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Wow, no love. Hmmm, that should tell me something! Don't you guys bike and motorbike in the woods? After forking over for a W221 you can't all afford trucks, can you? I'd like to drive 2 hours to the camp spot, park my MB, and spend 2 days trekking around the outback with my thumper, then enjoy the luxury of great sound and massaging seats on my ride home, is that too much to ask?!
Yes its available, I do have a 'foldable' tow hitch,it folds completely out of sight and has a lever in the trunk to release. Its MB original and even shows on the cluster if there is an issue with the lighting of the trailer.
One of the most practical options to have.
The downside is that you cannot have the AMG exhaust tips afaik,but you would need investigate .
I do not mind that,as long as I can tow stuff like boats and auto-trailers whilst having my back massaged.
No silly truck needed,its got plenty of torque to dragrace at the light with trailer and cargo and still win from several compact cars hehe.
You should see the other drivers face when that happens.
Wow, thats exactly what I need! Ok, well,,, want. Is it a class 3 with 2" opening, or class 2 with 1.25? Was it originally installed in the vehicle or as an add-on, and do you happen to have the part number?
Gulp, that's got to be expensive to get done at the dealer...but boy would it be so handy!
Old thread, but for those who are still looking, the W221 Class III hitch MB part number is 164-310-27-95, available from many sources, including even Walmart (about $800). The only problem is the 2100lb legal car towing limit (of course the car can tow much more, but that would be breaking the law)
You can also buy one in Europe for 1/3 of that price and bring it over as your airplane luggage (as I have done for another Mercedes) or ship it yourself (sellers will not ship to USA). The Euro ball is within the spec of the 2" US ball tolerances (Europeans have slightly smaller *****)
Not sure about the part number, but its option 550 from the factory.
But never available in USA. Should you order the parts from Germany, you would receive a 50 mm ball ... which isn’t quite the same as 2 inch used in USA. Europeans don’t do receiver hitches.
Mercedes USA feels if you want to tow, you need an SUV.
Old thread, but for those who are still looking, the W221 Class III hitch MB part number is 164-310-27-95, available from many sources, including even Walmart (about $800). The only problem is the 2100lb legal car towing limit (of course the car can tow much more, but that would be breaking the law)
The fact the part number for this begins in 164 is the clue this hitch is for an M -class SUV.
When shopping for a w221, I looked at MB and aftermarket tow hitches.
Two MB dealers would not install their own parts. The hitch must have been factory installed, then they can use pare parts to repair things. They said installing a hitch after-market would be asking for trouble.
A spare parts company also recommended not to install a hitch on a vehicle after factory so to speak. Not even with MB parts.
A Mercedes specialist also did not want to install aftermarket hitches. If I asked him, he would do it, but no warranty what so ever.
A company that does have aftermarket hitches for the w221 is rameder.de . I think the producer is autohak from Poland.
Last edited by lli; Jul 19, 2020 at 03:13 PM.
Reason: typo and clarifications
Thanks @lli , excellent information! I've just looked at those European hitches now and they look pretty good (no need to cut any body parts, bolt right into the factory holes, quoted as 2h install time). Rated at 2100kg (4630 lb).
The problem we have in USA is the litigations. Considering a small number of people who would actually tow with an S-class (small profits), Mercedes must have concluded that's not worth the risk of legal exposure so they support/install the hitches everywhere in the world except for USA.
1) Has anyone found some official Mercedes documentation which is rating W221 maximum trailer weight for USA? I've found 2100lb for US on some 3-rd party websites, but I'm looking for something official from the manufacturer. This site states 2100kg:
and also states designation of the car for different regions, including USA, but the towing is just one common number. So it seems that the official Mercedes W221 trailer weight is 2100kg by design (same as the hitch rating above), even if Mercedes is silent about USA trailer weight. But my US market user manual states the trailer tongue weight, implying that corporate Mercedes accepts and recognizes the fact that the car can be used for towing in USA.
2) Is it true that in US the tow hitch can be "self made" (without US official certifications)? I'm looking for a pointer to some official government document. So imported European hitch could be treated the same. Of course if the hitch breaks the user would be responsible for any problems, but otherwise it would be acceptable?
thanks!
Last edited by George993; Jul 19, 2020 at 01:22 PM.
BTW: from the 2010 manual page 442: Your Mercedes-Benz has been designed primarily to carry passengers and their cargo. Mercedes-Benz does not recommend trailer towing with your vehicle.
... it's probably going to be easy to find a hitch.
It's going to be VERY difficult to achieve a working electrical connection for your trailer. In Europe where Mercedes does fit hitches, the rear SAM (signal acquisition module) is changed to one equipped for trailer use ... and of course there is a Mercedes wire harness. If there was ever a Mercedes wire harness for USA standards, I'd be surprised. Euro trailer electrical connectors are not the same as are standard in the USA.
Then of course there is running a wire harness from the rear SAM to the front of the passenger compartment for your electric brake controller. That wiring is not conveniently already there.
Thanks Kent, certainly trying to connect into Mercedes decision making circuitry/use Mercedes trailer controllers may be difficult. But looking at my pre-face lift W221 (2010 and newer may be different), the rear lights use light bulbs - the Tail Light Bulb Carrier - part #2218200277 (photo below) shows the paths from the connector to the bulbs - passive circuitry only. So it should be straightforward to just locate appropriate wires (brake, left and right indicators, marker light) and tap those to a generic trailer lights and brake controller. I've done it in another Mercedes and it worked fine. The only concern would be if it changes circuit resistance enough to trigger "failed bulb" error, but those can be corrected with a bit of fiddling (in a worst case by picking up the voltage without drawing current). What would be a problem with this approach?
I think the hardware is probably not the issue. Including cable harnass etc.
Trough the Rameder.de site, you can buy the German Tow hitch including an adaptor set to connect it to the Mercedes loom etc.
See the pdf here: https://www.kupplung.de/out/media/16...samples-v2.pdf
I would expect it not to be to hard to make a fitting socket/plug to connect the trailer to.
But after that, you would need to get the new setup coded into the car's system. No idea how hard it will be to get a US MB Star licencee to code the existence of the new trailer hitch. But the software exists in Europe...
As said, almost all shops I asked, advised against it. But if you're desperate....
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