Towing the car

[Hypr5]

Hello,

Does it hurt to tow our cars with the rear wheels on the ground and the auto tranny in neutral??

I need to tow the vehicle about 15 miles and this MIGHT be the only way... :(

Advice?

Thanks!

[Dave M]

I believe the general consensus will be NO. How resounding is left to be seen. Check the owners manual if you have one as i think there is a section on this. Better yet, I bet a forum search would locate some discussion.

Gotta get to work, ppppppppppppppppppppp

Good Luck,

Dave M

[Akhil]

they should be know which car to tow from which end. Once my 89 toyota cressida need a tow and tow man said from himself that he has to tow from back end (rear wheel up in air) and front wheel on ground with steering wheel tide up with some with seat belt to stop it from truning. You should be doing the same thing or else your tranny will say good bye.

Hope this will help.

Good luck.
Akhil

[632 Regal]

flatbed or trailer, if they tow it from the rear the front spoiler might get chopped off on a bump.

[Akhil]

BMW front clearance is less than my toyota cressida, so it might happand depending upon the lift hight of rear end. So check the clearence or use flat bed which is the best and safest for any car any way. :)

Akhil

[Jay 535i]

I could be wrong about this, but I would think that if your rear wheels are on the ground then your transmission's output shaft is spinning -- without proper lubrication. That could be bad, right?

[Russell]

Otherwise tow from the rear and keep the rear as low as possible to keep front spoiler off ground. Have done it both ways on my car. feel much better with a flatbed.



Hello,

Does it hurt to tow our cars with the rear wheels on the ground and the auto tranny in neutral??

I need to tow the vehicle about 15 miles and this MIGHT be the only way... :(

Advice?

Thanks!

[E34-520iSE]

You could always unbolt the propshaft from the diff, and tie the prop up to the rear subframe - you can tow with 4 wheels on the ground then!

Cheers,

Shaun

[Brandon J]

Yeah it can be potentially bad. The problem lies in the angle. The housings are designed to spray up with the car leveled. Once you tilt it, the oil isn't sitting at the bottom where it can be sprayed up by the gears in the differential or tranny. Especially for 15 miles, I would not do it. Obviously in an emergency situation one has to do what they can. If a flatbed is not available, do tow from the rear. The front is low, just make sure that you ride with the tow truck driver as he/she can take bumps or approach angles not too well. Good Luck.

[632 Regal]

what about driving it?

[632 Regal]

well better than too small I guess.

[dacoyote]

..... too small I guess.

LOL... is that what your gf says?

[632 Regal]

somehow it ate the other post saying that my head looks too big in my sig pic.

[dacoyote]

somehow it ate the other post saying that my head looks too big in my sig pic.

sure it did.....

[Phatty5BMW]

I just had to tow my moms e32 with the e34 yesterday about 5 blocks. The fan belt broke and started to over heat and the fuel pump in their suburban went out 2 hrs before that. Got the bimmer fixed no problem of course (knock on wood nextime) and the fuel pump.... well got it out its just waiting to go back in tomarrow.....and what gets me is the fact that a suburban doesn't have an access point inside the truck to get to the fuel pump so you have to drop the tank..... "profesional grade" :D

[632 Regal]

same with my 90 gmc 4x4, yank tank, replace pump with other than dealer part, suffer from stupidity then drop tank to put in genuine dealer part.

[Kalevera]

A BMW should never be towed for more than a few miles using the typical dolly trucks. A flatbed is necessary. This is especially critical with the AWD cars and their center diff/viscous coupling transfer cases.

The transmission isn't as much of a concern as is the differential. Anything more than a few miles and the pinion bearing will overheat due to not having proper lubrication. We see it all the time.

best, whit

[Gene in NC]

Whit, doesn't your warning apply only to AWD. No harm in towing manual trans, front end up. Undserstand recommendations address AT which are so sommon.

[Paul in NZ]

manual best towed rear wheels off ground too i guess.At least a manual being towed SOME oil gets splashed around the diff and tranny

[romus]

Exactly right. Once on my way to work I drove behind a towed Z4 and my heart was breaking. The idiot was towing it with rear wheels on the truck and front was rolling on the road. When I got closer I realised his front bumper was sort of hanging and was hitting the road on every bump - what we in Sydney have plenty of on our roads. Seeing this beautiful car being damaged like that really screwed up my day.