Gatriel

Hey All -

Here in Germany, unlike the US its quite common to see $100k cars with trailing hitches on them towing all sorts of things. I once saw a G wagon towing a "DIY" bomb shelter around the autobahns. That aside --

I cannot bring myself to part with my old e46 golden retriever of a car. I have a free place to stick it for a couple years until I get into a new place with a garage, and it'll give me some time to let the price of wrecked M3s come down so I can be a little bit --- creative with my motor swap.

That being said, the only problem is my free place to stick the car is like 500 miles away in a little village on the Baltic. Transportation services here are pretty pricy, and I was thinking about mounting a trailer hitch onto the IS (very practical for a whole number of reasons) and renting a flat bed to get the car up there.

The e46 weighs empty (theres a 1/3rd of a tank of gas) 3197 lbs. Trailer weighs another 300-500 or so.

I am thinking no. If it was just a jetski or something from Ikea there would be no question, but towing almost 2 tons? This makes me pause for a moment.

I'd appreciate some educated comments on this topic. Yes, I know the US owners manual says in like three different spots this car cannot tow anything. This is crap as Lexus sells a Class 1 tow hitch for this car here. European market requires towing as part of the package. I am not worried about the motor nor am I worried about the trans (as my trans is essentially the same thing as out of a Tacoma) -- but my concerns are primarily;

1) The clutch
2) Rear Diff
3) Drive Shaft
4) Braking

I know if the roles were reversed, and my e46 still -- moved -- I could tow the 2IS to the moon and back.

Opinions?

(Plus, if this works, think of the photo opportunity)

hocheung20

iTrader: (1)

Why risk your $35k+ vehicle and your life?

I mean it's one thing to tow a small lightly loaded trailer but we're talking almost two tons here. That's a hell of a load to put on your transmission, rear suspension, and brakes.

Sffd103

iTrader: (16)

Braking is what worries me the most. The BMW will push you on the downhill.

Gville350

iTrader: (10)

^That was my concern...are there any hills to contend with? Will it tow it, sure; will it tow it safely, no.

darkdream

That is the job of a pick up truck not a little car like the IS.

accelerate

Get a trailer with brakes, that will help with the stopping problem.

DaveGS4

iTrader: (2)

I wouldn't do it, too much stress / weight for an IS250 for that distance. Isn't there someplace you can rent a Sprinter van or small truck for a day or two that already had a hitch on it?

Then he'll need to install a brake controller (and wiring) to make them work. Not worth it for one time use IMO.

Gatriel

So just for future reference, according to the local Lexus dealer --

The IS 250 in theory *CAN* tow another car -- however stopping 2 tons is the difficult part. Guy said that if I did it -- I would not want to go faster than about 80 kph (50 MPH), on downhill slopes I'd want to slow way way down using a combination of brakes and 3rd or 4th gear, and then once at the bottom of a hill (he knows of the few I'd have to contend with -- mostly on the A5 between Gießen and the A4 & A5 slip, and then said split between Jena) pull over and let the brakes cool down for a little bit. Apparently the ISF's braking system could pull this off without issue.

He said as a practical matter, the 2IS can tow safely half its weight. While it can in theory tow more, he explained that it is not the primarily focus of the car, and when designing the car, Lexus concluded that of the customers who would be towing with the 2IS -- at most they would be towing a single axle RV -- which is much lighter weight than a car.

All that to say --

I think I'll be renting a sprinter and a trailer to do this.