Looking at a "new" 2006 motor home with a ...mercede diesel engine??

My wonderful wife and I have narrowed down our choices to about 4 different makes of motor homes with diesel engines. One has a Mercedes diesel engine and we are not too sure about that. Cat and Cumming are excellent and can be SERVICED ANYWHERE.

Does anybody have a Mercedes diesel and what do you think about performance and maintenance. All others are invited to chime in also.

A friend is parked right next to us and has a Winnebago on a Dodge Sprinter chassis which uses the small M-D engine. They are very pleased with it and I would expect any M-D diesel engine to run well and easily serviced. Just about any qualified diesel engine repair shop should be able to easily handle it as well as Dodge dealers. I don't consider a lot of the Freightliner shops to be very good in servicing RVs. I had bad experiences at more FL dealers than good experiences.

Bernie:

Freightliner has now dropped Cat engines on their chassis and replaced the 330-350HP C-7 engine with a Mercedes that is built by another Daimler Chrysler plant in Europe. When I was at Camp  Freightliner in early October they told us the engine was rated at 330HP but was to upgraded by the end of the year. Cummins will be the higher end for their chassis, at least until Mercedes comes up with a replacement.

Jeff Cousins said:

Freightliner has now dropped Cat engines on their chassis and replaced the 330-350HP C-7 engine with a Mercedes that is built by another Daimler Chrysler plant in Europe. When I was at Camp  Freightliner in early October they told us the engine was rated at 330HP but was to upgraded by the end of the year. Cummins will be the higher end for their chassis, at least until Mercedes comes up with a replacement.

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Jeff

You're right. I had forgotten that FL was starting to use the M-D engine on the XC chassis. Should be a good move for them, not for CAT.

More and more  Trucks are began about 4 yrs ago to use the M-D engine and have been quite successful.  Probably see more and more in RVs as time goes by.  Dervice appears to be quite easy.

Jeff Cousins said:

Bernie:

Freightliner has now dropped Cat engines on their chassis and replaced the 330-350HP C-7 engine with a Mercedes that is built by another Daimler Chrysler plant in Europe. When I was at Camp? Freightliner in early October they told us the engine was rated at 330HP but was to upgraded by the end of the year. Cummins will be the higher end for their chassis, at least until Mercedes comes up with a replacement.

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Actually the engine choice is made by the OEM. FW specified all CAT for last several years and is going to go back to Cummins in 08.  Of course, FCCC can price it so that it is not desirable to use the competitive engine. Mack truck did that for years. You want a Cummins engine instead of a Mack - Fine it'll cost x thousands more and oh by the way delivery will be 12 weeks instead of six for the Mack.

Simply put: Mercedes knows diesel.

They have been pumping out diesel engines left and right since the 1960s.  I believe that the RV you are looking at may be the Sprinter Chassis, with the 5cylinder turbodiesel.  That engine was purposefully detuned for durability.  Just look at all of the old mercedes from the 1970s, the majority of them are still running strong, quite a commendable fact that your typical 300D owner tends to use that car for experimenting with alternative fuel.

I would not be worried one bit about owning a Mercedes Diesel

We seem to be talking about 2 completely different classes of engines.? The 2.7 liter turbodiesel on the Dodge/Mercedes Sprinter chassis is similar to the 3.2 liter turbodiesel used on the 2004-2006 Mercedes E320CDI sedan.? This is as bulletproof an engine as there is.? It uses the Common-rail Direct Injection technology and starts like a gasoline car, idles like one, and has bags of torque.? In the E320CDI sedan it was rated at 27/37 mpg, and clients have reported going from Houston to El Paso on one tank (700 mi. +).? I also have a client with, at last check, over 250,000 miles on a '04(!)? This is a large luxury sedan with 0-60 time of 6.6 seconds and the top speed governed to 130 mph in the US.? If you're getting the Dodge Sprinter, Dodge dealers will service the engine.? It doesn't need much.

For automobiles and light trucks for 2007 it has been replaced with a cleaner, more powerful V-6, now in the E320 Bluetec, and the ML320CDI and R320CDI SUVs.? It will soon be in the GL320CDI and a Jeep Grand Cherokee.? If there are any more 2007 US legal diesel automotive engines, they've snuck below my radar.? Automobile magazine says the E320CDI will be the only diesel automobile sold in the US.

The big truck Mercedes engine has been available in Freightliner trucks for some time and is in DynaMax motorhomes.? A Mercedes powered Alfa motorhome was seen at Ron Hoover RV in Houston last month, but it doesn't appear in their website.? The DynaMax GrandSport Columbia uses the MBE4000-450 -- 12.8 L, 450 hp. @ 1900 rpm, 1550 lb./ft. torque at 1100 rpm.? There are smaller Mercedes truck engines as well.? Considering the Freightliner/Mercedes connection and the number in truck service I would not expect servicing to be difficult to find.

Oh, one more thing.? Mercedes has been selling diesels since 1936.?

blueblood said:

Actually the engine choice is made by the OEM. FW specified all CAT for last several years and is going to go back to Cummins in 08.  Of course, FCCC can price it so that it is not desirable to use the competitive engine. Mack truck did that for years. You want a Cummins engine instead of a Mack - Fine it'll cost x thousands more and oh by the way delivery will be 12 weeks instead of six for the Mack.

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Effective 1/1/2008 the only choices the OEM's have on FL chassis are Mercedes or Cummins.

I guess I am not as concerned as to the reliability of Mercedes as I am seeing another American product designed in Peoria and built in Greenville SC being replaced by a European manufacturer. The Dodge Sprinter is not a Dodge, it is a Mercedes brought into the US and reassembled in a few hours at Gaffney (Soon to be moved to Charleston).

CurtRR said:

A Mercedes powered Alfa motorhome was seen at Ron Hoover RV in Houston last month, but it doesn't appear in their website.

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The Alfa brochure 2007 shows the 330HP 7.2 L diesel Mercedes-Benz MBE 926, 1,000 lb.-ft torque for some SeeYa.

Jeff,

The Roadtrek is now being built on the Sprinter as well. It's an option but it says Freightliner with a Mercedes diesel. They claim 22mpg.

Jeff Cousins said:

I guess I am not as concerned as to the reliability of Mercedes as I am seeing another American product designed in Peoria and built in Greenville SC being replaced by a European manufacturer. The Dodge Sprinter is not a Dodge, it is a Mercedes brought into the US and reassembled in a few hours at Gaffney (Soon to be moved to Charleston).

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I used to be concerned about that, but started looking at the companys we consider domestic.  Dodge products are built in Mexico, just like Ford and Chevy.  Nissan, Toyota, Mercedes, Hyundai, all car manufacturers we once considered imports are now built here in the USA.  The imports are domestic and the domestics are imported.  Toyota is putting more money into our economy than any of the "Big 3"  Sure the rich guys that run the companies may be foreign, but the majority of the money to purchase those automobiles goes into the pockets of the hardworking men and women who build those cars on our soil.  The Nissan plant they built here employs thousands, and created thousands more secondary jobs.  If only the Titan was available in a Diesel...