etrailer | Mount: Curt Trailer Hitch Receiver on a 2013 BMW 5 Series

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Full transcript: https://www.etrailer.com/tv-install-t...
Today on our 2013 BMW 5 Series, we're going to be installing the Curt Trailer Hitch Receiver, part number C11381. Now here's what our hitch looks like installed on our vehicle. Now let's go ahead and give you a couple of measurements in helping you choose some accessories such as a bicycle rack or a cargo carrier. From the center of the hitch pin hole to the outer most edge of the bumper is approximately 3 inches. From the top of the opening in the receiver to the ground is approximately 10 1/2 inches. Now let's go ahead and install our hitch. We're going to begin here underneath the vehicle where we're going to need to remove this underbody panel.

There's three screws and five push fasteners that we'll need to remove. Now to remove our push fasteners, we'll take a flat head screwdriver and slide it underneath the center portion, we'll then take our trim panel removal tool or you can use another large flat head screwdriver and you'll want to work the center of the push fastener down so that you can pull it out. We'll then go ahead and remove our three screws using a 10mm socket. We'll then go ahead and remove our underbody panel. Now let's go ahead and point out our mounting locations. We're going to start here at the two rear most mounting locations.

We'll be using this hole right here and this hole right right over on the passenger's side. Our other two holes will actually be two holes that we'll need to drill in the trunk pan up in this area. We'll need to get the hitch temporarily installed before we know exactly where we need to drill our holes. Now let's go over the hardware that we'll be using to mount our hitch at the two rear most mounting locations. We'll be using a 1/2 inch by inch and a quarter carriage bolt, this square hole spacer block and a 1/2 inch flange nut. Now in order to get our carriage bolt and spacer block into the vehicle's frame right here or the bumper frame, we'll be using a fish wire or a bolt leader or pull wire to do that.

We'll go ahead and take the coil end, go through our mounting location. Now you will need to gently push out on the bumper cover here and reach your hand up to find the end come out, there's a hole on the backside of the bumper bracket there. Go ahead and take our square hole spacer block feed it onto the bolt leader then thread our carriage bolt in place, we'll then go ahead and pull our carriage bolt and our spacer block into position. We'll then go ahead and leave our pull wire on for now so that the hardware doesn't fall back into the bumper's frame. Go ahead and repeat the same process over here on the driver's side. Next we'll go ahead and take this section of the hitch here, go ahead and feed both of our pull wires through the mounting locations.

Now with our hardware pulled through the one side, we'll go ahead and remove the pull wire. We're going to install one of the flange nuts. Then repeat the same process over on the other side. Next we're going to go ahead and take two more 1/2 inch by inch and a quarter carriage bolts, we'll need to install one here in this hole on the hitch and one right here on the other hole. We're then going to take the tail bracket, line it up like this, put two flange nuts on holding it in place. Now that we have the tail section of our hitch loosely installed, we need to go ahead and mark the two holes that will need to be drilled in the trunk pan. Now with our two holes marked, we can go ahead and remove the tail section of the hitch. Next we'll go ahead and open up the trunk. Next we'll need to lift the cover here and there's a nut there and a nut there that we'll need to remove. Then go ahead and lift up the panel here and slide it out of the way. We're going to go ahead and loosen up two brackets that help keep the battery in place. As well as a metal strap that goes over the top of it. This will allow us to push the battery back towards the rear of the vehicle so that when we're drilling our holes from underneath, we don't accidentally drill into the battery. Now we'll go ahead and take a pilot bit and we'll put a pilot hole in each of our two locations first. We can then go ahead and drill it out to the size per the instructions. Now with our holes drilled, we'll go ahead and reinstall the tail bracket. Now here's what it looks like with our holes drilled in the trunk pan. Now let's go over the hardware that we'll be using at these two forward most mounting locations. From inside the trunk here, we'll be installing 1/2 inch by 2 inch carriage bolt and this larger square hole spacer block, it'll go just like this through the trunk pan. Now on the underside here, we're going to be installing som