Regarding the vent. The air flows through the console box and out the vent in the back. There is a vent in the lower compartment of the console which can be opened or closed independently of the rear vent. Most likely it was simply closed.

The harmonic balancer is not an issue on this car. That problem affected only the M112 and M113 engines - the E50 is an M119.

Sounds like a nice enough car. In the U.S. we got the M119 V8 in 4.2 liter form, and only in the 1997 model year. What's the power rating on the 5.0 liter, about 325HP?

- JimY