A bunch of questions from new old MP owners

[Bo Dudek]

Hi

Right before Christmas we've made a fast decision, and went from Bulgaria to Netherlands to buy a secondhand Vito based Marco Polo and drive it back up during 4 days with nice stops taking it easy.

The seller was a caravan-trader, but he actually did not know anything about the MP - he just sold it That said those 2.500km during 4 days proofed, that the van is solid and - almost - everything is working.

The van is a MB Vito 110CDI with a Marco Polo fitted when new. It's from 2001 and have 300.000km. It comes with the heater, engine aircon and the default Westfalia orange/grey setup.

1) How/where to find a manual for the control unit

2) The 220V outlet is not working and all fuses fitted next to the outlet seems ok. Is there a 12V to 220V converted hidden somewhere?

3) The shower thingy was not in the van. I could order it online, but can it be DIY cheaper from standard components?

4) Has anyone made a clever alarm system? For now I have setup a Netatmo Welcome (https://goo.gl/HTNmMr) connected to a SIM operated microrouter using 3G / 4G, and it works ok, but maybe someone has done something better?

5) The sockets for the neck rests are annoying, when seats are converted into a bed. The hard plastic / metal goes directly into my back. Yeah, I can buy a 5cm mattress and put on top of it, but I really need to save A LOT of space, as we travel 4 persons and need room for quite some sports equipment Suggestions for making the bed better?

6) The rooftent is great but needs small repairs. a) Suggestions for textile repair as well as b) alu-list repair where the tent is fixed to the cabin?

7) Those "taps" on the table are awful. One is missing (which makes it even more awful!) but the system just doesn't seem that great. We could get some inexpensive rails instead but.. someone made something better / cheaper / smarter?

8) We need to take the storage all over the van to the max. I'm really interested in best solutions for internal storage from small to big elements - inexpensive solutions of course Suggestions?

Ok - enough for now but hey (!) - we're all just happy and very excited

 

[mptripsaway]

Hi

Right before Christmas we've made a fast decision, and went from Bulgaria to Netherlands to buy a secondhand Vito based Marco Polo and drive it back up during 4 days with nice stops taking it easy.

The seller was a caravan-trader, but he actually did not know anything about the MP - he just sold it That said those 2.500km during 4 days proofed, that the van is solid and - almost - everything is working.

The van is a MB Vito 110CDI with a Marco Polo fitted when new. It's from 2001 and have 300.000km. It comes with the heater, engine aircon and the default Westfalia orange/grey setup.

1) How/where to find a manual for the control unit

You may be able to find the relevant Mercedes manuals on their website.

2) The 220V outlet is not working and all fuses fitted next to the outlet seems ok. Is there a 12V to 220V converted hidden somewhere?

220v socket only works when hooked up to mains power.

3) The shower thingy was not in the van. I could order it online, but can it be DIY cheaper from standard components?

I think the shower attachment operates a valve in the outlet so the correct fitting is needed.

4) Has anyone made a clever alarm system? For now I have setup a Netatmo Welcome (https://goo.gl/HTNmMr) connected to a SIM operated microrouter using 3G / 4G, and it works ok, but maybe someone has done something better?

I haven't, the current UK Marco Polo comes with alarm fitted.

5) The sockets for the neck rests are annoying, when seats are converted into a bed. The hard plastic / metal goes directly into my back. Yeah, I can buy a 5cm mattress and put on top of it, but I really need to save A LOT of space, as we travel 4 persons and need room for quite some sports equipment Suggestions for making the bed better?

Google "Duvalay" or other mattress toppers that are thinner.

6) The rooftent is great but needs small repairs. a) Suggestions for textile repair as well as b) alu-list repair where the tent is fixed to the cabin?

You may find some advice on VWCaliforniaclub forum which is much more established and has some really useful threads that are transferrable to the MP.

7) Those "taps" on the table are awful. One is missing (which makes it even more awful!) but the system just doesn't seem that great. We could get some inexpensive rails instead but.. someone made something better / cheaper / smarter?

??

8) We need to take the storage all over the van to the max. I'm really interested in best solutions for internal storage from small to big elements - inexpensive solutions of course Suggestions?

You will learn what works for your situation and what doesn't as you use your van, but once again VWcalifornia forum has some good advice.

Ok - enough for now but hey (!) - we're all just happy and very excited

Hi Bo, Welcome to the forum. This is quite a new forum and I would guess most members own or are in the process of buying the UK spec Marco Polo which is based on the MB V class which I believe differs somewhat from the Vito.
I have added my answers to your questions within the copy of your original post above.
Have fun and enjoy.

 

[Bo Dudek]

Thanks a million for the answers