[Mark84]

Hi there,

My first contribution, as a thanks for all the info I've managed to find through the forum Today I fitted a tow bar from Westfalia (also OEM-used). Quite the job, especially if you have to find out everything yourselves

First thing is to do is fold down the back seats, remove the boot floor, spare wheel, tools and battery cover. Loosen all the boot liners by removing the four chrome hooks and two plastic pins (one on each liner) at the far top of it - against the back seats. Remove the boot lock cover plate by pulling it straight up. Watch out for the boot rubber. Remove the taillights by loosening the square plastic knob, pull them a bit towards you gently and judder lightly to the side to loosen the units from the rubber. Watch out for the short cable...

The rear bumper is hold on by:
- Two M6 screws inside the boot, accessible through the hole below that of the taillight knob.
- Four torx screws and a plastic pin underneath holding the diffusor and
- Six torx screws in the wheel arches (three on each side, see picture one).
- There is a clever mechanism holding the bumper corners, which consist of a vertical torx screw located in the under corner of the taillight cavity (picture two). Turn them totally loose, the screw will not come out but it will undo the locking mechanism. After this it is a matter of pulling the bumber-sides from the wheel arces away and it will click out (also picture one). It gives quite a snap and requires some gentle persuasion. To prevent scratching during removal and installation, applying some tape is recommended Watch out for the PDC cable when taking the bumper off.

Installation of the tow bar is easy, just take out the old frame and place the new one with the supplied bolts. Make sure you align the offset accurately. Tighten these for M10 bolts to 55Nm. The Westfalia kit comes with a complete wire harness and computer. Picture four shows these and the bolts and the connection block. The manual which comes with the kit describes this process quite well, it is also downloadable from their website. Remember to loosen the battery ground before making the final connection to the car.

Now, trace out the hole needed for the hook/elektrics and take it out (picture three). The Euro non-S-line models come with the outline already visible in the molding (picture four). When placing the bumper back, watch out carefully for the corners to slot in the lock-in mechanism, do not force it! Now put everything back in place... Picture five shows the finished result with the tow-knob installed and the electrics down. Happy towing!

 

[RGBArgee]

Thanks for this really useful post Mark 84.

I am tempted to fit one to my A5, but have been quoted £500 which seems high.

 

[Mark84]

Thanks, the kit set me back 450 Euro. Installation is roughly half a day's work. At the current shop wages a satisfactory DIY job My dealer quoted me for much more than that

 

[JonathanWarren]

Cooling fan

Hi Mark

have posted a thread today requesting bumper removal for towbar but your thread seems to have answered my question perfectly.

However the tech people suggested I might need added cooling fans. My car is a 3.oTDI chpped to 300bhp.

Do you have any thoughts on this?

 

[JonathanWarren]

Mark

You mention the 2 M6 screws inside the boot below the tail light. Is this accessible only when the tail light unit has been removed?

 

[Mark84]

Hi Jonathan,

They are accessible, but you have to remove the units anyhow to gain proper access to the mechanism holding the bumper corners.

I've towed our speedboat trailer (1800 kg) with no problems whatsoever, but I'm talking 2.0TFSI Petrol here.

But the HTD at the dealership, which has to adjust some computer settings, mentioned they had quite a lot of bars fixed on A5's and it are good towing vehicles. He did not mention any problems...

 

[JonathanWarren]

Mark

Thank you for replying so quickly.

The 2 torx vertical screws behing the lamp unit - are these the 2 M6 screws that you mentioned or are there 2 other screws?

Jonathan

 

[Mark84]

You're welcome,

Nope; the screws are located within the holes in the sheet-metal below the square plastic block which unscrews the light-units. Shine a light in the holes or put a figer in it than you will feel a normal M6 nut.

 

[JonathanWarren]

Hi Mark

Have managed to fit the towbar with your help. Those vertical screws behind the tail lamp are awful - made of plastic and all too easy to ruin the head. It has taken me about 4 hours so far and the electrics are for another day.

Now I know why I was quoted so much from a towbar firm.

many thanks for your help once again.

Jonathan

 

[Mark84]

Indeed the corner locking mechanism is clever but fragile, you need a perfectly fitting Torx key. Don't rush the reassembly and don't be alarmed if a ESP warning comes on after fitting the electrics. This is normal, after the tow-bar coding on the dealers computer or vagcom, this message will disappear and trailer functions become available. Happy towing :autofahrer:

 

[JonathanWarren]

Mark

Thanks again for the help. I did have trouble with the bumper brackets and when I originally reinstalled the bumber there was some misalignment. I ordered new plastic brackets with the torx screws etc and was delighted how cheap they were. Took off the bumper and fitted the new brackets and bumper in a very short time and everything looks as new. I would suggest anybody doing this to get new brackets from the start.

I am now having trouble with the electrics . I have to take out pins of one of the 32 pin plugs in the BCM2 unit which is on the right side of the boot area and I am concerned that I may ruin the plug. Do you know how to open the plug. The dealer who sold me the unit could not help and the Westphalia instructions are not very helpful. I think from your photographs that your electrical connections are different.

I think I have as an attachment the plug.

Once again Mark thanks for your help.

Regards

Jonathan

 

[olegf]

I'm new in this forum. I have an A5 2.0 TFSI (180) Fwd and I plan to mount towing bar on it.
Is it correct that there is no need to do wiring all the way to the dashboard ?
With other words, the electroncs is to be connected in the side of the boot ?

The Westfalia Towing bar, is it the same as the towing bar Aude sells as 8T0 092 155 and electronic module 8T0 055 204 ?

 

[Mark84]

Hi Jonathan, sorry for the late reaction but I've been on holiday. With my car it was just plug and play (after coding), did not need to fiddle with the wiring. I know there are special little tools to push pins out of a plug. Lots of used on ISO radio connections etc. You cannot use a wire clamp/tap? See attached picture. Or cut the wire and make a connection behind the plug?

@Olegf; only the electronics in the boot. I have been told the Audi unit is a Westfalia with a Audi sticker on it

Greetings from The Netherlands

 

[RGBArgee]

The 3.0Tdi Quattros also need a twin fan set up installing. Coding doesn't work without this.

 

[JonathanWarren]

Hi All

I had the wiring of the Westfalia fitted and then took it to my audi dealer for recoding as the ESP and hold assist were not working. They could not figure out what the problem was but my towbar supplier contacted Westfalia and we learnt that a cooling fan needed to be fitted before the car computer could be decoded. I am waiting for the necessary parts to arrive at my Audi dealer. I have tested the trailer even without the coding and all the lights work and the extra indicator lights on the car's instrument panel show up correctly.

In answer to Oleg, the Westfalia system is the same as the original equipment as supplied by Audi.

Thank you all for your help

 

[olegf]

Thank you for all help. I must investigate where to buy Westfalia towbar i Norway, Hopefully cheaper that buy it in an Audi dealer. I will also check up the price in Germany and the Netherlands. Maybe I can pick it up during my summer road trip through Europe. Maybe some of you can tell the price in Euros ? I have seen a figure approx 450 EUR which sounds cheap for me. Also some suggestions where to buy it are welcome, Thanks again

 

[Eitch]

Cooling Fans for towing

Hi all,

Heres another Newbie.....:thumbsup:

I have just put down a deposit on a 2010 2.0 TDi S-Line.

I told the dealer that i wanted a removable towbar fitting and he quoted me £450 circa.

Upon investigation, the dealer came back to me and advised that the cost had risen to £1500 due to the fact that the car needs a fan upgrade.

I have spoken to a couple of other dealers who confirmed this.

Apparently, they need to replace the existing 400w fan and replace it with a twin fan setup (1x 400w & 1x200w), a new control unit and brackets etc etc etc.

Fitting time is 8 hours at £120 / hour plus all the parts, resulting in the final bill of £1500.

After speaking to Audi UK; they have advised me that a bulliten has been released to all Audi dealers.

£1500 for a towbar!!?? this sounds ridiculas...

Can anyone shed some light on the situation?

Thanks

PS: im only looking to tow a stand-up jetski

 

[xxup]

...£1500 for a towbar!!?? this sounds ridiculas.....

Yep.. It was just under A$3,000 to supply and fit one to our cabriolet.. And the old A3 quattro was around $2,000 for the same thing three and a bit years before... They completely gut the interior.. :yikes:

 

[HFEVO2]

Do I Need the cooling fan kit ?

I've put a deposit down on a September 2009 3.0 TDi Quattro SE Auto Sportback ( Only 12,000 miles and fitted with almost every possible option).
I'm buying the car specifically to tow boats that are well under the weight limit for the car.

I downloaded and read the Westfalia instructions and read about the possible need for cooliing system changes so I phoned my local dealer in Poole Dorset ( I'm buying the car from a different Audi dealer ).

The service dept called me back and told me that no changes are needed to my car so I went ahead and ordered the Westfalia OEM removeable bar yesterday.

However reading this thread it seems the dealer's advice may be at odds with some of the posts here.

I'm due to pick up the car on Wednesday, does anyone have a copy of the Audi Bulletin so I can make absolutely sure of the situation before I pay over the money and buy the car ?

 

[vRStu]

I've just fitted the westfalia bar to my car and also the westfalia genuine electrics.

The fitting is a doodle as are the electrics. S-Line come with to bar prep but I'm not sure yours will, the electrics may require a little more effort but it's still a good setup.

When Audi do the coding, they use SVM (details are in the westfalia instructions) which should do all the coding you need. It can be done with VCDS is you have it, I have done mine myself.

I can't help with the cooling question as mine didn't require it. Is it as simple as looking under the bonnet for two fans?? Another way you could tell is to look in the boot behind the removable cover, right hand side for a small red plug wrapped in foam - This is tow prep.

I'm not a million miles from you if you wanted help.