Hi there, newbie to the forum, owner of 500X which I want to put a towbar on. Don't want to fork out the £600 to the fiat garage. Was looking at this option online: (apologies won't let me post URL) On eBay it's this: Vertical-Detach-Towbar-13pin-C2-Wiring-Kit-Fiat-500X-2-4WD-15-on-19022-VM-B1-/271960814503?hash=item3f5220b3a7:g:yhMAAOSwyQtV0uaq
but unsure about the wiring kit supplied. It suggests that if the vehicle has a check-control system that I need a specific wiring kit... Not sure what check-control is or if the vehicle has it. Anyone have a similar issue when purchasing/fitting non-fiat towbar?
Thanks!
Peter

Just had an Oris removable kit fitted yesterday. Be aware that if your car is in warranty and you don't use a vehicle specific wiring kit, you void the warranty. Given that I think all UK cars are still in warranty, I'd be tempted to pay a little extra. However on the plus side, fitting a towbar didn't require any drilling of body work... which is nice.

I'm also considering fitting a towbar. Looking at a Wtter detachable and using a standard bypass electrics kit. Cost of this is £230 including delivery from PF Jones.
Would appreciate any feed back from anyone would has used the standard bypass kit.
Thanks.
Ed

I went to Indespension, they have branches all over the UK. Charged me £265 all fitted. A no brainer, And that with both sockets. Ian

You have to fit a type approved towbar designed for the car it's fitted to. This includes the electrics. As long as they are properly approved parts the OEM can't use this as an excuse to void the warranty (under EU law so OK for a couple of years ;-)
To be honest if Indespension or Witter can do it for under £300 I wouldn't bother doing it myself.
I have concerns about the ebay item you linked to. They list it as unbranded, it is impossible to have an approved item that is unbranded as the first requiremnt of any EU approval is that the item is marked with the makers name.

Robert G8RPI.

I'll point you at this post of mine.

https://www.fiatforum.com/500x-guides/428665-500x-cross-plus-towbar-fitting.html

any further questions then please ask.

g8rpi said:

You have to fit a type approved towbar designed for the car it's fitted to. This includes the electrics. As long as they are properly approved parts the OEM can't use this as an excuse to void the warranty (under EU law so OK for a couple of years ;-)
To be honest if Indespension or Witter can do it for under £300 I wouldn't bother doing it myself.
I have concerns about the ebay item you linked to. They list it as unbranded, it is impossible to have an approved item that is unbranded as the first requiremnt of any EU approval is that the item is marked with the makers name.

Robert G8RPI.

Click to expand...

Sorry, you're wrong on this point. Type approval for tow bars and electrics refers to safety aspects of the kit and it's towing capacities and whether the electrics work with the car and operate lights in a safe and proper manner and warranty and type approval is offered by the tow bar manufacturer not FIAT.

It does not deal with secondary issues that may be caused by hacking in and modifying the wiring loom in a way not approved by FIAT. The car manufacturer is perfectly within it's legal rights to void warranties where modifications are made using non manufacturer approved items. In this case a non manufacturer approved wiring harness tacked in to the CAN BUS is just that and would be viewed as a major modification. On a car worth at least £10k (that's about the cheapest used I've seen) I can't see why you'd take a chance for the sake of £150 quid.

robotdancer said:

Sorry, you're wrong on this point. Type approval for tow bars and electrics refers to safety aspects of the kit and it's towing capacities and whether the electrics work with the car and operate lights in a safe and proper manner and warranty and type approval is offered by the tow bar manufacturer not FIAT.

It does not deal with secondary issues that may be caused by hacking in and modifying the wiring loom in a way not approved by FIAT. The car manufacturer is perfectly within it's legal rights to void warranties where modifications are made using non manufacturer approved items. In this case a non manufacturer approved wiring harness tacked in to the CAN BUS is just that and would be viewed as a major modification. On a car worth at least £10k (that's about the cheapest used I've seen) I can't see why you'd take a chance for the sake of £150 quid.

Click to expand...

The EU ruling is that a manufacturer cannot void a warrany solely on the basis that non-OEM parts were fitted. This been teested in the courts and generally excepted. Some OEMs were trying to cancel whole warranties for minor parts being fitted. If you fit substandard parts and they cause an issue then the OEM would of course be in their rights to refuse any associated warranty claim. If you fit equivilent quality parts then your warranty is safe. Items that have to be approved, like brake parts and tow bars are accepted as equivilent quality by the courts without further evidence. You do of course also have to fit them properly. If you bought a Fiat towbar and mis-wired it so you put power up the body computer CAN bus, Fiat would be within their rights not to honour the warranty on the body computer (ignoring that a properly designed CAN transceiver should withstand this but I do't recommend trying it to see).
An EU approved towbar kit designed for the car and fitted by a professional (VAT registration seems to meet this requirement surprisingly) will not automatically void your warranty. It is also likely to be £300 cheaper not £150. A no-name kit bought on ebay and fitted by yourself IS likely to void your warranty.

Robert G8RPI.

You're quoting the wrong ruling. I didn't say you had to fit OEM parts.

What I said was that the parts need to be approved by the manufacturer for the vehicle. There is a big difference. There are plenty of Tier 1 and 2 companies that make aftermarket non OEM wiring harness parts for the 500x and JEEP Renegade. These are non FIAT, Chrysler companies but produce manufacturer approved aftermarket fitments. If you fit or have fitted an aftermarket non approved harness all warranty claims relating to this and any impacted system can legitimately be rejected.

All matters relating to any issues arising would have to be taken up with the fitting company and or (in case of defective components rather than poor fitting) the component manufacurer or supplier.

With regards to the £150, there are a number of firms that will fit kits with vehicle specific wiring for around £460 which is as near as, a difference of £150 from the £300 discussed earlier.
Sent from my SM-G925F using FIAT Forum mobile app

There is some variation in interpretation as to the acceptability of OEM versus "equivilent quality" regarding service parts, but a tow bar is not a service item and thus does not have to be approved by the OEM. As I clearly stated, you would not be covered by the car OEM warranty for any faults caused by the tow bar, but the car OEM warranty cannot be voided just because you fitted a non-OEM or OEM approved towbar.
In the end the decision is p to the car owner. They could of caurse ask Fiat UK or the towbar supplier if fitting the towbar will invlidate thee warranty. If either says no, then they are covered. Admittedly getting the towbar supplier to pay for a new engine if Fiat refused the warranty might take some time and legal action. As far as I'm aware most OEMs have no issue with the professional fitment of towbars from established providers like Witter and Indespension. Why would they.

You still miss the point. I am talking about using a bypass harness that is not manufacturer approved. Not the tow bar. And if you think you'll get an electrical based warranty claim through when the dealer spots a non approved harness connected, then good luck to you.

Ordinarily with a vehicle that had had a longer production run I wouldn't have any issue with proprietary non manufacturer approved CE stamped items. However every 500x in the UK has at least 12 months to run on FIAT UK's year 3 top up and most have some of FIAT spa's warranty, so it will matter. As I state there are plenty of approved products so why scrimp on something that could impact on critical systems?

Anyhow there's plenty of info on here, so pay your money and take your choice.

If you read my referenced article where I fitted my own tow bar (EU homologated Brink) I used NOT the Fiat / Other CAN bus unit but used a 7 Way Bypass relay unit instead.

This requires tapping into the rear light wires. The bypass unit consumes next to no current so the vehicle bulb failure and other warning systems are not affected. IT IS IMPORTANT TO NOTE that any CAN/Smart unit that does not use the manufacturer's official CAN/Trailer interface connector is most likely going to cause all sorts of issues including and up to a dead vehicle.

Using a bypass unit and tapping into the rear light feeds can/could mean that if you have a rear light issue then it will potentially be a warranty issue claim for anything related to a rear lighting issue. Having said this all the professional tow bar fitters offer the two systems. CAN/specific and bypass. If a reputable make of bypass unit has been correctly fitted etc. then it is my view that Fiat/other maker would have to prove that the unit was causing the failure/warranty claim before they could reject a warranty claim.

I would also add that UNLESS there is an obvious and explicit statement by the manufacturer that only manufacturer approved units can be used and use of other units would void warranty claims then again one is IMHO ok to use quality industry units designed to achieve the task required.

Very few manufacturer's have FACTORY FITTED tow bar options. Most (at least here in the UK) rely on independent fitter's who fit the towbar after the dealer has received the vehicle and before you collect it.

Finally the vehicle manufacturers do not provide auxiliary electrics support for trailer/caravan battery charging, fridges etc. Even if you use all the manufacturer supplied "lighting" support you will still have to get independent auxiliary electrics fitted to the vehicle.

That's why both we and FIAT Chrysler have specific warranty clauses covering the use if non approved wiring mods. You have your view as a home mechanic and that's your right, people can decide as they wish.

Please clarify.

Are you saying that I'm wrong or right?

Either way specifically what is wrong or what is right.

Look, I'm not getting at you, I just think that with this particular model it is prudent to err on the side of caution.

So for warranty purposes FIAT approve a number of aftermarket Direct CAN harnesses, at the time of writing, as far as I'm aware there are no FIAT approved bypass units.

You are quite right that a properly fitted CE bypass unit shouldn't cause any bother at all (though i understand that due to the multiplexed rear lighting you can get the odd quirk... but nothing major) and it is unlikely to be an issue.

Indeed, I home fitted the towbar to our old FIAT Sedici (out of warranty) and even cobbled the wiring as I really couldn't be bothered tapping the permanent live all the way from the engine bay and I only use it for cycle carriers and that involved drilling through the chassis... there's no such drama with the 500x, the units bolt straight on...

I just think that owners need to consider the fact that all UK 500x cars are still in warranty and that their cars are typically worth somewhere between £10k and £25k. So for the sake of one or two hundred pounds I personally believe that sticking with the vehicle specific wiring fitted by a professional is sensible... but it's only an opinion and you can make your own choice, it's your car after all.

Yes you are fair and right to bring these sorts of matters/choices to people's attention.

No complaint from me on this objective.

Where I, you, me, others will probably have differing points of view is possibly over the question/fact of "warranty" issues. This is also fair and as you say the end car owner has to take all factors into consideration.

My personal position it that the warranty issue is of little importance provided CE approved devices (bypass / CAN / Fiat original) are used AND properly installed.

What I think is of more value and interest for those thinking of installing a tow bar electrics on a 500X / other is the pros and cons.

A quick summary of these are:

Dedicated CAN Unit - Very expensive but should support the automatic control of reverse parking sensors. Also on some models modify the vehicles stability control functions to cater for trailer/sway/etc. Could prove difficult/expensive to diagnose issues.

Bypass - Very cost effective. Does not support some of the smart CAN device features. Cheaper / easier to diagnose issues.

Also readers, please be aware we are talking about basic trailer lighting support. If you do/want to tow a caravan then "Auxiliary" electrics (towed vehicle/caravan battery charging, fridge, other powered unit support etc) is something that Fiat, and indeed I believe most/all car vehicle manufacturers, DO NOT address.

NOW FOR THE GOOD NEWS!. The 500X MultiAir II 1.4L 140BHP vehicle is a excellent tower. My previous tow car was a Fiat Croma MultiJet Turbo Diesel 150BHP and the 500X matches the highly rated 1.9 diesel engine. Posted elsewhere about the comparisons.

Only downside for some caravan towers is car load space/volume my be a little restrictive. Solution - Leave the kids and clap trap at home