My New(ish) Bourton, Snagging List

Well, After parting with my previous van conversion and several thousands of your Great British pounds we finally took possession of our 2018 Autosleeper Bourton.
Thought a trip up the road to Moreton in Marsh would help us understand the van and see if there were any issues......well of course there are issues , some may be things about the van we just don't get, and others which are real faults to make our dealer aware of. So if you can guide us please do.
Here we go:
The drivers and passenger seats feel loose, that is to say that there is a fair bit of movement in the form of a rocking motion which I am not used too in any of the other vans we have owned, ( Autosleeper and Autotrail mainly) Is this something to expect with the Mercedes? Didn't get any in my previous Citroen or Fiat vans.

The central locking seems to have a life of its own. locking the van at random times. This could be an issue if we were outside and the keys were inside the van.

The step doesn't always fully retract, this has lead on 2 occasions to one of us stepping out onto a partially retracted step and slipping over .

There is a light on the info system that is stating " Engine Oil Level, Reduce Oil Level".

There are a few other items on the list but they are mainly loose or cosmetic bits that need a fettle.

Interested what you Guys out there have to say. I will be contacting the dealer tomorrow to make them aware of our issues.

Below 5 mph the sprinter suspension is very soft but handles beautifully went up to speed. This means that when travelling at low speed over a campsite or 'farm' road you are thrown from side to side and in high winds without steadies employed, the van rocks violently.

Only time I get random locking is with keys in pocket and bending over. Getting locked out of the van is a real issue - once on site central lock and then only use the manual habitation door key after that.

The step mechanism probably needs cleaning but if that doesn't sort it the dealer can adjust the step 'thro'.

Whoever sold it to you put too much oil in - let them deal with that.

If your Sprinter is the previous version and is the same as my 2017 then 

1. When unlocking you have to open one of the front doors otherwise, after a delay, all doors will lock. Are you doing this?

2. We had this and adjusted the step run time slightly by accessing the advanced settings. To access the advanced settings, on the home screen (the one with the company / brand logo), press and hold the up and down arrows together. Continue holding these buttons until the screen changes. We didn't have to adjust the runtime by more than a couple of counts.

2. We had the oil message showing on one day a couple of weeks after getting the van - we had done several 100 miles by then. Level was OK according to the  level check via the steering wheel buttons. Hasn't come back again.

phil1855 wrote:
The central locking seems to have a life of its own. locking the van at random times. This could be an issue if we were outside and the keys were inside the van.

This may not apply to Mercedes vans, but as pstallwood has already said, it's common to have auto-relocking if the van is unlocked and no door is opened.

A problem can arise if the lock sensor in one of the doors is faulty, because it can cause a re-lock even though a door ~has~ been opened. Typically you can test for this if the van has a "door open" warning light in the dash. If so, open each door individually in turn and see if the "door open" symbol lights up.

We safeguarded against the lock out situation by getting a 'manual' non-chipped key cut which we hid and fixed accessible from outside.  I'll not tell you where but it gives access into the van via the driver's door.

I ordered a spare hab door key with the van and can also access it from outside.

Roopert wrote:

phil1855 wrote:
The central locking seems to have a life of its own. locking the van at random times. This could be an issue if we were outside and the keys were inside the van.

This may not apply to Mercedes vans, but as pstallwood has already said, it's common to have auto-relocking if the van is unlocked and no door is opened.

A problem can arise if the lock sensor in one of the doors is faulty, because it can cause a re-lock even though a door ~has~ been opened. Typically you can test for this if the van has a "door open" warning light in the dash. If so, open each door individually in turn and see if the "door open" symbol lights up.

Yes it is Mercedes vans - base vehicle for Bourtons.  Our Mercdes car does the same.

On my MB Gloucester, unless one of front doors is opened on locking, it relocks after 30 secs, or if entered through hab door, alarm sound when movement sensed. The latter might be peculiar to my after market alarm upgrade though.

Cheers Guys.
  I believe that this is due to the central locking being used to open the doors , then no doors being subsequently opened for a period of time. We were trying out different options, using the key fob to fire the central locking, as well as using the central locking button on the dashboard. We have sort of got our heads around it, though not fully happy with the fact that we could possibly still lock the keys in the van.
Has anyone got there heads around the complicated Mercedes info system on the dash ? Goodness so many menus and sub menus, they should have a look at the Fiat/Citroen system, far more intuitive, far less fussy.
Love the automatic box and the uncluttered cab area, not liking the wobbly seats so much. Not dared using the cruise control yet.
The Bourton has a super airy feel with great living space it is so different from our previous van conversions. Feels far more "grown up".

It’s as others have said, it will re-lock unless a cab door is opened. My remedy avoids being locked out. The dashboard button locks everything when you’re inside, eg for the night, without setting any alarm.

Try the cruise, it’s good and will make driving easier.

Your wobbly seats could be due to a large hex nut (about 2" AF)  in the centre of the base of the seat.... I think, from memory, it secures the seat frame to the swivel.    Mine was slack and I was getting the wobble you describe.

Cheers BobK, 
 Sounds like it's worth looking at.

The seats certainly shouldn't wobble can only be the bolts are not tight enough!

Hi All, Been in touch with the warranty dept at the dealership and awaiting a date to take it in.
I have to say apart from those niggles I described, the van is super, we really love it. Can't wait to get away in it again, already making a list for the coming summer.

The oil level should be mid way between min and max. Lots of dealers don’t know this, and fill to the max mark. I drained 2 litres out of mine when I bought it from a dealer.

Our experience very similar other than the step. 

Will looking for 2" nut to see if I can tighten the seat.

Great replies, looking for a 2" nut and a couple of extra litres of oil. 

Peter Brown wrote:Below 5 mph the sprinter suspension is very soft but handles beautifully went up to speed.  This means that when travelling at low speed over a campsite or 'farm' road you are thrown from side to side and in high winds without steadies employed, the van rocks violently.

Only time I get random locking is with keys in pocket and bending over.  Getting locked out of the van is a real issue - once on site central lock and then only use the manual habitation door key after that.

The step mechanism probably needs cleaning but if that doesn't sort it the dealer can adjust the step 'thro'.

Whoever sold it to you put too much oil in - let them deal with that.

Sprinter oil level indicating over full Mercedes told me to reduce the level on the dipstick by about a pint.

Doors re-locking is common on lots of vehicles. It's deliberate so that you don't accidentally unlock the vehicle when handling the fob, and unconciously leave it unlocked, allowing some chancer "testing" doors to access your vehicle.

Laughing Plumber wrote:Doors re-locking is common on lots of vehicles. It's deliberate so that you don't accidentally unlock the vehicle when handling the fob, and unconciously leave it unlocked, allowing some chancer "testing" doors to access your vehicle.

Unfortunately the base vehicle in this case unlocks the hab door but can't see that its been opened. If you were to put your keys down in the MH it will lock again after 15-20 secs. It was frustrating to begin with but now we've got used to opening a cab door when we unlock the MH.

Hi Steedt,
 This was our original issue, it looked like an accident waiting to happen.
It has been suggested that I get a cab door key cut and secrete it in a magnetic box somewhere accessible.

phil1855 wrote:Hi Steedt,
 This was our original issue, it looked like an accident waiting to happen.
It has been suggested that I get a cab door key cut and secrete it in a magnetic box somewhere accessible.

I've sent you a pm

Many of us have done just that I have a spare hab door key secreted away in a safe place....just in case!!

You "Unfortunately the base vehicle in this case unlocks the hab door but can't see that its been opened. If you were to put your keys down in the MH it will lock again after 15-20 secs. It was frustrating to begin with but now we've got used to opening a cab door when we unlock the MH."

On (newer) Mercedes Chasis you then have to put the chipped vehicle key into the ignition within 20-30 seconds so that it can finish the two stage unlocking. My 2008 Devon didn't need this, but also hadsan after market imobilesr which bypassed it.

I have a feeling from memory you can ask MB to disable the locking feature, worth asking if it really bothers you.