Mercedes Sprinter/its Sys Other models

The six-cylinder diesel engine, at 2,987 cc, is the strongest unit offered on the Sprinter. The vehicle weighs 3,015 kg unladen and is rated for 3,500 kg gross weight, leaving on paper only around 485 kg of payload, at 6.90 m long, 2.24 m wide and on a 4.33 m wheelbase with four wheels.

At 3,500 kg gross weight the vehicle stays within EU class N1 for light commercial vehicles and can be driven on a category B licence. That only 485 kg of the gross weight is left for load and crew is, on a Sprinter fitted with its strongest available engine, not an error in the figures but a sign of a permanently fitted, heavy body that claims most of the permitted mass itself.

On a used Sprinter chassis with this engine it is worth checking the mounting points between chassis and body for corrosion, the brakes given the small margin between kerb and gross weight, and the service history of the six-cylinder diesel together with its exhaust after-treatment. The tightness of the body and the routing of any extra cabling for built-in equipment deserve the same attention, as does the state of the tyres and wheel bearings given how little of the gross weight is left as a safety margin.