Trailer Mode and a bike rack

[looseend]

When connecting my tow bar mounted bike rack, trailer mode is automatically enabled. The manual says that the caravan icon should light up orange when an 'accessory' is connected, which shows trailer mode is disabled. When I connect my rack it is always blue which means i can't engage auto pilot.

Does anyone know why this might be? I'm using a Yakima Just Click rack which has a 13 pin plug and has a fog and reversing lights. I don't know how the car could determine the difference between a trailer and a bike rack?

 

[MrBadger]

I don't believe that autopilot works in either mode - rear visibility (and some cars USS) is affected by pretty much anything on the tow bar, so Autopilot is disabled.

 

[doats1]

Autopilot doesn’t work with trailer mode or when it detects a connection to trailer lights because the rear camera is likely to be obstructed and the rear sensors are disabled.

It can’t tell which is which so just disables when something is connected.

 

[Burley]

Best to turn off Trailer mode in the menu when driving with a bike rack, as I think trailer mode also changes how the car responds if you were to lose control, be in an accident etc. You can just turn trailer mode off after you've attached the carrier - the lights will all still work as they should, but you will be able to use AP.

 

[looseend]

Best to turn off Trailer mode in the menu when driving with a bike rack, as I think trailer mode also changes how the car responds if you were to lose control, be in an accident etc. You can just turn trailer mode off after you've attached the carrier - the lights will all still work as they should, but you will be able to use AP.

I've been using it for over a year with trailer mode on and being annoyed with autopilot not working. Something prompted me to re-read the manual:

So it does imply that there is a difference between trailer mode and 'accessory' mode? Maybe it turns off parking sensors for accessories? Trailer mode does warn about only using it when towing if you manually turn it on. All the googling I've done has just turned up US posts where they often use bike racks without a lighting board and they say auto pilot works fine.

 

[Burley]

I carry bikes on the tow hitch quite often. It automatically turns on trailer mode as soon as the rack is plugged into the electrics. Once you turn off trailer mode, the accessories light shows, but autopilot becomes available again.

 

[Cardo]

As the last couple of posters have stated, you need to manually disable trailer mode in the settings after you plug in the carrier electrics. This will cause the caravan icon to turn orange, meaning the car recognises there is something plugged into the electrics, but you have stated you are not towing.

 

[looseend]

Thanks, this will change my life!

 

[looseend]

Had my first go with manually disabling trailer mode. I do get the orange caravan but it has a panic when I reverse, so it's not smart enough to know that something is attached and in the way even though it's not being towed.

 

[s_zigmond]

Has this always been the case? August last year with my bike rack connected up and in trailer mode, Cruise (AP) worked fine (well as fine as it ever does). I haven't tried cruise recently when carrying the bikes

 

[looseend]

AP Doesn't work if the caravan icon is blue, but if you turn off trailer mode manually and the icon is orange then AP does work, though the visualization shows red lines as it thinks you're very close to something. At least is does with my USS Model Y

 

[s_zigmond]

AP Doesn't work if the caravan icon is blue, but if you turn off trailer mode manually and the icon is orange then AP does work, though the visualization shows red lines as it thinks you're very close to something. At least is does with my USS Model Y

This must have changed though as I never turned off the trailer mode (always showed blue) and standard AP worked as well as it ever does.

 

[Burley]

AP has never worked on mine (2021 M3 LR) unless trailer mode is off.

 

[Cardo]

This must have changed though as I never turned off the trailer mode (always showed blue) and standard AP worked as well as it ever does.

I’ve been towing since early 2022 and I have never had AP available. ACC yes, but not AP.

 

[s_zigmond]

I’ve been towing since early 2022 and I have never had AP available. ACC yes, but not AP.

ahhh ok - this may be me confusing terminology. I'm talking about standard adaptive cruise