Suggestions for tow vehicle

[TuxedoPk]

Now that I've purchased my first two boats, a 21GT and X18 I'm realizing that I'm going to need a new vehicle if I would like them to ever get wet. I currently own a 740il; aside from carting my nephews around, my own pre-boating needs could have been satisified by a 2 seater.

My boats are stored on land at a marina; my towing needs will be for a few trips a year to Lake George, etc. which I'm guessing will amount to 2000 miles/year max. Other than that, I'll be towing across a parking lot to launch and retrieve. I'm open to just towing the X18 any distance.

When I first came up with Donzi as a mid-life crisis solution I hadn't thought I'd need anything more than a hitch on my car. I have no desire to own a truck, and was happy to go back to driving a car after 2 years living in the MN frozen tundra and driving an Explorer.

What are the smallest vehicles that will adequately allow me to meet my needs?


If I trade in the car, what is the smallest SUV that will comfortably meet my towing needs? I've

[Dredgeking]

i just bought angela the MB suv and think it will tow the lil donzis just fine. the bmw might do ok, but i don't think it would be as good as the MB on longer tows.

[Crazy Horse]

The BMW X5 with the large engine has been my solution to wanting to drive a sports car that can (also) tow. I too, did not want to drive a truck.

http://www.donzi.net/photos/X5Horse01.jpg

[wytmike]

Go crazy. The Porsche Cayenne Turbo is rated to tow 6800 pounds and go 165 mph!

[G - FORCE 88]

First of what year is you BMW? How much are you looking to spend? Has a lot to do with it as well. Import,European,American what is your prefrence? There are several cars(suv's) that will tow your stuff around with no problems. If you dont wanna drive a "truck" but still like the size of a Bigger Rig. Cadillac EXT rides like a car and tows you house around. :-)hehe, BMW with the load leveling suspension is great! It is getting a double sun roof this year and a face lift and bigger motors! ( my brother is an engineer for BMW so I have intel) The Porsche is way steep!! $$$$ the alternative will be out in the fall is the VW Tourag, its the same car no Turbo, check it out on the web very nice! Range Rover will do the trick! If those are to big, The new 4-Runner has V-8 power. The new Infiniti FX45 or FX 35 is a good candidate as well. I myself drive a big truck and I love it. I have a 2002
F-150 Supercrew. Rides great for being so big! Check out www.edmunds.com (http://www.edmunds.com) its a great car sight with all the 411 youll ever need without driving any. Until you have chosen several to pick from.
Good luck with your search, Im a very big car nut so any questions let me know. I hope this helped.
Jon
"dogs love trucks!"
biggrin.

[TuxedoPk]

I'm wondering if the X5 can work as a toe, what the issue with a much larger 740il would be?

[olredalert]

------Hey,,,,Keep the Beemer(it sounds like you like it)and buy a good low mileage 1/2 ton Suburban.When you make your DONZI trips you will want the inside space for the interior,and all the other vacation stuff.Plus you can haul all those ankle-biters with ease.You can find a good 97-8 for low teens if you look.At that price there is very little depreciation to contend with,so just use the thing till it drops dead!.......Bill S.......ol red!

[Marlin275]

Tux,
Put a tow hitch on that 740il and the value drops big time on resale,
might be cheaper than a new rig?
What part of the Hudson you going to launch?
Will look for you this summer.

[Crazy Horse]

I do not do a great deal of towing but when I do tow it rides as if there is nothing back there. I have the 4.4 engine so it is similar to your 740.

I towed the 22 from MA to KY (AOTH II) last year and kept up with the pick up trucks in our Donzi convoy with ease.

[DUCATIF1]

Do not buy one of those so called "Trucks" to tow anything that heavy or you are asking for trouble. In my opinion I wouldn't pull anything with unibody vehicle.I agree keep the Beemer and buy old pick up for transport duties. I hate seeing those $45k Escalades that are useless because who is going to load anything in that expensive of a truck. By the way it is a glorified Suburban. Am I the only one that remembers when GM couldn't sell Suburbans if they wanted. Slip in the cheapest leather available and everybody wants one. BMW x5 is nice piece for soccer moms but not for towing. Just one man's opinion.

[TuxedoPk]

G- My 740il is a 1997; it just hit 80,000 miles this morning. It does not have the road leveling suspension.

My Donzis are my mid-life crisis toys; I'm not planning to buy a porsche to pull them!

I'm not planning to purchase anything new; this BMW was my first pre-owned car and I can't imagine ever going back to watchin a new car depreciated $15,000 within the first 15 minutes of ownership! At least with my BMW, the warranty actually exceeded that of a new 740 at the time. So, If it's a replacement vehicle, I'm looking for something around 2-3 years old. Otherwise, I'd consider buying a $2000 truck just for this purpose, but I really hate having to pay NJ insurance on a vehicle that will be used so infrequently, and that I'll be concerned will break down along the highway. Every dollar spend on an extra tow vehicle is a dollar less to buy another Donzi!

Is the issue just having a V8 vs. V6? So going back to an Explorer for example would be fine?

Marlin- Do you think I'd really experience a drop in resale on a 6 year old car? Is the issue selling it with a visible hitch or the extra wear/tear as a result of towing?

The boats are at Stony Point Marina, about 10-15 minutes north of the Tappan Zee Bridge.. 35 minutes north of the George Washington Bridge. For those of you out of state, 45 minutes North of the Statue of Liberty.

I'm actually closer to the GW, but I didn't want to turn down free slips at the marina... Now if I can only talk him into allowing me to install two lifts...

If any of you are near the NYC area and would like to go out for a ride, let me know. I'm new to boating and would gladly buy gas and lunch in exchange for a few pointers on the water.

[Dredgeking]

remember, we're talking about towing a donzi. a small one. not hauling a big offshore boat. you could tow the little donzi with a vw bug.

[olredalert]

-------If you find a good 5 or 6 year old Suburban(one with say 40 to 50 thou on it) you will never be worried about it breaking down.You will also find yourself using it for alot of other things,and using the Beemer less.That way your Beemer will last you longer as well.There are just so many things a Suburban does well.Hauling DONZI interiors back and forth from the water to the house comes to mind.
-------This is not a pro GM stand or anything.A Ford would do as well.I have gotten so I lump them all together under the Suburban moniker.......Bill S.....ol red!

[KMLFAMILY]

There is some good advice on this post.
http://www.donzi.net/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=007170
Here are the factory tow ratings also.
http://www.trailerlife.com/downloads/02towingguide.pdf
Your insurance coverage will proably not cover you if you are found exceeding the veh.tow rating and involved in an incident.
You might want to haul the GT loaded to the local scale"s and see what exactly what you weigh.

[mphatc]

Tow with the BMW 740i! There are a couple of BMW Club Racers that tow their race cars on steel trailers behind the older 750iL with out difficulties. The BMW chassis has the wheelbase and weight, you merely need to have the Donzi's on good trailers.

Mario L.
building fast BMW's for a living!

[Extreme Measures]

I'm pullin my 30' Donzi Blackwidow with a 2002 Chev. Avalanche. This si the best tow vehicle that I have owned.The last tow vehicle I had was a 1999 Chev Ext-cab Z71 4x4


Good luck in your search :confused:

Your Friends In Boating
:) Extreme Measures :cool:

[Crazy Horse]

Hey Boxy, Looped, Madpoodle, GeoO, Bertram Boy, CDMA and all you other original/ole' timers on this site:

I just answered a guy who has a BMW's question about towing a Donzi with a BMW and took a hit from DucatiF1 in the process. Is it me or was this site a much better place when folks did not have to take jabs while participating in a thread?

DucatiF1, you are right IF the soccer mom is pulling her Donzi with her X5. Just one guys opinion.

[Dr. Dan]

:cool: I find Irony in this entire post! Opinions are solicited and then subsequently buried under a myriad of Sh*t. I think this is unnecessary. Look, if you want to Tow the Donzis with your Beemer than do it! If you want to be concerned about insurance costs on a seldom used Tow Vehicle that is better suited to Tow these Toys....well, unfortunately that is "Harsh Reality"...we all face, it's all expensive! I say do what you want and do what makes you Happy! If you Roach your Tranny in the BMW....than you will learn it's not such a good Tow Vehicle....if you aquire another toy in a Truck or Burban...who knows ...like Ol Red says you may enjoy it in many ways you did not think of! :p Fact is, I see regular passenger cars towing boats...that do not appear to be rigged to head to the Yukon....and yes they do get from point "A" to Point "B" but....how Safe is this set up in real life highway conditions? I Tow our Donzi a substantial distance each Summer(15 to 20,000 miles)per season, I see alot! I am also on the road during the week in my Sales Position....the most common Tow Vehicle is a Pick Up Truck....its also the most economical, easiest to utilize, and very easy to resell. Suburbans and larger SUV's are next....There are a ton of choices to solve this Quandry.....if you stay with the BMW...think about a cooler for your Trans....I would be most concerned when towing the 21GT....this is a heavier boat than the 18....but any continuous load over an extended period of time is going to take its toll on your Driveline Components! (How Do I Know This) eek! Off The Soap Box....we now return you to your regularly scheduled schizophrenic post... :D ...Doc of Dimentia

[Crazy Horse]

Thanks Poodle I needed that...lol.

[riverrat]

the Ford Explorer is not rated to tow anything class #3 without the v-8. And all of them I've seen have just the class #2 reciever. I just bought a new Ford F-150 supercab instead. same money, better ride. Also, you should consider the stopping ablity of the lighter vehicles. Sliding down the ramp is a bad thing! eek!

[Formula Jr]

This question comes up almost every year.
And there's two ways to approach it.
One way is when someone asks, "Can vehicle A tow Boat B." But that approach lacks any dimention.
Flat roads, shallow paved ramps the answer is almost always yes. Can it be done safely is another animal to consider. To answer that one you need to define what makes a good tow vehicle and then find a product that has those features.

My list would be as follows:
Long Wheel Base.
Weight distributing hitch.
Four wheel drive, all wheel drive or Limited slip differential rear drive.
Automatic Transmission.
If the trailer doesn't have brakes, you better go BIG and heavy on the tow vehicle.
Power is a matter of use, but I couldn't do with anything less than a big 6 or a BB.
And if you do alot of towing, the vehicle should have a tow package- Extra capacity radiator, Tranny fluid cooler, Oil Cooler, secondary electric fan. Heavy duty flasher unit, anti-sway bar, D class or better tires, heavy duty suspension, etc. There are many, many makes and models that fit these specifications. And many times you can find an older used vehicle that had all this stuff, yet was never used to tow anything. I've had a lot of close calls on the road while towing, and I needed almost all of these features at one time or another to avoid an accident. Like the good Doctor said, our hobby is expensive. A stout tow vehicle is just part of being into boats.

[DUCATIF1]

No offense was meant or directed to anyone. WOW!! You really have to be careful how you word things here. Like I stated just an opinion. BMW machine is great piece for doing what it was designed for. I don't think anybody buys one thinking it is real heavy duty truck for work or towing. You can pull any boat with anything that has the power to pull but it doesn't mean it is being done safe or isn't damaging the vehicle doing the towing. I would not show that pic to your dealer as you may have some warranty issues denied because of it both mechanical and body related.

[BERTRAM BOY]

Horseman,
It's that crazy orange alligator hat that get's everyone wound up........

"just one mans opinion"

:D :D :D

[Air 22]

SAFETY FIRST...AND TOWING A BOAT KEEPING UP W/ EVERYONE ELSE ISN'T WHAT YA LOOK FOR...STOPPING POWER HAS TO BE NUMBER ONE! YOU CANT STOP A 5000 LB TRAILER AND BOAT W/ A SMALL VEHILCE GOING DOWN HILL @ 70 MPH WHEN THE GUY IN FRONT OF YOU CUTS YOU OFF eek! WE ALL THINK POWER, ACCELERATION, ETC BUT WHEN IT COMES DOWN TO IT..STOPPING IS KEY. YOUR TOWING DISTANCE AND COMFORT LEVEL HAVE EVERYTHING TO DO W/ IT. HAVE A SEMI DOING 80 BLOW BY AT NIGHT WHEN ITS RAINING HARD...SEE WHAT HAPPENS! IT CAN MOVE THE BIGGEST SUV'S OVER..IE THIS HAPPENED TO ME IN MY 3/4 TON GMC SUBURBAN W/ 22' IN TOW. YOU CAN'T PUT A PRICE ON SAFETY...ITS YOUR LIFE ...AND SOMEONE ELSES wink PLAN ACCORDINGLY :D

[Darrell]

A full size truck is allways a good choice, iT will do the job and hold it's resale better than a high mile expensive SUV. I recently had to sell my SWB 1/2ton GMC, to go to a xcab 3/4 ton truck not so much for the pulling abilty, but the longer wheelbase and better stoping power.

But the most important thing is to get to the lake no matter what gets you there.


Darrell

[TuxedoPk]

I appreciate everyone's help. It's nice to know that the only thing people disagree on more than Donzis is automobiles!

Ken- Great link.. Just wish my vehicle were on it.

Before I trade my GT for a Sweet 16 and 740 for a Mini Cooper, the issues raised were safety and stopping distance, weight and wheelbase.

I did a quick comparison of the 740il, Tahoe, and 1/2 ton Suburban. Here's what I found out:

740il Tahoe 1/2 Suburban
Wheelbase 123" 116" 130"
Overall length 203" 196" 219"
Weight-empty 4464
Weight-w/people & Cargo 2WD 4828 7000
Weight-w/people & Cargo 4WD 5050 7200

From these stats alone, it would appear that the 740il should be at least as good a toe vehicle as the Tahoe. When it comes to breaking, doesn't the car have better breaking response time than the SUV? (Not factoring in the 1/2's extra weight)

My take is that unless I move to a Truck or giant SUV that a Tahoe/Explorer class V8 won't buy me anything when it comes to towing. OK, I'm ready for 20 differences of opinion! Meanwhile, that Mini Cooper is sounding better and better wink

[TMANN]

Now I just have to see if my Mini Cooper S will tow my 22' Classic. wink . If not I guess I will keep my Truck it seems to do fine.
http://www.tiemworks.com/donzi/cartruck.jpg

TMANN

[mphatc]

TuxedoPK,

As your own summary shows the BMW is a good tow rig. Post me directly, I am in the process of trying to locate the folks who have towed heavier loads with their BMW's.

this is easily possible, and a hitch is likely even readily available for your car.

Mario L.
www.VSR1.com (http://www.VSR1.com)

Langsten@attbi.com

[CDMA]

Guys,

My humble opinion:

Can you tow with a car? Yes. Can you do it easily, comfortably and safely...sometimes yes but other times no...and all it takes in one "no" on a wet on-ramp to lose a lot.

Trucks are different beasts. Sure your BMW weighs as much as one and is as big as one but it isn't built like one. Trucks have heavy duty brakes, suspension and drivelines. Why does a truck ride like a brick compared to a BMW...because it needs to have a stiff suspension to carry the addition load whether it be in the form of cargo or towing load. It has been my experience that tow ratings are grossly over rated. My rule of thumb is if I want to tow long on a consistent basis you can any tow 1/2 of the car or trucks rated capacity. According to my data my dakota can tow almost 7000 lbs...the idea of towing the 5000 lb 22 scares the heck out of me.

The best idea I have heard so for is Olred's. Get some late model used Suburban or pickup. With boats not only comes towing but comes wet kids, sand, dirty engine parts, and so on. All stuff you don't want in a 740.

Just my $.02

Chris

[olemissalum]

Just get an F 350 and be done with it :D