Sportsmobile Sprinter 4x4

[skysix]

I'm not surprised: (1) The fixed rear bed means there's limited interior seating - just the front seats. If it had a more conventional rear folding seat it be much more useful (although giving up a lot of storage space for long trips). (2) Its expensive. A full-customized diesel Ford 4x4 Sportsmobile could easy cost as much, but it'd have the color and interior the owner wants.

I'd agree with that - especially after seeing some of the interior available for sprinters in the EU complete with toilets and showers...

4x4 Sprinter

360 interior view

Perhaps locate a 13-14 year old diesel 4x4 sprinter with a manual transmission (best fuel mileage) on www.mobile.de then drop it at the above factory for conversion. By the time that is done and you finish your European/African acceptance tour and ship it to Halifax/Montreal/Vancouver (or wherever) it will be legal to import into Canada (15 years). Then rent a garage with a phone (so you have a utility bill for proof of 'residence') near the US border in Canada and get it licensed/insured in Canada. You can then drive it in the US for up to 364 days at a time - just has to be exported to it's home country within a year.

 

[AdamK]

Looks like you are of same mind on this, same web pages too.
That is the layout I am thinking of, but with some modifications; take out toilet and shower (like to peeee behind a tree at 3 in the morning) move the fridge onto the side with cupboards above.
Your described plan was already thought of, and this whole thing just upsets me, because of the protectionist rules set in place to benefit NA auto industry and/or dealer network. Spending 20 to 30K to outfit 13-14 year old Sprinter (even with low mileage) is not exactly the smartest of moves either.
If anyone is considering this importation plan, may I suggest to do it soon. There are these rumors floating around, Canada maybe following US example of protectionism and modify the import rules of vehicles to be in sync at 25 years. Go figure. But, all is well in the land of the free.

I am surprised that operations such as SM, do not have more flexibility to import vehicles to satisfy a market niche. There is a large group out here in NA, that would appreciate something different and practical. Not everybody with money in the bank wants to drive a 45’ Provost.
Adam

 

[haven]

You'll have to go to Europe to find a 14 year old Sprinter. They were introduced in North America in 2001, and delivery didn't really take off until the 2002 model year.

Think carefully about a layout where the bed sits across the back of the vehicle. A Sprinter is about 79 inches wide on the outside, so inside it's maybe 73 inches wide. Most mattresses in North America are 75 inches long, and people often hang feet over the foot of the bed. There's nothing quite so uncomfortable as sleeping in a bed that's too short!

I remember seeing one European design that added a box to the side of the Sprinter that added about a foot of stretch-out room for the sleeping quarters. I'll try to find it.

Edit: Actually, looking at the floorplan provided by Skysix, the sides of this van seem to extend outwards somehow.

 

[18seeds]

Scott,
I may have to buy it, because there is nothing else available this side of the Atlantic that suits our camping style and purposes.

I thought Salem Kroger was doing 4x4 conversions for sprinters. If you got 100k to spend i'm sure you can make it all work within your budget. Maybe you buy the sprinter used

 

[AdamK]

I am not 100% on this, but from various leads on the net, my knowledge is that SM and Salem were to do 4x4 conversions with parts from Germany (Oberaigner, the firm that supplies MB with 4x4 systems). From what I gathered SM and Salem did one conversion each in North A and MB cut off the supply chain. Politics of course, just not sure where. I believe Salem is trying on his own to develop and build a 4x4 system, but not ready yet and SM has given up not having the available parts from Germany. I stand to be corrected on this.

A 4x4 option on a Sprinter in Germany costs under 12.5k Euro (under 15k US). Salem advertises 27k US for a conversion which at this point in time is not available. PS. Having money, does not mean to squander it.
Adam

 

[Mamontof]

http://www.defpro.com/news/details/17667/


Mercedes Benz Sprinter On 44 Inch Tires
http://jeepmambo.blogspot.com/2009/12/mercedes-benz-sprinter-on-44-inch-tires.html

Desert - wolf create interested updates for Sprinter http://www.desert-wolf.com/index.ph...-surveillance-control-room-gallery&Itemid=135

 

[18seeds]

PS. Having money, does not mean to squander it.
Adam

40k for a new sprinter (guessing)
30k for a 4x4 conversion if it was available
30k can buy you a lot of interior work

or

Buy a van with an interior that is not what you want.

 

[Motobueno]

I'll try and clear some of this up.There are two OEM equiped 4x4 NAFTA sprinters in the U.S. One is the red one that smb has for sale and the other is mine:wings:.Both van's parts came from the OEM in Austria.Smb's first then mine.After mine was done MB told the Austrians that they could not sell the parts to anyone:snorkel:!But we could by them from MB in euro land.Unfortunatly MB is very proud of there parts and it would more than double the price:Wow1:.Salem-Kroger in Red Bluff Ca has done some.But there are some things to be aware of.Because of ratio issues they are using different tire sizes front to rear.They are fitting a ford straight axle.It has a poor turning radius(can you say football field)The lift to accomadate the axle is to the moon.I saw a posting where the owner of the Euro sprinter (one of there first) was asking"Does anyone know how to make a Ford axle talk to the MB computer?"
My lift is 3" The automatic trans works great for off road!Watch the youtube video of my van.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BF7Bgs0k_CM"]YouTube - Sportsvans MB Sprinter 4wd[/ame]
I have really pushed my van ,as, if we are going to sell this ,I'm not about to bull**** anyone as to what it can do.That would only come back to haunt us.
The damn thing works:victory:.If I had a dollar for every time I could have sold mine ,I wouldn't have to do a 4x4.
We (The Sprinter Store in Oregon)are still working on a 4x4 conversion.Because ,we cannot ignore all the calls we get for it.Trust me-making a diesel powered computer called a Sprinter, 4x4 is NOT EASY!!!
I'm sorry that I can't tell you when it will be done.WE ARE WORKING ON IT.
Tom
P.S. I researched converting a Euro model to U.S. spec's.Get this one. It's not even on the EPA list of convertable vech's and the two company's that I spoke with said it would cost about $15,000:Wow1: to TRY and get it listed.That's not counting the $15,000 to $25,000 for the work if they could get it on the list.

 

[Riptide]

Trust me-making a diesel powered computer called a Sprinter, 4x4 is NOT EASY!!!

If that's not an accurate description of a Sprinter, I don't know what is!

I hope the conversion you're working on is for the T1N Sprinters like yours, not for the NCV models. I think in the not-too-distant future M-B will offer the NCV's in 4x4, especially if they get competition from any Fiats that may start showing up here...

Keep at it!! :drool:

 

[Motobueno]

Riptide
We are working on both platforms,as they share many of the same components.
As to MB bringing a 4x4 in,here are my thoughts.
1.Mb will have to crash test at least several vans.(destroy)
2.Gov compliance (paper work)will be in the hundreds of thousands!
(smb had to destroy 1 van and the paper work was the size of a small phone book for there Sprinter pop top project) I have seen it.
3.Auto trans is somewhat unique to the NAFTA market.
(every euro model van that I that I have seen online has been a manual trans and 4 cyl)development costs before it even gets here.
Now you do the numbers-How many vans would you have to sell just to recover the ? $400,000+ ? to do it.

 

[mhiscox]

Hey, Tom,

Thanks for posting up here and sharing your expertise. Hope all is well with you.

 

[Riptide]

Riptide
We are working on both platforms,as they share many of the same components.
As to MB bringing a 4x4 in,here are my thoughts.
1.Mb will have to crash test at least several vans.(destroy)
2.Gov compliance (paper work)will be in the hundreds of thousands!
(smb had to destroy 1 van and the paper work was the size of a small phone book for there Sprinter pop top project) I have seen it.
3.Auto trans is somewhat unique to the NAFTA market.
(every euro model van that I that I have seen online has been a manual trans and 4 cyl)development costs before it even gets here.
Now you do the numbers-How many vans would you have to sell just to recover the ? $400,000+ ? to do it.

Really? I'm not familiar in these matters, but with the Sprinter already firmly established here, I'm surprised to hear that certifying/crash testing a 4x4 version would be that much more effort...

I just figured that with MB taking over sales of their van, and with impending competition for the same niche, that MB is finally serious about offering the full product line.

Hey, what do I know?

I will say that as a T1N owner myself, I salivate at the possibilities that your van offers...

Pat

 

[Regcabguy]

I sat in a red 5 cylinder Sportsmobile Sprinter conversion at our Auto Show here when they first came out. Asking price was $100,000. Dynatrac had one up at there location in Huntington Beach working on a solid axle upgrade. I don't know if that ever came to fruition.

 

[AdamK]

Motobueno
Did the parts for your conversion come from Iglhaut-Allrad or Oberaigner?
Can you tell us how much the 4x4 conversion cost you?
I still say, that all this testing is just protectionist b.s.
Any vehicle, designed and build by Germans for German roads, is safer and cleaner than most vehicles on NA roads.
AdamK

 

[Motobueno]

It seems that the voices in your head are louder that mine.
Please try and quiet them and reread my post.