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V220 v V250

Samebutdifferent

Samebutdifferent

Active Member
VIP Member
Thought you may recognise it. Murchison, South Island.

This was the inside:

Murchison.jpg
 

Grand Tourismo

Active Member
Hi GT,

Just noticed after a closer look at the photos of your T5 conversion that it seems to be a Three Bridge conversion. Coincidentally, a friend of mine in our village commissioned a similar conversion a couple of years ago. He’s a little eccentric and went for a very bold colour scheme. It appears to be very well built.

He was reluctant to admit how much it cost and I only found out how eye-wateringly expensive it was after he’d had too much to drink one night. Interestingly, he uses it occasionally to tow a caravan when they holiday with their grown up family.

I‘ve just informed my wife we going to keep the MP and buy a caravan! I’ll let you know how I get on.
Hi George
Just checking in on the caravan purchase, did you manage to find anything suitable? I am still interested in this option for the future.

Cheers
 

Grand Tourismo

Active Member
Hi,
We have a Sprite Major. It’s the entry level van from Swift but it appealed to us because the interior is more modern rather than the chintzy look of some.
It has a fixed double bed with a full width bathroom across the back. The only downside to this layout is that the bed is against the side wall meaning you have to clamber over your partner for that inevitable nocturnal visit!
An island bed layout negates this but they tend to be a little longer and thus a bit heavier.
One consideration would be your license entitlement if you passed your test after 1997 as any caravan towed by the MP will be over the combined 3500 kg limit meaning you need the B+E entitlement. Not an issue if you passed before 1997 as you have grandfathers rights.
Hi Blackrat
Can I ask where to find the towing restrictions and weights for the MP? the app guide seems to be giving me conflicting info.

Cheers
 

GeorgeG

Active Member
Hi George
Just checking in on the caravan purchase, did you manage to find anything suitable? I am still interested in this option for the future.

Cheers
Hi GT,

Yes we’ve bought a compact caravan - an Adria Action. I think we got the last one in the country. We bought locally from a very good dealer - Blackmore Vale Leisure, near Shaftesbury. We looked at quite a few compacts, including the Swift Basecamp (all quota for 2022 now sold!), but decided on the Adria in the end after 4 visits to the dealer. On the last visit to make a final decision they had just taken delivery of 3 new Adria Actions that day and they had all sold that week to people from far afield. We managed to buy the demo. It’s pretty mental in the caravan/motorhome industry at the moment!

We sold the MP in the end because we decided there was too much money tied up in it and it would have been a bit of an unnecessary indulgence using it as a tow car.

We had a frantic couple of weeks looking for a suitable tow car (our other car is a Prius plug-in which can’t tow but is averaging over 200 mpg over the last 22,000 miles so it’s staying), before we take delivery of the caravan on 7 July.
We looked at a lot of SUV’s, but towing capacity and nose weight are a big issue, even with compact caravans. The Adria has a particularly heavy nose weight and with the addition of 2 full suspension mountain bikes on the front A-frame we had a problem. The permissible tow bar load (nose weight limit) for most cars is 70 to 75kg. A few cars - especially Volvos and Land Rovers - can manage over 100kg, but despite having owned Volvo estates for 15 year in the past I think they are grossly overpriced. And my previous experience of dreadful reliability with Land Rover ruled them out.

In the end, after advice from my son who is looking to buy a BMW 530d touring as his work car, we settled on an immaculate 3 year old BMW 520d touring from a main dealer. They are brilliant tow cars with a towing limit of 2000kg and tow ball limit of 90kg.

We’re very much looking forward to a new experience, but you never know, if my health improves we may be back to a campervan in the future - after all we’ve owned 3!

I’d just like to end this diatribe by saying this is such a great forum and an invaluable resource for owners and prospective owners of the Marco Polo. It’s been great helping people out with advice as well as receiving great advice. I wish you all well in the future and I will look in from time to time.
 

Blackrat

Active Member
Hi Blackrat
Can I ask where to find the towing restrictions and weights for the MP? the app guide seems to be giving me conflicting info.

Cheers
Hi GT,
I downloaded the MP e brochure from the MB website. It was listed at the end under technical specs.
It gave a max towing limit of 2000 kg which is enough for just about any caravan on the market. With the factory towing pack it increases to 2500 kg due to the extra cooling.
I couldn’t however confirm the nose weight limit with MB. I used a tow car matching website which quoted 100 kg. This sounds about right as my previous MB estate was 85 kg. I’ve continued to run at the same nose weight as before and it’s very stable.
Out of interest what figures did you get from the app?
 

Grand Tourismo

Active Member
Hi GT,
I downloaded the MP e brochure from the MB website. It was listed at the end under technical specs.
It gave a max towing limit of 2000 kg which is enough for just about any caravan on the market. With the factory towing pack it increases to 2500 kg due to the extra cooling.
I couldn’t however confirm the nose weight limit with MB. I used a tow car matching website which quoted 100 kg. This sounds about right as my previous MB estate was 85 kg. I’ve continued to run at the same nose weight as before and it’s very stable.
Out of interest what figures did you get from the app?
Hi Blackrat,

I got the two attached nose weights:
75kg when using a carrier system and I think 100kg when towing a trailer.

And the following braked trailer weights:
Permissible weights of 2000kg & 2500kg which as you mentioned is probably to do with the factory fit tow system in comparison to an aftermarket tow ball.

I have not yet been able to find the GVW of the Marco Polo camper to do the GVW/tow capacity calculation as yet.



IMG_7895.PNGIMG_7894.PNG
 

Grand Tourismo

Active Member
Hi GT,

Yes we’ve bought a compact caravan - an Adria Action. I think we got the last one in the country. We bought locally from a very good dealer - Blackmore Vale Leisure, near Shaftesbury. We looked at quite a few compacts, including the Swift Basecamp (all quota for 2022 now sold!), but decided on the Adria in the end after 4 visits to the dealer. On the last visit to make a final decision they had just taken delivery of 3 new Adria Actions that day and they had all sold that week to people from far afield. We managed to buy the demo. It’s pretty mental in the caravan/motorhome industry at the moment!

We sold the MP in the end because we decided there was too much money tied up in it and it would have been a bit of an unnecessary indulgence using it as a tow car.

We had a frantic couple of weeks looking for a suitable tow car (our other car is a Prius plug-in which can’t tow but is averaging over 200 mpg over the last 22,000 miles so it’s staying), before we take delivery of the caravan on 7 July.
We looked at a lot of SUV’s, but towing capacity and nose weight are a big issue, even with compact caravans. The Adria has a particularly heavy nose weight and with the addition of 2 full suspension mountain bikes on the front A-frame we had a problem. The permissible tow bar load (nose weight limit) for most cars is 70 to 75kg. A few cars - especially Volvos and Land Rovers - can manage over 100kg, but despite having owned Volvo estates for 15 year in the past I think they are grossly overpriced. And my previous experience of dreadful reliability with Land Rover ruled them out.

In the end, after advice from my son who is looking to buy a BMW 530d touring as his work car, we settled on an immaculate 3 year old BMW 520d touring from a main dealer. They are brilliant tow cars with a towing limit of 2000kg and tow ball limit of 90kg.

We’re very much looking forward to a new experience, but you never know, if my health improves we may be back to a campervan in the future - after all we’ve owned 3!

I’d just like to end this diatribe by saying this is such a great forum and an invaluable resource for owners and prospective owners of the Marco Polo. It’s been great helping people out with advice as well as receiving great advice. I wish you all well in the future and I will look in from time to time.
Sorry to hear that you will not be MP'ing but glad you are still heading out into the great outdoors.

We too are looking at the Adria range of 'vans as an option.

Anecdotally I am just selling my BMW X3 after 4 years of happy service. (3 series touring prior to that).
The residual values are excellent (my X3 cost me £9k in depreciation and 1 service in 4 years)... and to top it off the 520d is a smashing car in my opinion.

Keep us updated on your travels with your new car & van set-up, I for one will be interested to know how the car/caravan offer stacks up against the your recent glampervan travels!
 

SteveR

Active Member
....I’d just like to end this diatribe by saying this is such a great forum and an invaluable resource for owners and prospective owners of the Marco Polo. It’s been great helping people out with advice as well as receiving great advice. I wish you all well in the future and I will look in from time to time.
Best of luck @GeorgeG
Have fun in your new rig and make sure you come back here to visit
 

Blackrat

Active Member
Hi Blackrat,

I got the two attached nose weights:
75kg when using a carrier system and I think 100kg when towing a trailer.

And the following braked trailer weights:
Permissible weights of 2000kg & 2500kg which as you mentioned is probably to do with the factory fit tow system in comparison to an aftermarket tow ball.

I have not yet been able to find the GVW of the Marco Polo camper to do the GVW/tow capacity calculation as yet.



View attachment 1579View attachment 1580
Hi GT,
Thanks for that, it confirms the nose weight figure I found of 100 kg to be correct.
The online brochure shows the kerb weight to be 2487 kg and the gross vehicle weight 3100 kg.
 

Grand Tourismo

Active Member
Hi GT,
Thanks for that, it confirms the nose weight figure I found of 100 kg to be correct.
The online brochure shows the kerb weight to be 2487 kg and the gross vehicle weight 3100 kg.
GVW of 3100kg + 2500kg fits within the max permissible of 5700kg so all makes sense, thanks :Thumbs up:
 

GeorgeG

Active Member
Hi GT & SteveR ,

thanks for your best wishes. We’re off to the Malvern area at the beginning of July in the new rig. I’ll report back about our experiences, good and, hopefully, not too bad.
 
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