We now have a 2015 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 3500, Long Wheel Base. Our third van since our vanlife journey began and we love it!
Love! Love! Love it!… We will put together a van tour video on Youtube very soon…
We always wanted a Sprinter and when the opportunity arose, we jumped! Thoughtfully named Matilda, unsure why we called her Matilda, but we did. She had one previous owner from new and had done just 30,000km’s when we took the keys! The motorhome market in New Zealand is truly a sellers market, with a high demand and high prices to suit. Generally when vans are put up for sale, they sell quick, so we acted fast when we saw this one and we were lucky to secure Matilda.
Sprinters are quite common here in Aotearoa, a lot of rental companies use them and a lot of second hand Sprinters are ex-rentals with many km’s on the clock. As we plan to tour for a long time, (and are living in the van full time), low km’s was essential in our search. We see the popularity of these Sprinters a real benefit, pretty much every mechanic across Australasia will have some understanding and parts are easy to come by.
Our van was professionally fitted out by Action Manufacturing and originally purchased from TrailLite. She has a very similar layout in the camper to many of the LWB Sprinters in New Zealand and it really works. As we’re not currently comfortable enough to do a self-build, and this layout was what we have wanted for a long time, this was the best option for us.
Having a seperate seating area, and a bed we can leave up all the time, was one of our ‘must haves’, so if one of us wanted to get up whilst the other slept, this was possible. A bathroom with toilet and shower was another! Previously having to pull out our portable loo, or walk to the closest toilets is not fun…
Some Specs
2015 Mercedes Sprinter LWB. 2.2 Litre Turbo Diesel engine, automatic transmission. 3 certified seats whilst driving. Certified self-contained. 3 Berth (our now permanent rear bed and front fold down single bed). Swivel driver and passenger seats with separate seating area at the front. Can convert to a u-shaped lounge at the rear. Three gas burner cooktop with extractor fan. Slide out gas BBQ on the exterior. 9kg gas bottle in external compartment. 110 litre Waeco fridge. Suburban hot water heater. Webasto diesel heater. Wet room with shower and Thetford toilet. 100 litre fresh and grey water tanks (underneath chassis). 3.7 metre Fiamma Awning. 12v TV with DVD player and automatic satellite dish. Rear bluetooth stereo & speakers. 550 watts of solar with epever solar charge controller. 2 x 100 amp hours deep cycle batteries. Votronic battery monitor. And lots and lots of storage…
The great thing about purchasing a van already kitted out and ready to go with the layout and extras we have always wanted, is that we have been able to customise and alter things with ease…
…Changes We’ve Made
Wheels & Tyres
Our previous tyres were decent commercial tyres with a high load rating, however since buying Matilda, we actually got bogged twice, so decided to upgrade to some bigger all-terrain tyres. We like going off the beaten track and we often find ourselves on long unsealed roads which are not alway ideal for our van.
It took us a lot of research into what tyres to get as there are regulations In New Zealand which dictate that we could only go 5% bigger without the need for certification. We ended up buying some Toyo Open Country II All Terrain 245/70R16. These are about 5% bigger than our current tyres, and have lots more grip. They also give us some more much needed ground clearance. I then decided to sand and paint our current steel rims, as this was the cheapest and easiest option for us, and in our opinion looks just as good as buying new mags.
The Cab / Cockpit
Our 2015 Sprinter came as standard with a small head unit and an old, not very user friendly separate sat nav stuck on top of the dash. Didn’t like it. After a lot of research, we decided on an Android Automotive Infotainment System. We went for the Atoto s8 Ultra Plus, their flagship model. With a 10.2 inch screen, built in google maps (offline too) and wireless Apple car play. We fitted it ourselves and after a couple of hiccups, it has proven to be perfect for us, and the customer service ATOTO provide is epic. Very important.
This is a spacious Cab, we love it. Large random storage compartments and the swivel seats are awesome, (we really wanted swivel seats to fully utilise the cab space). We can both stand up straight in the cab too, so much head height… unnecessary head height?? We thought so. So, after some more research and a long time waiting for deliveries, we put a storage shelf in above the drivers and passengers seat. Game changer! We purchased a DIY kit from VanConcept in the U.K. which came with custom brackets and a stencil to cut out a shelf from plywood. It looks great and adds lots of easy access storage.
At the rear, as standard there is a u-shaped dining area with plenty of room for 4 or 5 people to sit. This converts into a bigger than kingsize bed! We decided that we did not need the lounge, and preferred to keep the bed up all the time as we HATE making the bed every day. Also by sleeping ‘East to West’ and making the bed smaller, we are still able to have two seats at the rear and extra, valued floor space!
Matilda came with what we call ‘granny curtains’. Since our van has a total of 11 windows, the flowery curtains dominated and dated our space. We played around with numerous ideas of replacing these, and eventually found a company who make custom van shades. Nowhere in New Zealand or Australia makes these so we purchased from Vanmadegear in the US. These are a total GAMECHANGER. These fabric and foam covers fit perfectly into each window and stay in place with very strong magnets. They provide excellent insulation, fold up easily and stay in the window. And a plus, they are complete blackout and provide excellent privacy!
Matilda came with 100 watts of Solar, which I instantly wanted to improve! We took the van into AA Solar in Silverdale and these guys were great and after some moving around of aerials on the roof, they fitted a 455 watt solar panel! Making a total of 555 watts of solar! Now we never need to plug into power and the batteries are quickly recharged.
Since we upgraded our solar, we needed a way to monitor our battery more closely as we just had an old fashioned voltmeter to look at. We had fitted a Votronic battery monitor with shunt which displays a very accurate battery state, and we now know what uses lots of power and when we may be getting low (never low so far thanks to the solar!!)
For our bathroom, we didn’t want to be making holes in the wet room walls and wanted something that would look sleek to hold our essential toiletries. We found a company called Tooletries who make shower storage compartments made totally of silicone. They stick to the wall and we can peel and restick whenever we feel like it!
Thanks for reading! Hope to see you on the road! Stay Safe. Ngā manaakitanga
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