Bijou, our Hymer B544SL is for sale!

Hymer B544SL – Sale price €34,000

Soon we will return to Paris to reunite with Bijou. Our main goal from then on is to pack up whatever belongings we want to keep and ship it all back to the ranch, and then prepare Bijou for sale. I always knew this day would come, and I feel very sad about it all. Bijou has been a wonderful home to us for the past five years and a most reliable vehicle. 

We’ve taken a lot of beauty shots of Bijou over the years, but this one is my favorite. We were parked up in Sens during our third (!!) Covid lockdown.

In the five years we have lived and traveled in Bijou, we have visited 33 countries, including Morocco to the south, as far north as Nordcapp in Norway, Iceland to the west and … well, it’s difficult to say which point is the farthest east, maybe Finland, Romania, Estonia, or Latvia? 

In early 2020 when Covid hit, we thought the world was coming to an end. We were in Morocco at the time when there were rumors of borders closing, and we decided we had better get to a place where we could hunker down until things became more clear. We decided to make a beeline to Sens, France, to a small municipal aire where we had stayed a couple of days the previous summer. It had all the amenities we needed, excellent drinking water, dumping facilities, good electricity, privacy, a grocery store nearby and plenty of room to roam without leaving the campground. We ended up staying at the aire for just over three months, most of that by ourselves. During this time Bijou became more of a home than a vehicle and we felt very safe and comfortable. 

I know there are lots of folks who would love to travel as we have, but can’t quite figure out the logistics of Schengen. Being married to an EU national, I was exempt from the rules, which made our travels very easy. That said, ownership of a vehicle in a European country (in our case, France) can be done, as can European travels within the rules of Schengen. It takes some planning, but is completely doable. 

And now, here is all there is to know about our beloved Bijou.

Vehicle Specs

After the storm, parked up in Finland on our way to Nordcapp.
  • Hymer B544 SL, 2008
  • Left hand drive, manual 5-speed gearbox
  • 2.3 Fiat Ducato engine
  • Alko chassis
  • 3 berth, 4 seatbelts
  • Weight: 3500kg
  • Length: 6.6 meters (21.7 feet)
  • Width: 2.35 meters (7.7 feet)
  • Height: 2.9 meters (9.5 feet)
  • Mileage: 94,000 miles (151,000 KM)
  • Silver exterior

Vehicle Systems/Features

This was our home during the first Covid lockdown where we set up camp in Sens. We had those tubs and buckets as our laundry system.
  • 2 x 11kg Gaslow refillable gas bottles with external filling point and auto changeover
  • 3 x European adapters for Gaslow system
  • Full-length wind-out awning
  • 2 x large solar panels
  • Antarion MPPT solar charger (new in 2023)
  • 1000 watt inverter (new in 2023)
  • 2 x 125 AH gel batteries (new in 2023)
  • Fiamma exterior door locks
  • Fiamma bike rack (for 2 bicycles)
  • 2 x Vredestein tyres, front (new in 2023)
  • 2 x Michelin tyres, back (new in 2021)
  • Upgraded Lesjofors front coil springs
  • 4 x external storage lockers
  • Cab air conditioning

Interior Systems

We knew before we moved to Europe that we wanted a Hymer B544. We had studied the floorpans of other camping cars and believed this one would provide us the most comfortable living space. We were right!
  • Truma blown air heating and hot water boiler
  • Fiamma turbo extractor/cooling fan
  • Thetford 3-way refrigerator and freezer
  • Gas oven
  • 3-burner Smeg gas hob
  • Dedicated rubbish/recycling drawer under hob
  • Plenty of storage drawers/cabinets for all kitchen/food/household items
  • Alko chassis double floor provides access to storage lockers from kitchen
  • Thetford toilet and separate enclosed shower
  • SOG system
  • New Speedcoat bathroom floor with added shower floor support, 10-year warranty. Beautiful grey color
  • Interior remote control power to inverter
  • 2 x 240v wall plugs installed for inverter use
  • 100 liter fresh water tank
  • 100 liter grey waste tank

Interior Living

Interior overhead, as presented by Hymer.
  • 6 ft. Sofa, folds down into a single bed, cream leather with light blue striped insets
  • Massive storage underneath, accessible inside and out.
  • 6 ft. L-shaped sofa with storage underneath
  • Surfboard table
  • Removable carpets throughout
  • 6 large cupboards
  • 2 x captains chairs that turn for extra seating
  • Drop-down double bed with ladder
  • Newer foam mattress with 2-inch mattress topper
  • Large wardrobe

Service and Maintenance

New shoes for Bijou in the Netherlands before our trip to Iceland. Living full-time in a motorhome means there is no such thing as deferred maintenance. For comfort and safety, it all gets taken care of in a timely manner.


We have all service records since purchase in March 2019

Recent Highlights:

2022

  • New brakes
  • New handbrake

2023

  • Complete service check and systems inspection by Dave Newell
  • Oil and filter change
  • Chassis lube
  • Engine inspection

(Clean bill of health, see attached images of documents)

  • New front tyres (as recommended by Dave Newell)

Upcoming service

  • New cam belt (last replaced in 2019)
  • Contrôle Technique (MOT)

Note: we have not done a habitation check because we have been living in the Hymer full time since purchase.

Beauty shot in Iceland.
The surfboard table moves to the middle to create plenty of seating when guests arrive, otherwise, it stays slid to the right to create walking space.
We loved our comfortable drop down bed. When down, it takes up very little cabin space leaving seating available when we have different bedtimes.
The storage cabinets above the seating are plentiful, as is storage under both sofas. The front captains chairs swivel around to create even more seating. Bijou easily met the RVers creed: cocktails for six, dinner for four and sleeping for two. 🙂
The rear entry is perfect, right into the kitchen where we would unload our packages, take off our coats and shoes before entering the living space.
We turned out some delicious meals in our little kitchen. We had room for everything we needed to cook.
I especially loved our fridge and freezer, which held a ton of food and drink. It took us a while to start using our oven, but once we figured out how easy it was to use, and how well it worked, we used it quite often.
As you can see, there’s no shortage of space! Here we are parked up in Portugal with a stocked fridge ready for our American Thanksgiving and more.
Bijou had plenty of drawer space for our kitchen dishes, pots, pans and utensils, plus a deep drawer with two separate rubbish bins for recycling.
A view with all 5 kitchen drawers open.
The Alko chassis gives the B544 a double floor which helps keep the cold out in the winter, but also provides plenty of storage underneath. In this case, we used this hatch, accessible from the kitchen, as our laundry hamper. When everything has its place, it is easy to stay organized and clutter-free.
The closet held all of our hanging clothes, plus storage for bedding and seasonal clothes. Our Instant Pot, which we will be leaving behind for the new owners, also travels in the closet.
We had this Fiamma extraction fan installed in the kitchen area. It was great to use while cooking, but it also helped with airflow throughout the cabin on a warm day.
We upgraded the bathroom floor with a beautiful grey Speedcoat replacement. They did a great job and we love the new color.
Speedcoat also built additional structure under the shower to strengthen it and ensure integrity.
Another beauty shot of Bijou, this one in Plaine Joux in France overlooking Mont Blanc.
Many Hymer owners in the UK rely on Dave Newell to keep their motorhomes in tip-top shape. Before we headed to Iceland, we wanted to give Bijou a thorough inspection, and since we were in England, we made an appointment with Dave Newell. We had a light missing and needed two front tires, but other than that, he said she was in excellent shape!

If you have any questions, feel free to contact us directly at 2chouters@gmail.com


Up next: Recipes from Ecuador, I promise!

…

Previous Post
Next Post

9 Comments

    1. 2chouters
      Reply

      I think Magnolia would make a fabulous world-traveling kitty! Many, many people travel with their pets, you need only look at Nina and Paul, with their pupper and two kitties! Magnolia needs her own easily obtained pet passport and she’s off to the races! I can think of several spots that she would love to snuggle down and call her own. 🙂

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *