RMB Bluestar 840 - I would welcome opinions! (1 Viewer)

[Abacist]

one for sale on mobile.de with 58.5k miles, first reg'd in March 2007 but seems pricey at a shade under 90k Euros.

I would welcome any thoughts on this and any known good or bad points about this model or Merc engine and gearbox.

 

[DuxDeluxe]

RMB..... from what I hear, about as good as you can get. A couple of ex and current owners on here should be able to help. @Snowbird @Bellini I think........... for a start.

 

[Snowbird]

At 68000 sterling at first sight it does seem expensive, until you remember you are buying something that will last for ever. Will never have damp problems and is over engineered to the extreme. It is a blue star, which is the mid range model, but would still have been the price of a semi detached house when new. A Rolls Royce seems expensive to a Ford Modeo owner and thankfully some Germans appreciate quality, otherwise there would be no second hand RMBs for those of us that have not won the lottery. Once you have owned an RMB nothing else will suffice. Like my signature says....Quality is remembered long after the price is forgotten.

 

[Abacist]

Thank you Snowbird. I assume white star is the base model with blue next then silver. What does the blue miss compared to the high range model? I like the 4 berth layout, the large lounge, large garage and the twin singles at the back link to form a double. The van has been re- upholstered in a striking fabric which I rather like. The Mercedes power plant and gearbox could be expensive if they gave trouble but I imagine the dealer would have to give a warranty even if he's selling for a customer?

 

[Snowbird]

Correct, the white star is the base, blue mid and silver flagship. Trim finishes, such as hardwood edging on cabinets and all factory options denote the silver star. If the original customer specified the silver star model then the factory would fit all options available at that time, including solar, heated tanks etc. If a customer did not require solar and the hot wired inverter to all sockets etc then they would order either the white or blue star. There were few problems with Mercedes drive trains of that era as they were well proven, not forgetting if someone had bought one of the most expensive motorhomes available they would have no hesitation in sending it to a main dealer for servicing and not trusting it to two guys drinking beer in a back yard. Most, if not all second hand RMBs I have seen come with comprehensive folders of all work ever carried out on them. Those things were bespoke built to customer order where quality was never compromised by price in an age when discerning customers were prepared to pay for the best available regardless of cost.

 

[Robin McHood]

@Abacist

Correct, the white star is the base, blue mid and silver flagship. Trim finishes, such as hardwood edging on cabinets and all factory options denote the silver star. If the original customer specified the silver star model then the factory would fit all options available at that time, including solar, heated tanks etc. If a customer did not require solar and the hot wired inverter to all sockets etc then they would order either the white or blue star. There were few problems with Mercedes drive trains of that era as they were well proven, not forgetting if someone had bought one of the most expensive motorhomes available they would have no hesitation in sending it to a main dealer for servicing and not trusting it to two guys drinking beer in a back yard. Most, if not all second hand RMBs I have seen come with comprehensive folders of all work ever carried out on them. Those things were bespoke built to customer order where quality was never compromised by price in an age when discerning customers were prepared to pay for the best available regardless of cost.

And I can confirm that. Mine came with three folders of every tiny detail of maintenance all done well before required only by Mercedes and the habitation done by some ex RMB employees who set up their own specialist RMB shop (Hertkorn & Kobel in Bad Waldsee). Every manual (in German), every km it had been driven and where from and to. It looked as if it had just rolled out of the factory when we picked it up and it was 10 years old with 120,000km on the clock. It was immaculate. The only thing I got from SWMBO was 'Its Beautiful' and this from a hardened "nothing will ever do but a folding camper". She has since spent every waking minute fettling things amid suggestions that I should find a big enough heated garage to keep RH in!!

So I hope you took the plunge. Its taken me three years to find one that had the right spec, and I could just about afford, and I had to persuade the owner I was a worthy purchaser by email cos I was actually at work in Thailand at the time and he had 28 prospective purchasers after her from Germany so he was taking a big chance on trusting me!

I'm also conscious that I'm only ~really a caretaker as RH will outlive me by a long chalk. The previous owner was literally in tears when we drove away. The only criticism he had was of the Thetford C200 which he considered of inferior engineering to the rest of RH (agreed!) (mind he had fitted a teak seat to it to improve things a bit.)

 

[Theonlysue]

@Abacist did you buy it? ?

 

[Abacist]

We have not sold ours yet which has to take place first. The RMB is still for sale and despite sending the selling dealer 2 emails he has not responded to either. We are hoping to have a trip to Germany to look around the dealers and to see this RMB. This is the right layout for us. I need to show my wife and see what she thinks and I need to see it in the flesh. Its this or a something similar to a Hymer B680. Frustrating that our Autotrail is taking a while to sell but now I want to change I want to get on with it, book holidays etc. and enjoy a new van.