# 2001 Hymer S740



## ActionJackson

Hi folks,
well after all my disasters attempts to buy a MH, 2 Bessacarrs and then a Chausson that couldn't carrie diddle squat? 
I have decide to go for a German built MH, a 2001 A class S740 to be precise and all though its 10 year old i am very impressed with the build quality we are buying from a member as well , 
no more dealerships for us!
Just wondered if anyone has any experience or knowledge good or bad of this model, its on a Merc 5 tonne chassis with a 2.7ltr engine.
I would appreciate any feed back we are picking her up in a couple of weeks.
We cant wait to get away hopefully first trip will be a bit of skiing at Aveimore that should be a good test for the 3 heating systems and the insulation.
Regards AJ


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## jonandjules

Hi, we have a 2004 S820 (similar to yours, just a bigger rear bed). Love it - I like to think I know a lot about them.......we saw it released in 2000 and always fancied one. Is yours the 416 or the 616 chassis? The reason I ask is that you say 5 ton chassis - the 416 is 4.6 ton and the 616 is 5.99 ton. Also the 616 has air brakes on the handbrake.

Our 820 is on the 616 chassis with manual transmission.
At a steady 50 we get 22mpg, at 60 it dips to about 17mpg. Top speed is 80 (we had to find out!). It does use a little bit of oil - we drive her gently but it is a heavy load.
We seldom use the front heating system except when we are steamed up.
The underfloor heating is lovely background heat and the blown air is great at heating up quickly.
In twelve months and 10,000 miles ours has been fabulous (we have spent over 10 months living in her) and never missed a beat.
Compared with the English motorhomes you have owned you are going to be amazed at the storage capacity, the overall build quality, no worries of water ingress and all the other good stuff - like big water tanks! We both shower everyday in our motorhome and with all the other water useage we can go about 5 days without filling up and because you have at least two big batteries your 12v lasts as well.
To have it properly looked after take it to Peter Hambiltons if you live in the North or Southdowns if you live in the South - both are the tops!!!
Any other questions?


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## coppo

Is it manual or auto, if its the 416 it can be uprated to 4900kg i think, which is where you may get the 5ton bit from.

Is it manual or auto, if auto and its the 416 then is it true auto or the sprintshift. Mercedes no longer use the sprinshift, some say because of problems.

Great build quality you will have and i dont think you'll be disappointed.

Any extras, solar, extra batteries, inverter, genny, tv etc.

Good luck.

Paul.


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## ActionJackson

thanks for the replys guys,

yes Paul i think it must be the 416 chassis possibly upgraded? It has a personal payload of around 800kg, and it is the auto sprint shift,
It has 2 solar panels and 4 leisure batteries and inverter +towbar, satellite and tv, i am thinking of purchasing Honda eu20i with gas conversion as a genie.
Its also the 5 berth layout with a good dinning area set up! 

Im going to fit 2 13kg gaslow system, bike rack, and a very good friend of mine who is an fantastic welder is going to make me a custom fit stainless steel roof rack and ladder system as we have a canadian canoe and surfboards.

Jon 
do you know the water and waste capacities?
And if you had any advise on fixing points either for roof rack or bike rack that would be much appreciated.

Regards AJ


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## jonandjules

We have the Alugas refillable cylinders - about the same price as the gaslow but German made and aluminium.

Fresh water is 170l and waste is 120l.

I am not sure how you would go about attaching a roofrack. The roof is once piece - be carefull. One thought, these are very high motorhomes (much higher than you are used to) and your canoe is quite, how can I put it......lumpy? I have the Hymer ladder / roofrack fitted and could not imagine carrying anything up onto the roof, it really is very high.
Also consider that on your roof there are two vents, the upper fridge vent (there is only one fridge vent on the side unlike most other motorhomes), the SOG vent, at least two roof lights, the air conditioner, solar panels, the sun roof and probably a sat dish......very little room for much else.

You mention 4 batteries - their are places for three in the battery draw, do you know where the fourth is?

Could surf boards go in the garage? Your bikes could go in there as well. You can get bike racks that go on the outside or the inside of the garage. You have two under floor slide out draws that are pretty big.


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## ActionJackson

Hi Jon,
your 170 ltr water capacity do you know if that will be the same as the 740?
surf boards to big for garage, im going to have a roller fitted to back of roof rack so its just a case of leaning canoe up against the back and then go up and pull it up :idea: 
As for 4th battery not sure were it is will find out when i get the van :?: 
Are you still full timing? take it you have been up and about in bony scotland  were you been?
All the beast AJ 8)


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## coppo

A weighbridge before purchase may be in order, to ascertain the actual true user payload, especially with 4 batteries, solar, your intended genny etc.

Paul.


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## ActionJackson

Good idea Paul cheers for that.
:wink: 
Regards AJ


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## ActionJackson

Good idea Paul cheers for that.
:wink: 
Regards AJ


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## teemyob

*sprintshift*



ActionJackson said:


> thanks for the replys guys,
> 
> yes Paul i think it must be the 416 chassis possibly upgraded? It has a personal payload of around 800kg, and it is the auto sprint shift,
> It has 2 solar panels and 4 leisure batteries and inverter +towbar, satellite and tv, i am thinking of purchasing Honda eu20i with gas conversion as a genie.
> Its also the 5 berth layout with a good dinning area set up!
> 
> Im going to fit 2 13kg gaslow system, bike rack, and a very good friend of mine who is an fantastic welder is going to make me a custom fit stainless steel roof rack and ladder system as we have a canadian canoe and surfboards.
> 
> Jon
> do you know the water and waste capacities?
> And if you had any advise on fixing points either for roof rack or bike rack that would be much appreciated.
> 
> Regards AJ


"and it is the auto sprint shift"

Might be worth pricing a warranty if you can get one?

The Hymer is a great bit of kit. Hope you enjoy.

TM


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## androidGB

I'd second Coppo's suggestion regarding the weighbridge, as 800kg does sound a bit optimistic.

I've got an S820, largely the same van, albeit on the 6 tonne chassis, and we"re about 4.6 tonnes empty. You may be Ok if it's been uprated but better safe than sorry.


Andrew


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## JeanLuc

I don't have any personal experience of the S740, but I do have a Hymer on a 316 chassis and know a little about the range. If the one you are considering is on a 416 chassis, I would have thought it is at the limit of the chassis' capability - particularly if uprated to 4.9 tonnes. The 616 should be easily identifiable from the 416 because the former has an air-parking brake rather than a cable and lever. As the parking brake's ability to pull a certain deceleration is a requirement to pass the MOT, the lever version can struggle to exert sufficient force. I had an advisory on that two years ago and mine is only rated at 3,800 kg. I had to get my local HGV garage to work on the parking brake before the next test, but now it sails through.

Also, as mentioned by an earlier poster, if the GVW is 4.9 tonnes, I would have thought the payload is likely to be rather limited if you want to travel with a full water tank and a decent load of extras / possessions.


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## jonandjules

Yes, the 740 and the 820 have a 170l water tank. The smaller 650 had just 120l.


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## androidGB

So did you get the S740 Action?


Andrew


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## Glandwr

I have been extremely impressed with the S740 we bought in Oct. Only fault I can think of are the driving sun visors. Don't know if they are the same in all Hymer A class vans but they seem to be designed for people of 6ft 6ins and taller.

How do others overcome this?

Dick


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