Hey All -
I just wanted to share my experience with towing a large trailer across the US with our X5.
We purchased a 20' x 8.5' Atlas car-hauler (24' overall length, 3200 pounds unloaded) to mainly tow my race car and tools around. While a flatbed is much lighter I wanted an enclosed trailer so I can store my race car in there when i'm not using it to get it out of our garage.
My wife's dad died and we had to go out to Colorado to clean out his house. We took the trailer as he had a vintage BMW motorcycle and an old RWD Toyota Corolla SR5 plus a whole bunch of tools.
After we were all loaded we had a 2200 pound car, 500 pound motorcycle, 3200 pound trailer, and another 1500 pounds in tools and misc stuff. I'm guessing our trailer had a combined weight of 7500 pounds fully loaded.
Our X5 is a 2011 diesel with 3rd row and self-leveling-suspension in the rear. 20" sport package with staggered Continentals extremecontact DWS's. We have a OEM bmw hitch and brake controller which we had the dealer install when we purchased it. We also have the dealer installed towing software.
We did 55-65mph the whole way from Colorado back to San Diego. Fully loaded with a roof rack, my wife and myself, our 3 girls and of course the trailer we did a combined average of 13.8mpg on the trip back. The worst was from Denver to Vail @ 12mpg (all up hill) and the best was 15 mpg from Las Vegas to San Diego (mostly downhill).
The X5 can tow! I was able to do 50mph going up the steep grade to the Eisenhower tunnel @ 12,800 feet in the middle of a snow storm. The self-leveling-suspension is amazing, it keeps the car level and stable even when towing big loads. The X5 doesn't bounce or wonder around, just tows straight.
Also if anybody is looking for a great trailer, I do highly recommend the Atlas. It's a really great trailer.
Here are a few pictures
When we purchased the trailer
My daughter with fully loaded trailer (car, motorcycle, and tools.) SLS doing its thing. Taken just before we leave for home.
Back at home, loading my race car
