BR408

Shown at the Hanover commercial vehicle exhibition in May 1992 alongside its medium-duty sibling the 418, the light series — LBU in Gaggenau shorthand — replaced the long-running 407 with a new angular cab available at normal height or with a raised roof, and for the first time in the light and medium Unimog ranges it could be ordered in right-hand drive. The trademark was the bonnet: either symmetrical or as the "Sichtkanal" sight-channel pressing, flattened on the driver's side to open up a view of the left-hand implement mount and make tool changes quicker. Underneath sat the familiar Unimog recipe of portal axles with hub reduction, engageable front drive, differential locks at both ends and a fully synchronised gearbox, on a 2,690 mm wheelbase for the U 90 or 3,220 mm for the long-bodied U 100 L.

In 1996 the naturally aspirated OM 602 D 29 gave way to the turbocharged and intercooled OM 602 DE 29 LA: the sales names gained a "turbo" suffix and the Baumuster numbers stepped up with them, 408.100 becoming 408.101 and 408.215 becoming 408.216. Gaggenau built 2,050 across four Baumuster before the line closed in 2001, by which point the implement-carrier 405 introduced the year before had taken over the segment.