new and far away ... germany

[GGE]

thanks for your welcome E350, freeagent, twoxentrix and BrianW

last things first, I live in West Germany near the Belgium/Dutch border, 60 mls and 30 mls from Cologne. Maybe some race guys know the Nurburgring so called green hell, it‘s only 25 mls away.
compare consumtion is not so easy, because you calc in mpg and what I‘ve read you have to pay less than 2 us$ per gal.

If I‘m correct, 1 gal is 3.8l, 1l cost act. 1.25€ for diesel, 1.40€ for gas. Means, 6$/gal gas, or 5.3$ diesel. Depends on the savings for mpg between 5.4 gas or 7.3/6.0 diesel engine. And, actually the prices go up and down like a rollercoaster, twice a day If I go to Italy, France or Spain, diesel is much cheaper than gas.
Mostly I will drive on a highway. The Van will be used to go to the racetracks. If I go with one bike, it will be placed inside the Van, otherwise for 2 bikes I have to use a trailer.
Pop tops are totally rare, 4x4 changes not possibel.. you live in a very good place for this customizing. All the custombuild are very restricted in germany. To buy a custom car, find a technical guy from the registration service, called TÜV, is the way to get a sportsmobile registered

but, thanks a lot for your help in advance

[86Scotty]

Originally Posted by freeagent

86Scotty, are you talking about schluchtenflitzer?

http://www.sportsmobileforum.com/forums/f16/post-your-campsite-pics-2313-46.html#post240852


And welcome Gunter GGE! Good luck with your van search!

I would also recommend reaching out to chetubi (Philipp). I believe he also lives in Germany and might have some insight about how he was able to get his SMB back there. I think he knows a couple of other SMB owners in Germany as well.


http://www.sportsmobileforum.com/forums/f17/europe-montenegro-and-albania-in-our-sportsmobile-18294.html

Yes, I was kind of thinking of both of them actually!

[carringb]

Because of TÜV, I highly recommend buying a nice 2-wheel drive van, then having the 4x4 conversion. Without the full engineering documents for a conversion, I think passing TÜV would be difficult to impossible.

Here's yet another thought.... What about finding a nice 5.4L van for cheap, then have MGMetalWorks do a 5.0L Cummins swap, along with his 4x4 conversion?

The 7.3L Ford diesel is getting old, so ongoing maintenance will be an issue. At least the 7.3L is relatively simple, so most anything can be done in your driveway, but most every service is very time consuming.

I would not recommend the 6.0. Even one that has been "bullet-proofed". You can replace all of the known problem parts, then a single bad sensor in the future can leave to stranded. This may be especially problematic overseas, because your standard tow trucks won't carry an E350, and you will have a difficult time finding a mechanic familiar with them. A gas motor will be far more reliable, but I agree with the economics for a diesel over there.... Hence my suggestion for the 5.0 Cummins

[BrianW]

Or maybe get a Quigley 4x4 since they are tied-in with Ford more tightly and likely have good engineering info for the TuV folks. I’m sure they must have exported vans to Germany over the years...

[martinli]

Hey Gunter,


I have a E350 from 2014 in Berlin. It's a RB not the extended body it is RWD and has no PopTop ;-)
My biggest wish was a Sportsmobile with PopTop and 4x4. But there is nearly no chance to find one in Germany.

Dietmar and Philipp have been importing there Vans from the US. You will find good reports about this here on the forum.
I decided to start with a very good basis, my EE350, which is pretty new and has not any issue. But it was quit expensive.
For the future I think about upgrading my car to 4x4. Also there might be a chance to add a Poptop here in Germany. There are some manufacturers which usually do VW or Sprinter.


My Van is not a diesel but runs on LPG with the 5.4 V8. It takes about 19l / 100km.


cheers,
Martin

[JWA]

Warm greetings from me too Gunter!

Like so many others here I stand ready to help should you require or need any parts, accessories or similar that are impossible or hard-to-find in Germany.

I've already done this for a few living in Europe and am mostly aware how difficult it is to receive some American vehicle parts and so on. I don't expect any payment over and above the exact cost to me buying and sending to you.

Hope your search goes well and I'm sure you'll enjoy your time here!

J W