Sprinter Forum

[TedG]

Someone in another thread said they were surprised no one has started a Sprinter topic on this site, while one exists on Yahoo.
So here goes.
OK. It's "not a Mercedes" here in North America, but that's just badge engineering, especially with regard to the passenger van. The cargo models are also, for all intents and purposes, every bit a Mercedes, except they get shipped here as CKD kits and assembled at the Freightliner plant in Gaffney, SC. This is an end run around tariff laws for cargo vans. The passenger vans come down the same assembly line as Mercedes-Benz Sprinters for Europe, in Dusseldorf, and are shipped into Jacksonville, FL.
Anyway, I've ordered a ssenger Sprinter from the Freightliner distributor here in Michigan. My wife's '95 Olds Gutless Cruiser was totalled in a rear-ender. We were starting to outgrow (three kids getting bigger and bigger) this GM junk box and had concluded that a full-size van was the only reasonable choice. Having seen the awful long-term (or short-term for that matter) quality in GM, Dodge ("Ram Van"), and Ford vans, not to mention the abysmal fuel consumption of their big gas V8s (the Weasel models not being much better), I ordered an '04 Sprinter that we hope will be delivered by Christmas. The 8-passenger, short-wheelbase, low roof model is plenty big and will give us the best "handling and performance" (in van terms). Actually, from what I've heard, acceleration is pretty surprising for this big van with a 2.7L engine, and handling is way superior to the clunky and heavy Detroit vans. I asked a guy who was driving a short, low cargo Sprinter how he liked it and he was pumped about the power; he also mentioned the very tight turning circle.
I sat in the M-B passenger Sprinter at a dealer in Germany earlier this month and now I know I made the right choice. The quality drips from every corner of the vehicle, inside and out. It doesn't have tacky captain's chairs, wood trim, or DVD player, but I don't want that anyway.
My engineer colleagues in Germany, who make Sprinter exhaust components, told me it's a great vehicle. They all wanted to know what engine I got, and when I told them the 2.7 CDI (all that's available in US), they said "Man! That is a sweet engine! You can do 160 (kph) no problem! I told them I had read a post on this site from a Dutch technician who had seen a lot of injectors being blown out of the head on Sprinters. They said that there are chips available in Europe that will make the Sprinter top 185, which a lot of people are buying, and that M-B has put tell-tale logic in the ECM to get out of warranty claims from that.

If you own or are interested in a Sprinter, please share your thoughts.