I understand how you feel. Ten years ago I thought I needed a new air pump for my 400E and went to the dealer to buy it. I realized later that I could have simply unplugged the clutch instead of spending over $1,500 for the pump because the pump doesn't even come into play during emission testing and Arizona doesn't verify the status of the check engine light (removed bulb) on non-OBDII vehicles of that year. Any Japanese (Nippon Denso) part connected to a German car is a license for the dealer to steal.

Thanks for the thoughts on the brushes.

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1993 400E, 256,000 miles (totaled)
1994 E420, 200,000+ miles
1995 E420, 201,000 miles