Modding the Hymer ML-t 580 4x4 (17 Viewers)

[Abgs]

Inspired by LennyHB … I thought I’d start a post to details various mods and upgrades.

I have a brand new Hymer Mlt 580 sitting on my drive waiting for a DVLA to assign a registration number. In the meantime, of course I’m going to take take it apart, fettle and modify it …..

Firstly …. Hymer, why no front mudflaps? Genuine Mercedes parts are £75 a pair, could you not include them as standard?

Anyhow, an easy install as all the fitting points are present and line up perfectly.

Ten minutes per side and a great improvement both practically and visually. Should also save the habitation step mechanism from getting covered in mud.

Part Number: Mercedes-Benz Mud flaps Sprinter 907 front set A9078890600.

 

[funflair]

Quite agree they should be standard especially being a 4x4 mud plugger.

So what's next?

 

[martin2603]

Come on they just love to charge for the extras!

 

[March Hare]

Welcome to the world of MLT5x0 ownership, there are quite a few MLT570 owners on here. We've got an MLT570 but it's not the 4x4 version - but strangely it did come complete with front mud flaps. Enjoy your lovely new motorhome - we love ours!

 

[Abgs]

So what's next?

Moving on to the Audio upgrade.

I have set of Alpine Speakers, Amplifier and Bass Speaker which were previously installed in my Hymer Grand Canyon.

This is always a bit of a fiddly install as you have to remove both the blinds and door panels.

The blinds are held in place by 5 screws, but two of them are tiny and easy to lose. The door panel has five torx bolts and three plastic screws. Hardest part is removing the blanking caps on the star bolts! Then pry the panel off, carefully disconnect the electrics and the door latch cable.

Remove the moisture barrier and reveal the lack of insulation and sound deadening … pretty much par for the course with Hymer I remember from my Grand Canyon.

Old speakers out, new ones in. Fairly substantial difference in weight !

Add sound deadening to door panels and inner door skins.

Replaced the dashboard tweeters. This make a very noticeable difference as the sound is directed towards you instead of the windscreen. Also they look fancy !

Overall a big improvement in sound quality!

I have an Alpine amplifier and bass speaker but I’m not sure whether I’ll need to fit these. Also the space under the passenger seat where the bass speaker sits is full of Hymer wiring.

Part number: Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 907 / 910 SPC-106S907 high-end component speaker system.

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[jumar]

When you've finished, and reached your target...Can I have it please, we see a few in our part of Spain...mostly German owned...
and of course a UK owned one that couldn't keep all 4 wheels in contact with the ground..So sad to see...

 

[Abgs]

Just some random pictures of it underneath as I ponder the route for the rear dash-cam cable. There's a lot of big chunky, purposeful looking kit under there but it will never be this clean again!

 

[Abgs]

Dash-cam and more sound deadening ...

The Sprinter cab on the MLt is way quieter than my 21 Plate Sprinter PVC but as I had to buy another box of sound deadening I thought I look at other areas where panel resonance could be improved.

Looking at the Mercedes build sheet the Mlt has Code XM4 Acoustic Package. This adds a sound deadening blanket to the bulkhead on the engine side. You can’t really hear the engine on tick-over and it’s pretty quite on the road.

There is a bit of a drone noise - most likely due to comedy ‘let’s go off-road’ tyres.

Looking at various USA Sprinter Van Life build videos a common upgrade is to sound deaden the cab floor and footwells.

So … plastic stripped-out and cover the floor and footwells with sound deadening. Easy enough but tedious.

Note, dash cam wiring fitted while I had the floor trim out. Dual power feed so I have 'always on parked' mode and regular driving mode. Also means I have a flashing security light on the camera at night which may be act as a deterrent.

All back together ….

Dash-cam with wiring hidden behind the blinds.

Was the sound deadening worth doing ? No idea as I can’t drive it until a registration pate is issued and by then I won’t remember how it sounded before!

Parts: Dodo Matt
Dash Cam: GNet G-ONX - Not new, I have moved this camera from vehicle to vehicle - this is the third time I've fitted it!

 

[Abgs]

When you've finished, and reached your target...Can I have it please, we see a few in our part of Spain...mostly German owned...
and of course a UK owned one that couldn't keep all 4 wheels in contact with the ground..So sad to see...

Apparently I'm not allowed to consider changing it for a long, long time !