New 2019 Micro Minnie 2100BH

[Boiler_Up]

Hello everyone,

First post, new Minnie owner. I want to say thanks to all who contribute to this forum as there is a wealth of information to sift through.

My wife, 14 year old son, 11 year old daughter, and a 5 year old Shi-tzu are looking forward to many new adventures in our Micro.

I will say that if you are looking to tow your vehicle with a hidden hitch (for SUVs that are not usually equipped), I would recommend Stealth. Great service!!

So far without taking it home we have added: Bike rack (yes I have read the threads, and no I will not be putting any bikes on it), Max Air roof vents, extra battery, backup camera (Voyager seems really small.. 4" monitor?), and slide out automatic awning.

If your in Indiana the dealership in Bunker Hill has been fantastic so far. Cant speak of warranty work as obviously just a new purchase, however, they spent 5 hours trying to get the brakes on the trailer to work to find out it was a faulty BMW module (from dealership). Kudos to at least 2 hours overtime without me asking. They were supposed to close at 3 and we left around 5pm.

Anyway, I am babbling. Excited to get the family out and about!!

Anyone else replace all of the exterior brake and running lights with LEDs? The OEMs seemed weak, but it was in full sun at the time of testing them.

 

[Boiler_Up]

So after talking to BMW Tech, I have been told that the X5 and in particular the Stealth hitch have been designed to operate without friction or a weight distribution hitch. There is integrated DST with the brake controller and harness from BMW.

The only caveat is that I do not have air suspension that is normal for the M series or X5s with the 3rd row seat option.

Soo... options I have seen are:

1. Use the WDH, but only use it partially.

2. Do not use the WDH and just use the DST on the vehicle as designed, but the TV might be sagging a bit in the rear because it does not have air suspension.

3. I have heard of placing air bags in the spring shocks and then pumping them up with ~30lbs of air prior to placing load on the TV hitch. This would even out the ride, but I have yet to see where to purchase this solution or even how to install it.

Thoughts on my particular situation?

 

[old_engineer]

Air bags only level the body and do not shift weight. If you are low in the back end air bags or not you have removed weight from the front steering axles. This can make for poor driving. I don't know about your SUV but I do know some do not recommend a WDH which is what you would need to move weight from the back end of the vehicle to the front and to the trailer axles.