Intro: Why I bought a 4x4 Sprinter.

Hey Guys!

This will be my first write-up on the Sprinter Build and I know it's been taking forever to get the van done and to get some info out on here, but I'm finally getting going!

It took a couple years of thought, and hundreds of conversations with friends (and strangers) of how feasible van building/living is, and debating the pros and cons of different vehicles to lead up to eventually buying one. So I'm here to help reiterate my thought process I've had with many people in person on choosing a brand new 4x4 from the factory, and hopefully bring some insight to those debating what to buy. No this is not the right choice for everyone, but for my situation it made sense, and my goal by sharing my story here is to give realistic info on the process to those thinking about doing about it and give them the confidence to do the same.

To start, it seems like nailing down your basic needs for your future van, and your budget is the right place to start. There's always going to be some give and take with these things, but I bet you there are a few "absolute requirements" that you can think of. For me, the goal for my van was mainly to be an adventure vehicle with the ability to stay in it long term so my requirements were; Needs to be able to carry 2 dirt bikes with at least a single bed, be comfortable for 2 people, snow capable (4x4 was optional at first), and mostly self-sufficient for extended stays in the snow/mountains. 

The need for dirtbikes really narrowed down my options to a few vehicles right off the bat as the Sprinters, Transits and Sportsmobiles were the only options capable of storing a bike and being able to sleep in it.

The next question is probably the most important for your wallet, do you NEED 4x4 or not? For myself I could get away with 2 wheel drive in most situations with the dirt bikes as they would be the off-road choice of vehicle but having plans to travel around to ski resorts, remote snow and camping locations it made the 2wd option fade to the back of my mind. Yes, I could get away with putting snow tires and/or chains on a 2wd and hope that the weight of the vehicle kept decent traction, but after talking to a few people in person and reading blogs online it seemed that 2wd was going to be a bit sketchy with the amount of snow travel I had planned. I understand there are TONS of people that do the same thing in 2wd Sprinters and vans and I fully commend them for that, but this did not seem like something I wanted to deal with or risk. Plus 4x4's are badass.

Once you've decided on 4x4, your options come down to a few options I've listed below: 

• New 4x4 Sprinter: Starting price around $50k, but you have to put money into converting it from scratch, and do it yourself or pay 80-90k to have someone else do it. This was actually my last option for most of the process.
• Used 4x4 Sprinter: This was not an option when I was looking as it was mid 2016, and people still hadn't even gotten the new ones that they had ordered.
• Sportsmobile: Badass, but are typically already fully converted and come at a hefty price, usually over $90k. This was out of my price range, and I wanted to build this out myself.
• Convert a 2wd Van: This seemed like my go-to option, until I realized conversion kits were $20k+. It seemed that buying a used Sprinter or Ford with decently low miles for ~$20k (on a good deal), then putting another $20k into a conversion kit was not as logical. That leaves you with a used car with usual wear and tear and a chassis conversion from a third party, that you still have to convert the inside.

Looking at the pros and cons of each of the above options eventually led me to entertain the idea of buying a new 4x4, although that is no simple decision, especially living with Bay Area rent prices. After thinking about it for a couple years, my girlfriend and I woke up one morning and had a 30 minute conversation about making it happen, and by that evening we had put in our "two weeks" (30 days) with my house-mates and moved out the next month back to our parents house in order to save money. 

If you decide to go with a new Sprinter the next step is to decide what options you want; high or low roof, long or short wheel base, cargo van vs. passenger van, heated seats or not, buy it off the lot or order it custom, etc. At this point for me I went to a few Mercedes dealers and personally looked at different options, I was hoping I could get away with the 144wb (shorter body), but after getting in one it felt way too cramped thinking about putting dirt bikes in there. I think the 144wb is a great option for anyone that doesn't have motorcycles because it'll save you a few thousand dollars and still has plenty of room for anything else you would need, but it wasn't for me. 

The last thing to decide is how bare-bones do you want it to come, there are some differences between the Cargo Van, the Crew Van and the Passenger Van that I didn't know about before purchasing. For example, I went with the Cargo Van because it comes without the factory ceiling or bench seat in the back, because I didn't want that or have to tear that all out when I did the build. What I did not know was that you need a certified rear seat in order to register the van as a Private vehicle, rather than commercial, so my Cargo Van is registered as commercial. Not that it makes a huge difference, but something to think about. If you do want a bench seat and like the factory ceiling the Crew Van is a good way to go but if you don't, you can save some money by ordering the Cargo Van.

So there we have it, we've narrowed it down to a new 4x4 Cargo Sprinter 2500 (model of the 4x4's) 170wb (longer body) and the only thing to decide was to buy off the lot or order it through Mercedes. The price is the same if you're going to buy it off the lot or order custom, but keep in mind the wait time for ordering new is about 6 months to a year (at least when I was going through it in Jan 2017). I looked at every Benz dealer in the Bay Area but new 4x4's at the time were scarce, and came with a variety of different options that I didn't like or need, so I decided to order one from the factory. I got lucky and found a dealer that could get me one in 6 months, which was perfect because it gave me some time to save some cash.

From there as they say, the rest is history. I picked the options that I wanted online, forwarded the order to the dealer in my area and waited. 

Fast forward - I'm now about 6 months into owning the van and about 30% done with the conversion and just starting to write about my experience and what I've learned. 

My goal for this blog is to help other builders or those looking to get into a conversion the info, tools and confidence to get their project done quickly and easily.  

As a note about my personal skill level, I have tinkered with dirt bikes and building small things most of my life, but am by NO MEANS any type of carpenter or electrician. I started this build strictly going off of what I could learn form the Internet and other blogs and videos, but I also think I have come up with some creative ways to build a couple pieces of my own van as I've gone through the process. Going through this build I have developed the confidence to take on any task I can think of, but if it weren't for the dissemination of information by others I definitely would not be able to get through this on my own.

If you're reading this it's fairly likely that you have already chosen to do this on your own, so my aim here is to share what I have learned with the hope that it can help someone else down the line, just as others have helped me. I had hopes of documenting my build a little better, but doing so puts a big dent in the amount of time it takes to get things done so I settled for snapping some photos here and there. I may go back and shoot some more photos or videos before it's too late, but if you come across this and need any clarification or help, feel free to shoot me a message!

Rounding it out if there's one thing I've learned and said a million times, it's that these builds are 90% thinking and 10% physical work. If you can think it you can do it, but you have to spend the time researching what you want, and how to make it happen for your personal build. That, and to have ALL the tools and parts you're going to need, before you start the project. Getting halfway through and realizing you need something else (or need to go to Home Depot) is a mistake I've made wayyyy too many times, so another one of my goals with this blog is to make it simple for you to get all the info you need to get the job done quickly and easily, with as little trips to "The Depot" as possible. I will also try to keep these posts fairly to-the-point so you don't have to read a novel to get the info you need. 

Kudos if you made it this far, and if you're still interested here is the link to the first piece of my build!