Whilst hunting a 420 I came across an ad for one in deepest East Yorks.

The ad says it is a 2005MY van and as I've owned an '05 540 in the past I took a look.

The ad says it has a combination bed, which I immediately took to mean the multi-function bed that has pull-out slats and comes complete with central chest and four legged free-standing table, unlike the standard bed which has no central chest and a table with one folding leg and hitches to the rear of the van. To support my surmise I noted that one set of backrest cushions was the split type, which, again, come with the multi-function bed. What sealed it as a multi-function was a picture of the table stored vertically up against the side of the wardrobe, albeit that it didn't look as neat as tables normally do when stored there.

So, it was a multi-function bed model where the central chest had been removed and presumably gone missing during its 16 year life. Then I remembered that in 2005 the free-standing table was actually stored in a cradle under the offside lounge bench and not up against the wardrobe. So, my thinking went, the van couldn't be a 2005 but might be a 2004 when the table was most definitely stored up against the wardrobe, with securing tackle and a mini headboard to stop feet or pillows getting into the table storage area. So I dropped the seller a line and he responded that it definitely was an '05 and quoted VIN numbers etc that confirmed it.

That left me puzzled until I looked at the pics more closely. On the front of the nearside seat box can be seen the standard bed swivelling support bars. So it wasn't a multi-function bed at all and it would have never had a central chest, or a freestanding table and presumably the one legged table had just been leant against the wardrobe to allow the pictures to be taken. The only remaining mystery is how it got the split seatback cushions.

It shows you shouldn't jump to conclusions, but also how much detectivating you need to do to ID Eriba Touring models at times. When's this weather going to clear up?