mercedes autos

john lillie

john lillie

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Joined
May 11, 2016
Posts
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Location
leicestershire
Funster No
43,028
MH
a class euramobil
Exp
25 years
evening campers, looking at an A class with 2.7litre auto mercedes, done some miles, any thoughts on economy, reliability etc?
 
john lillie said:
evening campers, looking at an A class with 2.7litre auto mercedes, done some miles, any thoughts on economy, reliability etc?
Click to expand...
It will be the 5 cylinder engine and the sprint shift transmission, unless I am mistaken. I know of one funster with over 90K miles and no issues. Not sure about economy but it will certainly be better than my 3 litre auto.............
 
Economy will depend on how much weight it's heaving around and driving style. I would expect low to mid 20's for consumption.
 
Hi
Mine is a 2002 Hymer on a Merc with just over 100k miles. We have done over 15k miles in almost 2 years without a problem. Pulling a toad we get 25 mpg. And it has so much more 'grunt' than our previous Fiat.
My main advice is to check the service record. In my opinion - it is a brilliant set up.
 
Mine has a 2.7 litre 5-pot engine with 5-speed full auto box. The MAM is 3800 kg and it is an A-class Hymer. Works a treat. The engine has plenty of torque and power and the gearbox is very smooth and easy to use. It has a simple manual selection option too which is helpful to force engine breaking and in slippery conditions. The box is ‘auto-adaptive’ so it adapts to your driving style and changes down if it senses that you need engine breaking.
Overall fuel consumption is 25 mpg and that is calculated over 12 years and more than 40,000 miles.

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Ours is 2006, 616 CDi, 5.9ton chassis, 5 Cylinder, 2.7 litre, 156HP full auto gearbox (ie not Sprintshift) in a Concorde Concerto. There are of course manual gearboxes but not often seen in mohos. We've done 28000 miles since it was new to us in 2012 and is now coming up to 52000. Other than normal wear and tear items tyres, brakes and service consumables she has served us well. Done Morocco twice and lots of European countries.
We did have one problem which turned out to be the Turbo boost Valve. Cost £90 from MB and fitted it myself. Hard to believe a component the size of a cigarette packet could have such an impact on the performance of a van of that size. Great van and engine.
 
Im running a 2.7 with sprint shift at 4T.
I don't drive like I stole it and tend to be old school thinking ahead for slowing down and speeding up.
On a run ill hit between 25 and 30 and it will depend on what fuel I put in.
If I use the better stuff from say Shell its the higher mpg but the fuel costs more.
I was actually surprised at how fuel efficient they are considering what your dragging around :)

The added bonus is you can drive off muddy fields :whistle:

Edit If its sprint shift make sure the gearbox oil is done to service schedule.
 
The 5 cylinder 2.7 engine is probably the best that Mercedes ever produced capable of half million miles or more, a bit growley but you can live with that. If it is the sprint shift rather than torque converter auto, I’m sure somebody on here has experience, good or bad.
Impeccable service history is essential.

Spongy
 
Mines a 99 3ltre auto,, with 150,000 kms on the clock,, had 85,000 when I got it,, Runs better now than it did when I got it! About 22/25 on average I think,, and pulled a trailer, fully loaded no problem! I do run on premium diesel though, keeps it lovely and clean!
 
ianthebuilder said:
Mines a 99 3ltre auto,, with 150,000 kms on the clock,, had 85,000 when I got it,, Runs better now than it did when I got it! About 22/25 on average I think,, and pulled a trailer, fully loaded no problem! I do run on premium diesel though, keeps it lovely and clean!
Click to expand...
How many klicks! Just show how many times you have moved jobs. Haha.

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thanks to all , put my mind at rest, consumption seems as good at least as my 3litre manual Fiat, (my car has done nearly 100k and I don't even think about it, so why worry about a motorhome with the same?!)
 
No, no, no, no. That engine is good, but for perfection, may I recommend buying a motorhome that has Chevrolet Vortec big block engine. The Very @old-mo TypeFellaPerson would understand. :rofl:

Ok, I’m off now, toodly pip. :imoutahere:
 
would love an RV, but couldn't get it on the drive - or even down our street sometimes! Plus licence restrictions will (hopefully soon ) be 7.5t
 
The Engine, superb. Bullet Proof. Just make sure you change the diesel filter when required.

Three types of Gearbox with that Engine:

Manual
5 Speed 5G-Tronic Torque converter Automatic (limited tow weight on the 6 series chassis)
6 Speed SprintShift Robotised Manual (a manual gearbox adapted to change automatically with a clutch (Not Available on the 6 series chassis))

The first two, superb. The 5G-Tronic is now 7G-Tronic and will end up 9G-Tronic at some point like the cars.

The way you can tell you have a SprintShift is the smaller brake pedal, similar to a manual or that gear lever looks like a manual version.

The SprinShit as I call it can very very troublesome, usually as a result of heavy right foot or towing (thats why it was never put in the heavier 6 series).

I said I would never have another, but I have seen some very tempting vans with the Sprintshift.

I have written a lot about it elsewhere. When the last Sprinter range came out. Mercedes dropped the SprintShift and handed down to VW on the Crafter they used to Build. It was re-Branded ShiftMatic. Crafter is no longer built by Mercedes as VW have their own Factory.

The Main issues with SprinShift relate to the following.

Hydraulic Pump Failure
Hydraulic Pump relay failure (Should have been replaced under recall)
Clutch Position Sensor
Clutch - Just like a manual
GearBox ECU

If you get "F" in the Gearbox Display, you have big issues usually.

I know a lot of people have them on here with no issues. But Some Van dealers I know would never touch Sprinters with SprintShift.

The reason they sold so well?

They were a £995 option as opposed to £1495 for the 5G-Tronic and dealers sold them on the "its a 6 Speed".

I hope this helps?
 
SuperMike said:
No, no, no, no. That engine is good, but for perfection, may I recommend buying a motorhome that has Chevrolet Vortec big block engine. The Very @old-mo TypeFellaPerson would understand. :rofl:

Ok, I’m off now, toodly pip. :imoutahere:
Click to expand...

Which models are the engine in?

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spongy said:
The 5 cylinder 2.7 engine is probably the best that Mercedes ever produced capable of half million miles or more, a bit growley but you can live with that. If it is the sprint shift rather than torque converter auto, I’m sure somebody on here has experience, good or bad.
Impeccable service history is essential.

Spongy
Click to expand...



The predecessor to the CDI is considered to be a much more reliable unit, the 2.9 TD, same as @ianthebuilder engine, although not as powerful, with 122bhp as opposed to 156bhp of the later 2.7
 
looking at a Rapido 986m, amongst others, although this one does seem as though it might have that sprintshift gearbox...
 
CazPaul said:
The predecessor to the CDI is considered to be a much more reliable unit, the 2.9 TD, same as @ianthebuilder engine, although not as powerful, with 122bhp as opposed to 156bhp of the later 2.7
Click to expand...

There was a saying

"if the gearshift is on the floor busy some more - on the dash - save your cash" or similar lines.

The old autos in that range with the 2.9 was 4G-Tronic

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its the one you highlight, is that the undesirable gearbox?
 
is it a case of proceed with caution, or a definite no no with regard to sprintshift/ high mileage?
 
john lillie said:
is it a case of proceed with caution, or a definite no no with regard to sprintshift/ high mileage?
Click to expand...

I would make sure you get a warranty with the Motorhome, to include engine gearbox and drivetrain.

Any gearbox can go wrong. Indeed anything can go wrong. But in my experience of running fleets of cars and vans. The two sprintshifts we had were no end of trouble.
 
TeeMyob said:
I would make sure you get a warranty with the Motorhome, to include engine gearbox and drivetrain.

Any gearbox can go wrong. Indeed anything can go wrong. But in my experience of running fleets of cars and vans. The two sprintshifts we had were no end of trouble.
Click to expand...

The one I linked looks a nice Motorhome for the price though.

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TeeMyob said:
"if the gearshift is on the floor busy some more - on the dash - save your cash" or similar lines.
Click to expand...
Gearshift on the floor investigate some more, on the dash be gone in a flash .........is another.
 
I've a 2001 Merc Hymer with the sprintshift, only problem I've had in 5 years was when the sender on the rear wheel was giving incorrect speed info to the gearbox , just drove in manual mode until fixed.
I only get about 20 to the gallon but the van doesn't depreciate in value, been offered more for it than I paid , depreciation is the real killer in running costs and not mpg.
 
My hubby ran sprinters for years doing European courier work. He never had a problem with them and put just above 500,000 miles on one of them in just over 3 years. He is so confident in them that when we bought our first MH a Sprinter was the only base vehicle he would consider. We bought an AS Suffolk on a sprinter base and have recently upgraded to an AS Winchcombe on a Sprinter. In his opinion the 2.7 is the best engine they ever made and out of all the sprinters he has owned it was the most economical out of all of them.
 
were they with the sprintshift auto box?

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