Caravan Newbie in a panic- MTPLM - BMW530D M Sport

Not need to upgrade to a Discovery/Range Rover. It is quite possible that another towcar of the same weight as his current BMW performs better. Weight alone doesn't guarantee a stable outfit.

I suspect that, being a twin axle, it should tow OK.

My car is a similar weight at 10 kg heavier. but has nearly half the HP at 136. With the claimed horsepower I would not consider the van as I would loose around 95 kg off the payload for battery and twin axle motor movers making it untenable unless a weight upgrade was available of around 40kg as a minimum even for us as just a couple.

In my personal situation because there is only 6.5 metres between the dropped kerb on my side of the road and the wall of the opposite property I am limited to 7m shipping length, maybe a tad more but not much. When I swing the caravan in on the motor mover I get to within 300mm of the opposite wall. 

"Not an option for me. I had a 1200 CC HC Viva estate"

Hi easy, Great post and we were about 10 years behind you getting a van, we were tenters till then.

My first vehicle, loaned to me by my boss, was a Viva van with no accelerator peddle, the throttle cable was tied to the steering column and had a 4 inch bolt at the end to operate it.

Our car when we decided to look for a van was a Audi 80 Sport with near 100k mileage.

All the vans we were able to afford were as you found, bloomin heavy and with glass windows and gas mantle lighting till an ex hire Avondale Perle Olympus turned up. It was very battered but the only thing we could safely tow and it did us for 4 years.

My first vehicle, loaned to me by my boss, was a Viva van with no accelerator peddle, the throttle cable was tied to the steering column and had a 4 inch bolt at the end to operate it.

When of our early holidays was using a site above Matlock Bath. There were two ways to get there and one must have been a relatively steep narrow lane. It may have been only 1 in 10 I don't know. I do know that it was too steep for a HA viva van towing a caravan though. The driver had braked for an animal and with about 1056 cc and 44 BHP was never going to restart. I reversed out of the lane, drove a roundabout route and reversed down the lane to him we fastened on a tow rope and I assisted him up the hill. I think my instruction to him was along the lines of 'keep your engine revving and clutch in with first gear selected and when you feel the first tug let the clutch up and give it go - we wont be going fast'. I suspect that with the rear wheel drive I might have pulled the train weight as it was probably mo more than 2.5 ton for the two vehicle and caravan.

Some fantastic experience on this thread, thank you for your contributions everyone.

So the VIN plate says gross train weight 4560kg and maximum allowable mass 2470kg =  maximum towing capacity 

So 4520kg - 2470kg = 2090kg 

At the beginning I read all the threads and it worried me even more to the point of potentially calling the deal off and forgetting all about it, back to the once per year flight to the sun in a 5* hotel.

But speaking to a good friend and looking at the same van this is what we fancied, it matched our requirement. When cancelling the MCEA engineer we had a really good chat, the gentleman is past retirement age but still works as a MCEA engineer and a volunteer, not as he needs to be because with his volunteering he likes to help people.

Wow want a font of knowledge, he explained the risks between single axle and double axle and potential blow outs but lots of other things.

Looking at all the discussions, common sense, be legal, safe and following the rules the Bailey Barcelona is ok to tow, the BMW has the power and will not be over the 1810kg mtplm or is that now 2090kg based on the above equation?

Its legal, I need to be practical and keep to the speed limits, weights etc (not taking the kitchen sink).

So its time to relax and not over think this, start the caravan journey and learn but not the hard way.

I'm looking forward to making new friends, great family holidays and combining the caravan with sporting events and trips to Europe (if they let us in)

Alot of caravan choices are at everyone discretion / personnel choice etc.

I done lots of research, the choice is now made and I'm out of panic mode :)  

Many thanks everyone 

 👍👍