Saw the Sprinter van on the road yesterday (MB cdi motor)

It was a new Fed Ex van. I saw it in Bernardsville NJ. I was working, otherwise I would've stopped and waited for the delivery guy to come out and start it up, maybe I could've convinced him to pop the hood for a peek. Maybe next time.

*** For those that don't know, this vehicle comes with a Mercedes Diesel motor. Mercedes owns Frieghtliner. Our only chance for a new diesel MB vehicle...

~George~

Are you suuuuuuuuure it was diesel? Did you catch the model on the back? Did it have NJ commercial plates? X-?????.

John

Hey John,

It was for sure a Sprinter, they look like nothing else on the road. As far as I know, they might come in gas too, but who in the world would go for a gas motor when the MB 5 cyl CDI comes in it???

Search Frieghtliner, then Sprinter, You'll learn all about it. It was mentioned on this board before, maybe back in the spring as something to look forward to. Well, they are finally out on the road now. You should be seeing them around you to now, John.

~George~

Yes, Freightliner started bringing these to the US a few months ago. They are indeed CDI diesels. I think that trucks have less stringent emissions limits than passenger cars is why they are here.

Have a great day,

[mreid]

Hey now here is an idea. Lets all go buy drop in engines from Sprinter and drop them in our cars.

Find out where fed-ex auctions off thier fleet vehicles in a few years. But by then they may be beat to **** and worthless. Interesting though.

John

In Europe MB sells a boxy window passenger van with this engine. I'm not a van person, but if this were available in the US, I'm sure that my wife would be driving one.

I saw several of them in Italy a few weeks ago and even saw one in France where MB's are not as common. Most cars in France are Citroens or Renault's and their both pieces of ****.

I drove a Citroen that had this lever on the console. The lever raised and lowered the rear manually. I drove that car all around the French Rivierra, then along the Mediteranean coast to Genove, then to Milan. I moved that lever to every concievable position and the car still felt like you were driving a half ton pickup with two tons loaded on the back. It was CRAP. I think the French should stick with making wine and leave car building to someone who knows something about the subject.

Have a great day,

Hi Larry,

Is this the MB van (Vito) your talking about? I just got this info on a used one from a dealer in Italy. For a 2000 with 23,000 Klm on it, its only going for $14,720. Pretty cheap, now we just have to figure out how skirt the import laws here. What if you titled & registered the vehicle in Italy to a PO box and keep local insurance on it? You could just never sell it here, not really a bad thing, right? Do you think this is possible to do?

~George~
_____________________________________________

our stock Price for this Vehicle
Click on link for Photo

http://www.boss-truck.com/product/mbus/mbus2.asp?rf=dku181

Mercedes Benz Vito 110 L CDI
Ref. Number : dku181
Year : 04.2000
Km : 23.000
Engine : 75kW / 102 Hp
Steering : Lhd
Body : Passenger
Price in Euro : 16.320 / $14,720 US Dollar
Regards
Stephen Baker MD
Boss Commercial Vehicles Europe
baker@boss-truck.com
See our New Site : www.boss-car.com

Here is a pic of the Sprinter.
And yes it is CDI

And this is the CDI engine.

george-c,

This is indeed the van I spoke of, although it seems to have a very small version of this engine. Most European vehicles have very small versions of the same engines you would have in the US.

Even if this vehicle suits you, I believe you will run into some serious trouble getting into the US and on the road legally. There are importers that CLAIM that they can do this, but I would recommeend being very careful when dealing with them. Even if in the US, you will probably run into serious trouble getting insurance for it.

Good luck,

[invisik]

I saw one of these in Minneapolis about a month ago. Had Missouri plates and had some dealerships "Courtesey Van" logo painted on the side, as I recall. Something like 2.8 CDI--can't really remember the engine size, but was definately CDI. I almost fell off the road when I saw it. I tried not to look nuts to the driver.

No chance of getting them here or do I need to start a trucking company for a day to order one?

-m

I'm seriously considering placing an order for a Freightliner Sprinter passenger van. My local dealer has a number of the Sprinter cargo vans in stock and they seem just want I need. I need a van to hold two wheelchair passengers and, until the Spritners became available over here, the only real option was a highly modified full size Ford or Chevy van (modified with dropped floors and raised roofs, etc).

The questions I'm trying to get answered are: (1) what's a fair offer (I can't find the dealer's invoice cost for a Freightliner or Edmunds, etc); and (2) will a standard wheelchair lift work on the side sliding door of the Sprinter (all the wheelchair lifts I've seen on European Spritners are on the rear doors - that doesn't work as well on US parking lots).

Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.

Yuppers, the CDI is available in the US... see this thread for good links and pictures... http://www.mb-diesel-cars.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=7&t=000001

They have a Mercedes-Benz turbocharged 5-cylinder CDI and they sound awesome. I was asking a FedEx guy about it and he said it has plenty of power.

I'll take 2 please.

Hi Guys I've been following this thread for a while and there seems to be a bit of confusion, about what is a Sprinter and what is a Vito.

The MB Vito is a smallish van, but over here in the UK we see a lot used as 7 seater taxis & as small panel vans to carry 3/4 ton payload, I don't have much spec info for you on the Vito.

The MB Sprinter is a whole different van, I can have 3 different body lengths, SWB/MWB/LWB the LWB is 4.025mtrs internal, engines started out originally at 80bhp up to 120bhp on the older models I have a LWB 312D model (120bhp) at the moment which averages over 30mpg, but am seriously thinking of getting one of the new 316D (157bhp) models these are real stormers on our Motorways, capable of well over 100mph fully loaded (3.5 tonnes) and still return 35 to 42 mpg, they are very popular when converted to camper vans, either using the standard panel van chassis or the more adaptable chassis cowl version. if you need more info on these vehicles might I suggest you go to one of MB's european commercial vehicle dealer sites to get what you need.

Cheers Kev :smokin