Did Mercedes Just Revolutionize Sleeping in a Camper Van?

If you’ve ever struggled to sleep in an uneven camper van, the new V-Class Marco Polo is for you.

Published June 19, 2024

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Not everyone who goes camping wants to rough it. Sometimes, a few comforts from home can be nice when out on the road, which is part of the appeal of camper vans.

But even camper vans can be uncomfortable. Raise your hand if you’ve ever settled in for the night and found yourself unable to sleep because you were parked on uneven territory. You may have hopped out of the van and struggled with setting up leveling blocks, which is the last thing you want to be doing in the middle of the night when you just want to sleep.

If this sounds like you, then you may be interested in Mercedes-Benz’s latest camper van, the V-Class Marco Polo.

A “Smart Home on Wheels”

mercedes camper van interior showing a table with plates of food and drinks — The V-Class Marco Polo offers all the comforts of home — particularly if you live in a smart home.

Mercedes is celebrating 40 years of its Marco Polo camper van this year with the launch of the new V-Class, the most impressive iteration of the icon to date.

The German marque is billing the vehicle as a “smart home on wheels” thanks to its intuitive user interface (Mercedes-Benz Advanced Control unit, or MBAC) that allows you to control a suite of features from either the expansive touchscreen in the cockpit or via an app on your smartphone.

person uses a smartphone to control a mercedes camper van — Many features of the new Marco Polo can be controlled through an app on your smartphone.

For instance, you can adjust the lighting, climate, sound system and fridge temperature, raise and lower the pop-up tent, check the levels of your water tanks and auxiliary battery and more.

You can even control some features with your voice thanks to the AI-equipped MBUX multimedia system that learns your habits and adapts to them, understanding your commands better as time goes on.

It’s all rather impressive, but there’s one feature in particular that campers should find especially useful, and that’s the ability to level the floor of the van at the press of a button.

No More Uneven Sleeping

mercedes benz camper van dashboard — The leveling system will automatically fix your camper’s uneven floors using air suspension.

Mercedes is able to accomplish this feat with the use of an optional AIRMATIC air suspension system. The system is controlled through the MBAC while the van is in Camper Mode, and with it, you can automatically level your uneven camper floor instantly.

We’ve seen similar abilities in luxe full-size RVs before, so it’s not like this feature is completely unheard of. But for a camper van straight from the factory, it’s pretty impressive. With the auto-leveling feature, you can leave the leveling blocks and ramps at home and spend more time relaxing instead of fiddling around trying unsuccessfully to level out your bed.

The V-Class Marco Polo is available now to rent or buy from Mercedes-Benz in over 30 European markets with a starting price of £88,420 (~$112,500), but unfortunately, the camper van is not available in the U.S. (Why is that always the case?)