What about a 1973 Mercedes 5008D Campervan? (1 Viewer)

[jkoebel]

Hello everyone, I'm brand new here and am also new to RVs. This looks like a great place so far!

I'm looking at purchasing a 1973 Mercedes 508D camper van. I don't know much about these, and I've been having a lot of trouble finding a reliable information source about them.

Part of the problem is the fact that I live in the United States, and there aren't very many of them over here. I believe the van has a 3.6 liter, 4 cylinder engine, 80 HP or about 60 kW. I believe the vehicle I'm looking at purchasing is almost 8,000 lbs.

I'm hoping some of you could share your experiences you've had with these vans? Are my engine specifications reasonably correct? I'm expecting a top speed of around 100 km/h or maybe 50-60 MPH.

Where are some places I can order parts for these? (I imagine it'd be a UK site, and I'd have to deal with expensive shipping.) How reliable are they? The one I'm buying has less than 100,000 miles on it over the last 35 years, but it's not been sitting -- it's been driven over 100 miles within the last few weeks.

Thanks for the help, everyone. I'm so excited to be into RV-ing now, so I'm eager to learn.

 

[Tony Santara]

Hi jkoebel
Welcome to our forum...... A well maintained Mercedes wiil go for ever 100,000 miles is nothing i've only experianced Mercedes vans/trucks at work and they are fairly "bullet proof " spares should not be a problem you could try... Link Removed on your side of the world you don't say if it is gas or deisel engine but whatever pretty good engineering

Good luck hope you have many happy days with it :thumb:

 

[Terry]

Hi she is an old lady but hardly run in :thumb:If it is diesil expect her to run well into 500,000 if the body lastsI would be more concerened with the interior bits than the running gear :thumb:ENJOY :thumb:
Terry

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[jkoebel]

You're rght, I forgot to mention the engine. It's an OM314 (or was it OM315?) diesel engine.

It's been run recently, only has some minor mechanical issues engine-wise, although there is no generator fit to it currently. Which means, no air conditioning or fridge. (That'll be my first stop...bolting a generator on the back extended bumper and hooking it up to the RV hookups so I can test the things.)

Wood looks in perfect condition, new stainless steel sinks, dual 35-gal diesel fuel tanks.

I'm very excited, so far, nobody has told me that I'm stupid.

AutopartsWarehouse is a great site actually, I've bought parts for my 1983 Mercedes 240D sedan which is my daily driver, but they -- along with about a half-dozen other places -- don't carry anything for strictly European only models which were never present in quantity over here. Where would you go if you were buying parts for it yourself, to be shipped to your home?

Thanks for the kind words so far everyone! :thumb:

 

[Tony Santara]

I would probably try
Link Removed