever car you decide on, make sure your cartagena has normal bulbs in the rear light clusters, see all the posts on here about them!


Personkawasakiversys
12/2/2015 at 12:45pm
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By the way, have you looked at a pickup, tow anything, fantastic prices for the top of the range ones, and good fuel economy and bullet proof engines.
Chuck wet awnings in the back, in fact anything in the back and you also have four wheel drive capacity when you need it for muddy camp sites.


PersonJuanHuNose
12/2/2015 at 1:09pm
 Location: None Entered
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A 520D doesn`t have a 6 cylinder engine, its a four-pot.

The 520D has (from memory) a 1800kg tow limit, but with a MTPLM of 1717kgs I would regard the Bailey as too heavy. The difference in weight between the four and six pot motors isn`t that much and I would say the 530D isn`t heavy enough either.

I`m sure both will pull the van, but for something as heavy as the Cartagena I would be looking for something a bit heavier as a tug.


Personjanus
12/2/2015 at 1:12pm
 Location: Rochdale
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If we were more aware of the weights it might be easier to comment. However, from what you say I assume that one is under 85% and the other over. To be honest there will not be much in it and if I were you I would not get too hung up about the 85% recommendation.

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Bill

For a licence dated 1997 or later you must add together the plated max weight of the caravan and trailer, if the total is 3500 or less you can tow it. You may even tow a caravan with a MAM greater than the cars unladen mass the restriction was removed in 2013

Mondeo Titanium 140 tdci


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PersonJuanHuNose
12/2/2015 at 1:28pm
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It appears that there is an 80kg difference in weight between the 520D (towing limit 2000kg not 1800kgs as I previously said - haven`t had mine for 18 months so had forgotten!)and 530D.

Both will do the job, but with towing matches of 102% and 97% respectively I would be looking for some thing heavier for a `grand tour`. Both have self-levelling suspension which is good, but the Bailey is a large van with a big `sail` area.


Personsunshinetours
13/2/2015 at 2:25pm
 Location: sunny south east!
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If you were going that route I would be loading up car and keeping van light to keep your weight difference as big as possible.

The 530 will have noticeably more power and smoothness than the 520 which as mentioned above are not the same engines at all

If budget allows what about a 520 or 530 5 series GT which is a heavier car than saloon or touring. Very nearly went for one last time - very underrated because of maybe its looks. Also has self levelling suspension I believe


Persongasman15
13/2/2015 at 4:49pm
 Location: Wales
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Thanks for your reply people, much appreciated information provided to keep the brain matter expanding even more.
What always worries me though is that whilst I'm a very experienced tower of stuff, I'm confused, so what the hell do novices think.


Personkazo2014
13/2/2015 at 6:57pm
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personally I would say to forget the bmw, its far to close to the limits for towing safely, I don't know where you have been looking for a disco/shogun but plenty of them about at a comparible price to the bmw and much more upto the job of towing the caravan you want, personally tho I would avoid the discovery, I don't have and endless pit of a bank account which is what you generally need with landrovers so that narrows it down to a shogun


Personcheckley1973
14/2/2015 at 2:55pm
 Location: Sheffield
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Have you considered an x5 3.0d ?
Plenty about at similar money to a 530 touring and will tow almost any caravan. We have one and return 24mpg towing which isn't much worse than my Audi A4 2.0 Tdi towing same van.


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Personeartheater
17/2/2015 at 4:52pm
 Location: Wakefield Yorkshire
 Outfit: Bailey Unicorn 3 Cartagena View eartheater's Profile View Profile   Reply to eartheater Reply   Quote eartheater Quote  
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Have you considered a Merc Benz ML ? I have on order a U3 Cartagena and will use my Ml to tow it. I have uprated the tow weight from 1717 kg to1800 with my dealer, giving me a usable allowance of 246 kg.

The Ml gives great power torque with its 3 litre engine and i get around 34 mpg solo, and expect around 25 mpg towing, which i can happily live with .

Its matcb comes out st 78.58%, and its max tow weight is 3,500 kg
Graham

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Honi sat Qui Mal Y pense



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