following on from my “wot van” thread, wev’e found a good looking T5.
bit older than we were hoping:

130bhp SWB T5, 2004, 83k £9k.

On test it limped (not cool) but the dealer reckons the steam cleaning of the engine bay may have knocked an air mass sensor or something. he didnt seem worried, going to re drive it next week once its been sorted. Dealer is offering 3 months unconditional warranty for “shake down” anyway.
Oh, and the rear door is on the “wrong” side. I dont see how that would cause a problem but some bright spark might be able to point out why this might be an issue…

ANYHOO.

realities of a SWB as a camper? (for two, but with two bikes too)

currently thinking of a side bench bed (pull out slats)
Anyone got any SWB T5/4 conversions they can show us??

Cheers!

Me

Limped?

My 130 pulls like a train, so I’d be expecting a very different experience next time around.
You’ll be pushed to get much else in there than a decent size bed and bikes, unless you,re happy to have the bed raised with bikes beneath when sleeping (lying on their sides). Mate does this in a Vitoria, which are smaller.

Limped ? Could be stuck vanes on a turbo.

Restart the engine and it should clear ( that is not the long term fix)

What changes has it had so far ? Lined / insulated/ windows ? Sounds a little steep otherwise

Check the t5forum for inspiration on camper builds

It doesn’t sound cheap. I got a 57 plate 130, with AC and electrics etc, 85k, for £10k. It was 2 yrs old at the time. It was a panel van though, so nothing in the back.

Think about where the bikes go when you’re sleeping.

Turbo was disabled. ecu goes to “limp mode”. its plain panel van currently.

Minimum 6 months warranty by law anyway.

As a rule i walk away from anything thats had its engine bay steam cleaned.

Too many friends with tol many horror stories about their shiny engine bayed cars

Look up Amdro conversions for ideas. Having the door on the wing side might be tricky though.

Breaking news. It occured to me that having the door on the drivers side is genius, as I can make the double passenger seat a captains chair (rotates) and then use them as a foot end of the bed, maximising space with the bed down. Crafty.

olly ,unless your having the passengers seat in the boot – it isnt going to turn because of the dash.

been through this with my mates transit.

he ended up just fitting a single rotating seat.

You can get swivels that work with front doubles….

Kiravans T5/T6 Double Passenger Seat Swivel (UK RHD)

interesting mark – first time ive seen a crash rated double swivel , ive seen garbage before – wonder if anyone makes em for the transit.

I’ve got an Extremevans swivel on our double seat. It takes a bit of wiggling to turn it round but it makes the space so much more useable.

It’s the drivers seat that’s more of a PITA in my T5 kombi (passenger is single seat so no problems). Apart from the steering wheel and B-post meaning you have to slide back/fore through the turn there is also the fact the handbrake needs to be released. So has to be in gear as not possible to hold it on the foor brake. This is with factory fitted swivels.

OP, our converter sourced our van from VW Auctions and for around £9k-£10k, and was the facelift 2010 model 2.0 105hp with £81k.

We’ve got a double swivel front – think its the Kira above. Very easy to do once you take the handbrake off. A year later only just found the storage under the seats 😳

Realities of the camper – very easy for two. Introduce a 2.5 yr old and 3 month old baby and things have to be thought through a bit more.

Spent at least a year thinking about getting a ‘van’ – decided it had to be LWB and having now found one think this was a good choice for us, but I know many get on fine with SWB. I guess it is knowing what you can cope with and how organised you are space wise. Hopefully a few will be along to show you their conversions soon 🙂

Think about where the bikes go when you’re sleeping.

Mine lives on the rack outside. I have a cover for rain and its locked to the rack and towing eyelet under the bumper.
If I’m heading in to town I just take it off the rack a put it in the van. It fits between the front seats and the bed at the back without taking wheels off.

Legspin, what cover do you have for your rack? Just ordered the VW rack for our T5 and wondered what covers four bikes.

I have the Fiamma 2-3 cover. I think 3 full sized bikes would be pushing it, does one nicely and 2 adequately.

Put a Kira double swivel seat in mine. Adds loads of space inside wish I’d done it earlier. Easy to fit once I’d grinded out the old rusty seat bolts and swore a lot.

I do as per legspin with our Vito compact SWB. Never been a problem. SWB is fine 99% of the time and much easier to live with as a daily vehicle. Personally, I wouldn’t buy anything that wasn’t running 100% sweet – I’ve got two mates one ’54 T5 that the ECU had to be replaced (£1,000+) and one 56′ T5 that the turbo went bang on (£1,000+), parts and labour are expensive and something dropping into limp mode isn’t something I would touch with a barge pole personally. Also factor in that with the door on the wrong side you’re probably forcing yourself into a bespoke conversion or perhaps importing one. Both of which will likely cost a lot more. For reference we paid £3k for our ’06 vito with 100k miles. For me, the VW your describing doesn’t sound like £6k of extra vehicle for your money……