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X1 E84 Towbar electric question

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Niscars
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X1 E84 Towbar electric question

Post by Niscars » Sat May 12, 2018 4:53 pm

Hi, I am about to fit a towbar to my BMW X1 (E84) and have one concern with the wiring which I hope someone can help with please.
I have a vehicle specific kit from Westfalia bought from PF Jones and the instructions are in the form of pictograms rather than text.

Instruction 13 (shown below) is for connecting the Orange/Green and Green CAM High and CAM Low wires to the kit.  The picture then seems to show that the CAM wires in the car are then to be cut.  Is this correct please ?

Image

In instruction 15 (NB instruction 14 is not for my model) it seems to show the CAM wires still intact with the kit wires just joined to them as I would expect.

Image


If the the original wires do indeed need to be cut, do I cut them below the new join, therefore isolating the bit of kit that they are currently attached to, or do I cut the wires above the new join, therefore isolating whatever is at the other end of the wires??

Many thanks in advance,
Niscars

PS: This is a copy of my post that has already been posted on another forum.  I didn't realise that there was a "X specific" forum.  Apologies if you have seen it more than once!

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X5Sport
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Re: X1 E84 Towbar electric question

Post by X5Sport » Sat May 12, 2018 5:45 pm

I read that as just removing any excess tails from the wires you have added (to prevent any shorts), but it isn’t as clear as it could be.  Cutting it completely would stop the system working.

I did try to pull the same instruction set down from PF Jones to check context, but the link isn’t working at their end  >:(
Last edited by X5Sport on Sat May 12, 2018 5:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: X1 E84 Towbar electric question

Post by Horizon » Sat May 12, 2018 6:00 pm

Are the new wires from the rear of the car the same colour as the original wires ( twisted pairs )
If so it looks like no cutting is in line ed but splicing of simulator colours, looks to be a solid green and Breen and orange striped twisted pair in the original harness.
If the new cables from the back are the same, splice like for like.
I always bare the wire with a Stanley Knife, to assist, but as X5 Sport pointed out only excess wire length on the new cables need to be cut.
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Niscars
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Re: X1 E84 Towbar electric question

Post by Niscars » Sat May 12, 2018 11:12 pm

[quote="X5Sport"]
I read that as just removing any excess tails from the wires you have added (to prevent any shorts)[/quote]

Ahh, that makes sense but I agree that it is nowhere near as clear as it should be.  Why is there no such instruction for the other connectors that are required ?  Maybe the CAM wires are more sensitive than others?

Thanks,
Niscars

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Re: X1 E84 Towbar electric question

Post by Pothole » Sun Oct 20, 2019 9:09 pm

Guys I’m looking at fitting a tow bar to my e84. If I was to use a universal bypass relay what issues will I encounter

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