New member - recently retired & ready for adventure

[Origami]

My wife and I retired last June and, after a bit of sizing up our needs and some research, added (in September) a 2014 Itasca Navion IQ (24V) to add a new dimension to our new lives.

We live in Northern Virginia, but before winterizing, we managed to put about 7,000 miles on it traveling all the way out to San Diego and back by way of Salt Lake City where we welcomed our 4th grandchild (and second granddaughter).

I've already made a few electrical mods and chassis mods (with the help of the Winnebago drawings, wiring diagrams/lists and a lot of video assistance), and even rebuilt the toilet when a flush valve started leaking. So I'm getting comfortable with how our little Class C is built.

I've joined here so I can learn more about what the community has done and, hopefully, to use it as a resource should I have questions about this or that. I'm looking forward to the experience.

Thanks in advance!

 

[bigb56]

Welcome, Nice rig! there are several Sprinter chassis owner's here. I own a Via Class A on a Sprinter chassis and have done a lot of mods and improvements. How may miles on yours? MPG? I retired 1.5 years ago and bought the rig in Oct 2020 with 56K on it, now have 62K. Has yours had the AEM performed by Mercedes yet?

 

[Origami]

Welcome, Nice rig! there are several Sprinter chassis owner's here. I own a Via Class A on a Sprinter chassis and have done a lot of mods and improvements. How may miles on yours? MPG? I retired 1.5 years ago and bought the rig in Oct 2020 with 56K on it, now have 62K. Has yours had the AEM performed by Mercedes yet?

Hi, and thanks for the warm welcome.

We had just under 29K miles on it when we bought it over Labor Day weekend. I believe that I'm somewhere north of 37K on it now after two trips since then. We just had the AEM performed a couple of weeks ago (along with having the rear wheel speed sensor recall implemented) and, except for the trip home, haven't had it on the road much. Why do you ask?

 

[bigb56]

Just curious about other's experiences before and after the AEM. I'm waiting a bit more so my warranty will be that much longer, and the techs will be that much more experienced at it.

 

[Origami]

Got it. I havent had it on the road much since the change. I assume that you're aware of the class action suit against MB and the settlement? To file a claim, you have to have had the AEM performed. More information can be found at mbbluetecsettlement.com (https://www.mbbluetecsettlement.com/).

 

[Origami]

Yes, I had the AEM installed on my Sprinter-based RV. I've not put sufficient miles on it to know how it affects performance. But, given the reason why MB has had to do this, I suspect that mileage may suffer.

The AEM is required to take part in the BlueTec settlement as part of the class. You can find more information by Googling "mercedes benz blutec settlement" (as a newbie, I can't send or post a link yet).

In my case, my MB dealership added the software update to my worklist, describing it simply as another "recall" item (I'm told that, technically, it's not a recall). It wasn't until several days had passed that I asked what the other item was and was told it was the AEM software update. So they kind of snuck it in on me. I just discovered the settlement information last night and have already prepared the paperwork to send in.

 

[bigb56]

Very sneaky of them to do the AEM and not inform you about the cash settlement although you probably would have received a letter, you have until Oct 22 to file.

edit: Oct 1, 2022

 

[Origami]

Very sneaky of them to do the AEM and not inform you about the cash settlement although you probably would have received a letter, you have until Oct 22 to file.

edit: Oct 1, 2022

I agree completely.

Something I read last night (from other owners) indicated that they didn't see much in the way of performance changes, but did see an increase in DEF consumption. Again, not from personal experience.