pcoliver

Hello fellow Audi owners! I recently bought a used 2011 Q7. I am trying my hand at installing a tow kit as I need to pull my boat. I read a few threads that gave me some guidance but thought I would share my experience as well. My buddy also owns an Audi and he has the VAG-COM to make the code changes. My Q7 came with the tow prep package so all I needed was a receiver and wiring harness. Talking with my local dealership, they have a kit that retails for more than i wanted to spend so i looked at 3rd party options. Unfortunately i didnt get a warm fuzzy feeling that they could supply everything I needed so I purchased the kit from the dealer. For those interested in this kit here are the contents and with pictures. Kit includes the receiver with wiring harness attached, the brake control unit, trailer wiring connector, 2" hitch with ball, some kind of protective tape ( still don't know what that is for), and a hitch cover.

Well I was about to post pics but I guess it won't work with an iPad soooooo I'll be back in a day or so once I get the pics over to my laptop.

pcoliver

Ok...as promised here are pics of what's in the kit from Audi.

Please let me know if you have any questions. I'll start uploading disassembly pics soon.

Crizz

How can you tell if your Q7 has the "tow prep package"

We wanted the tow package pretty bad, but nothing was in the delivery pipeline in our region that matched the rest of our requirements so we settled without it. I'm planning to add within a month and would love to know about any unforseen problems before I do the install. Thanks!

pcoliver

Since I was buying this car used I had the dealer run the VIN number and print out the vehicle equip and options that were sold on the car. Simple phone call. Other than not having the wiring harness already run to the back of the car I'm not really sure what else Audi adds to the engine or tranny for cooling purposes with the prep package. If you don't have that package you'll need to ask your dealer what the charge is. Then it's a matter of buying the hitch kit as I'm explaining in this thread. I'll keep updating with pics as I can but feel free to message me with any questions. Good luck!

pcoliver

Ok..with my install completed I can now put the steps here for others that are looking to do this. Since this was my first time installing a hitch on an Audi it took longer than a few hours as I ran into a few issues along the way. Hopefully after reading this it will keep you from making the same mistakes I made.

Tools needed:
Torx wrench- T20, 25,27
Rachet with 6 " extension, 10mm deep socket and 18mm short or deep socket
Torque wrench (must be same size adapter as the 18mm socket)
10mm wrench
Philips screwdriver #2

Step #1 - removing interior access panels
-Remove the spare tire cover and tray. Since the wiring harness and connections are on the right rear side (passenger), remove the tire tool kit so you have more room getting to the harness conns for the ECU/BCU (Brake control unit).
-Remove the right floor board by removing 4 torx screws (2 in each luggage tie down hooks-pic below)
-Remove the Fuse Panel Cover. It has 4 plastic clips. (Picture of 2 top clips below that clip to side panel). Bottom clips are same type but clip into floor. I started with the top left side and pulled out and then went clockwise. These came out fairly easily. Note: this has a 12V power outlet so you'll need to disconnect the connection once the panel is removed.
-This step not required - I took the silver hatch release panel off but realized it was not necessary. There was still some protective blue plastic tape on mine so it actually helped to get it off while out.
-Unclip the right side panel- I loosened this panel to allow for more access to the right rear quarter panel as you'll need to reach your hand back here to pull hitch harness through. There is a screw behind a small round plastic cover (dime size) higher up on the panel (pic). I used a sharp edged tool to wedge an edge up and then it pulled out. Just clips around the edge. Unscrew the philips. Then gently but firmly pull the right most edge of the panel towards the center of the car. These are metal clips as shown in the pic below.
-That is pretty much if for panel removal. Next we'll remove the bumper cover.

pcoliver

Now for the rear bumper cover. You'll need to do all the steps below before trying to remove it.

You'll need the Torx head here but cant remember the size .
-Each rear wheel well will have 5 torx head screws to remove. 4 of them are on the outside of the wheel well cover and one is underneath the well cover.
- 3 of the 4 screws point towards the tire so you'll need an angled driver, short driver or another improv else you'll have to take the tire off. A 4th screw faces towards the inside of the well.
-the 5th screw is under the well cover.

-There are 5 more screws underneath the bumper in the rear of the car. These are very easily removed. (Note: I put a large blanket on the floor of the garage in this location so that when I lowered the bumper cover it wouldn't scratch the paint.)

Last step before removal- back inside the spare tire well area. There are 2 oblong sheet metal cut outs on either side of the back sheet metal panel. (pic). Each cutout has 2 10mm nuts to remove and you need the deep socket and extension. This is where you can make a mistake so be careful when removing the nuts. I loosened them, removed the socket and stuck my fingers into the hole and removed. I got lucky as I could have easily dropped them in the well. If that happens, you'll need a long magnetic tool to fish them out. (I actually dropped the socket in this area when tightening the nuts and had to go buy a magnetic tool).

Ready to remove the cover - A few things to be aware of ...The bumper cover is attached to a black plastic frame along the inside of the wheel wells. There are 2 prongs that come from the bumper cover and clip into this frame. They are really tightly clipped here and need a real good tug outward from the well. My biggest, and costly, mistake was in this area when trying to unclip these prongs. I tried to pry back the square shaped piece of the black plastic frame to try and release the prongs but in doing so broke that area of the plastic frame. (pic) I wound up having to order another frame from the dealer for $70. Of course after breaking that side the bumper prongs pulled out very easily. On the other side, now that I knew what to look for, I pushed on the bumper prongs instead and at the same time pulled the bumper cover out ward to release. you may need a helper for this part.
The top edge of the left and right sides of the cover (along the quarter panels) are clipped/wedged into the plastic frame. These areas of the bumper cover should come out fairly easily. The rear of the bumper is held on by of course the 4 bolts but then also hang on a lip along the back and on each corner. Bumper should now be removed. Note: there is a wire harness that has some slack to it once it is removed from a clip in the bumper cover itself. I did not disconnect it but made sure it wasn't getting stressed. (Remember to put the harness back into the clip when reinstalling).

-Now you can remove the aluminum bumper via the 4 18MM bolts.

-Next for the installation of the hitch kit.

pcoliver

You should get a helper for this next part. I must say, even though the price of the Audi kit is a bit extreme, the receiver is a monster! You are replacing an aluminum bumper that weighs maybe 10lbs with a steel receiver that weighs at least 50 - 60lbs.

This part is pretty straight forward. Line up the receiver/hitch and secure with the 8 18mm bolts. Make sure the bolts are not off center to the holes in the hitch. I installed one on each side first to make sure everything was centered. Add the remainder of the bolts and torque to 80 ft lbs.

The receiver wiring harness is tie wrapped to the receiver and run to the right side of the car of course. I had a little difficulty locating the through hole but located after a few minutes. See the pics for the area of the car just above the exhaust pipe. Looking up under that area you will see a grommet. Remove the grommet and run the harness up through the hole and secure the new grommet. I used a tie wrap where the cable ran above the exhaust pipe and secured it to a rectangular opening in the sheet metal to keep it away from the heat shield. I believe this is where the protective tape is supposed to be used. I guess its to keep the heat away from the rubber cable. (Still not 100% sure though).

Inside the car you now need to install the ECU. It goes above the electric box that's in there now. You'll see 2 plastic clips that hold it in place. Picture shows where I installed mine and also the red connector that was already installed as part of the tow prep kit. The red connector will go to the ECU conn located to the forward part of the ECU and the conn coming from the reciever that you just pulled through the hole will install in the other conn in the ECU. THere is also a 2 pin conn from the receiver that gets connected to its mate in the spare tire well area. Lastly you will need to ground the ground strap coming from the receiver. I used the one that other ground straps were going to already and located in that right rear corner. The nut is 10mm. (Note: make sure the conns are good and tight and are not loose in their mated conns. Give them all a gentle tug).

Now its time to put the bumper cover back on however if you did get the tow prep package with your Q7 there is a panel under the bumper that needs to be removed so that the hitch can be fed through. Save this panel as I reused it, with some modification, to cover up the hitch area. (I'll post pics of that mod later)

Really good to have a helper for this part as you don't want to scratch up your car. Have someone hold the bumper up to the rear of the car, aligning the 4 10 mm bolts. As they do that make sure the top corner edges of the cover, around the hatch area, are lining up properly. You'll need to apply some force here as you reattach to the black plastic frame. Once the corners are aligned move forward sliding and pushing in the bumper cover into the top edge of the black frame. ( you'll see notches where they mate to each other.
-Once you have both sides secure then you can secure the bumper prongs that hook into the black frame (the ones that I screwed up taking it apart). Do that on each side.
-Make sure everything is lined up and then secure the bumper with the 4 10mm nuts. DON'T DO THIS UNTIL YOU READ THE NEXT SECTION!!
< I NEED TO ADD MORE PICS HERE SO CONTINUE TO NEXT SECTION>

pcoliver

OK..when installing the 4 10mm nuts use this trick. Take your 10mm nut and put it into the 10mm deep socket. Then take some duct tape and wrap it around just so its securing the top edge of the nut. (see pic). This will keep the nut from falling into the well. I used a 6 " extension to hand tighten to the bolt and then attached the ratchet to finish up. This worked great and no dropped nuts! Unfortunately I got so excited that this was working that i wasn't paying attention to what I was doing and got the socket caught on the sheetmetal when pulling it out and dropped it in the well. DOH!! I had to go buy a magnetic wand to fish it out.

After tightening the nuts you can then go and install all the Torx screws around the wheel wells and under the bumper.

-Now install the 7 pin connector that came with the kit to the receiver. (4 philips screws)

YOU ARE DONE! Well almost. Remember that panel that we took off the bumper where the hitch comes through. If you turn it over you will see a somewhat circular double line. It occurred to me that this is where you need to cut this panel so that it fits around the hitch. I drilled a starter hole to the inside of the inner line and then took a jigsaw and cut to the inner line, this way I had room for error and later trimming/smoothing. I could not believe how perfect it fit after cutting. Slip the panel up and over the top of the hitch and then secure the sides and then the twist conns.

I'll have one more post with the VAG-COM settings if indeed you have one you can use. If not, you'll need to take it to the dealer so you can set the trailer up with the backup camera and other computer codes.


I hope this was helpful. Please let me know if you have any questions. Good luck!

sam08861

Thank you so much for doing this. (although this means I'll blame this post for giving me an excuse to buy a boat and trailer too!)

pcoliver

You are welcome! I see a 22ft Sea Ray in your future!