BMW X3 MK3 Factory Tow bar

Can't help you on the clearance but can tell you it won't come fully wired.  We were considering a 5 Series Touring, dealer wanted an additional £600 to finish the wiring.

I can’t help either, Fysh, but good to see you.

I`ve had three towbars of late a Westaflia detachable fitted to a VW by a towbar fitter, a Mercedes retractable factory fit and a Volvo retractable factory fit and I would say the distance from the centre of the towball to the bumper is almost identical which does leave little room for error. Some sporty versions such as the VW Tiguan R Design are particularily tight from what I`ve seen on posts.

Hi TW and everyone else.

I have been trying to find a new towcar for ages now but still getting frustrated. I first came close to purchasing the latest VW Allroad Passat only to be told by VW customer services the factory tow bar has insufficient clearance for a caravan. Strike that one. I then got very close to a Kia Sorrento only to kind that Kia had stuck an adblue tank right across the mounting points for a tow bar. Most recently been looking at the Beemer. Yes BB is correct, the wiring is not complete. £45k and  they hold their hands out for more. They dont tell you that in the tow car of the year!

Now I am back to square one. My Freelander is still going strong but its now well beyond the time to move it on.

Cannot believe how hard it is to buy a decent tow car.

How about a Volvo ? - XC60 or 90 or V90 CC - no towbar problems - and if you go for nearly new dealers can retrofit factory fit electric towbar.

edit: that is an astonishing admission from VW, until recently we had the previous Alltrack, the worst thing about it was the rediculous clearance between the towball and bumper (less than 1cm clearance when hitched), virtually impossible to hitch up without a mover especially with the DSG gearbox.

I nearly fell off my perch. After VW being vague, I asked for the distance between the centre of the tow ball and the bumper and although I don' t recall the numbers now it was less than mentioned on the Alko web site. They had no answer.

Good call on the Volvo. I will look into that. 

I can't speak specifically for the X3, but I have an X4 which is basically an X3 in a slightly different guise, and I've just measured 70mm clearance between the ball and the rear bumper on my car (or 95mm to the centre of the ball) and that's more than adequate. And yes, it's the factory-fitted swivelling towbar that I'm talking about.

Well here is 5 Series (silver) poor IMO and another VAG car the Kodiak (Black) terrible.

The other clearance that often gets forgotten is the vertical.  Alko require 60mm - here is the Kodiak again - very very tight.  It astonishes me that manufacturers can't do better than this.

I then got very close to a Kia Sorrento only to kind that Kia had stuck an adblue tank right across the mounting points for a tow bar.

unbelievable, and such a great tow car, I have a 2013 model no adblue, great position for fixed tow bar, tows like a dream.