Tow Bar!!

[Colin Parkinson]

After quite a few years without a Merc, I have been looking to change my Volvo V70 for an E class estate. Looking at 1 - 2 years old, so looked at the MB supermarket to see what is available.
Found a few options that would work, so asked one dealer for a price for a tow bar.

How much??????

£5000, Yes £5000. I do not think I will be buying a Merc if that is the correct price. She says it is.

Anyone had any experience of having a tow bar fitted to a late Merc?

Colin

 

[CowleyStJames]

Witter fitted our Westphalia detachable towbar to our 2020 S213 E250d despite the dealer saying it'd invalidate our warranty.
However, MB honoured the warranty when we had problems with the ADBlue tank, didn't question it at all.
Talking to the service manager, he thought that the salesman was pulling a fast one as he wanted to sell a MB fitted one at over £4000 which would gain him more commission.
Doesn't affect the foot sensor for boot opening either.
Our S212 E250 from 2011 also has the Westphalia towbar which is issued to tow my glider.
They're both brilliant towcars.

 

[s5tuart]

The manual hidden tow bar on my 2016 CLS shooting brake cost £579.17 factory fitted.

 

[Tony Dyson]

After quite a few years without a Merc, I have been looking to change my Volvo V70 for an E class estate. Looking at 1 - 2 years old, so looked at the MB supermarket to see what is available.
Found a few options that would work, so asked one dealer for a price for a tow bar.

How much??????

£5000, Yes £5000. I do not think I will be buying a Merc if that is the correct price. She says it is.

Anyone had any experience of having a tow bar fitted to a late Merc?

Colin

You should enquire further and find what's included in the 5k quotation as with some MB models there is a requirement to upgrade the oil cooling for the auto transmission, you will also find cheaper quotations for simple tow bar installations without the addition of the towing module and integration to the car's CAN-Bus for full integration to the car's other systems such as a modified driving profile for the auto transmission when towing, dash a/v indication when towing, parktronic settings etc.

 

[CowleyStJames]

You should enquire further and find what's included in the 5k quotation as with some MB models there is a requirement to upgrade the oil cooling for the auto transmission, you will also find cheaper quotations for simple tow bar installations without the addition of the towing module and integration to the car's CAN-Bus for full integration to the car's other systems such as a modified driving profile for the auto transmission when towing, dash a/v indication when towing, parktronic settings etc.

Both of our fitments needed coding which was done by Witter

 

[ajlsl600]

Go factory or one already fitted. And check Benz have, if needed coded it in... Also some bar fitters Will ncl coding if needed. But be aware that there are a number of Benz that.. May require ££££, s in upgrades. As in my ml and even some that just can't.!!!! But I have contacted thru forums many in America that have just fitted bars and carried on...some for 100,000 miles and more. As I have with my 170cdi a class with no issues for near ten yr. I have fitted bar and harness kit to my ml but no other of 4 k upgrades.
Frankly a 4x4 that Benz say needs 4 k of upgrades to tow anything just ain't a proper 4x4 to me.
But that's the way things are made today.

 

[keefysher]

After quite a few years without a Merc, I have been looking to change my Volvo V70 for an E class estate. Looking at 1 - 2 years old, so looked at the MB supermarket to see what is available.
Found a few options that would work, so asked one dealer for a price for a tow bar.

How much??????

£5000, Yes £5000. I do not think I will be buying a Merc if that is the correct price. She says it is.

Anyone had any experience of having a tow bar fitted to a late Merc?

Colin

Have you considered an All Terrain E Class estate, they come with a factory fitted tow bar as standard, and lots of toys that are usually options.

I had a dealer fitted tow bar to my W221 S350, well documented on here. The towbar was £1800 plus fitting at £780, plus cooling fan upgrade, fully coded. The simple maths were £12k for a gearbox if it overheated, and other possible issues if not properly coded into the car. As it turned out I only paid for the fitting as MB failed to deliver on time for a holiday, so they hired a Discovery for me.

Lots of tow bar fitting companies would do the fitting, but none would warranty the electronics, which on a £70k plus car was not a chance I wanted to take.

That was Sandown in Basingstoke.

My current W166 GLE 350 has a factory fitted tow bar that was £800

Perhaps the dealer didn't want to do the job, hence the silly price.

Check the plate inside the nearside front door jamb, that the car you want to buy can actually have a tow bar fitted, not all can. Most dealers wouldn't have a clue to check, they want the sale.

 

[Colin Parkinson]

Thanks everyone. What a can of worms!!

So I can buy a tow bar, fit it myself, connect up the wiring, but cannot code the car. And thus void my warranty!!

It seems if the car is fitted with a tow bar at the factory, it may have uprated cooling, may have uprated alternator but will have the car programmed to tell it a tow bar is fitted.
I understand that the car will know when it is towing and will optimise engine performance etc.

I think the answer is to find a car with a tow bar fitted, and to ensure it has been coded.

A mate of mine recently bought an American Dodge pickup, with a tow bar. Didnt use the tow bar until the other day to move a trailer in the yard. On the way home it went into limp mode.
It transpires that even though the tow bar been fitted it had never been used. Trip to a local specialist resulted in the gearbox ECU, in the gearbox, had to be removed, reprogrammed and an oil change. Not a cheap job!!

Nothing is straight forward any more!!

 

[keefysher]

Thanks everyone. What a can of worms!!

So I can buy a tow bar, fit it myself, connect up the wiring, but cannot code the car. And thus void my warranty!!

It seems if the car is fitted with a tow bar at the factory, it may have uprated cooling, may have uprated alternator but will have the car programmed to tell it a tow bar is fitted.
I understand that the car will know when it is towing and will optimise engine performance etc.

I think the answer is to find a car with a tow bar fitted, and to ensure it has been coded.

A mate of mine recently bought an American Dodge pickup, with a tow bar. Didnt use the tow bar until the other day to move a trailer in the yard. On the way home it went into limp mode.
It transpires that even though the tow bar been fitted it had never been used. Trip to a local specialist resulted in the gearbox ECU, in the gearbox, had to be removed, reprogrammed and an oil change. Not a cheap job!!

Nothing is straight forward any more!!

Not just the warranty voided if you fit one yourself to a car not type approved to tow. Insurance, licence come to mind.

E class All Terrain is the way to go if you want a MB estate to tow with.

A few of us on here tow with ML/GLE and R class, with the odd E class estate tugger.

Factory fitted tow bars make it simpler.

Long gone are the days of bolting a tow bar on. Also check the tow ball can accept the caravan stabiliser depending on the one fitted. For example a standard two bolt ball won't accept an AlKo stabiliser as the neck below the ball is too short and the caravan can disconnect due to lack af articulation in the vertical plane. JLR came unstuck when fitting fixed tow bars on recall due to rear cross member failures. Another manufacturer fits short neck as standard.

The emissions certification for VED purposes determines the car rate out of the factory. That may be less cooling with skinny tyres to meet the lower limits.

 

[EmilysDad]

....
I understand that the car will know when it is towing and will optimise engine performance etc.

.....

My ML has a dial in the centre arm console to tell it that it's towing ..... I can tell it alters the gear shift points but not sure what else it does

Not my car (steering wheel on wrong side & not a colour I'd choose )

 

[grayb]

We had a TowTrust detachable tow bar fitted to our W212, with car specific wiring loom. About £500 from memory. It has functioned perfectly - including dash display for non-functioning tail light. I have to assume the ESP adapts as it is said to do, as we haven't had to make use of that feature! We obviously don't have any extra cooling, but we only tow 11-1200Kg.