AAARRRGGGGHHHH.
Well, my new metric belts have yet to arrive. I could have bought them here and had them already.
And I am leaving for Europe tomorrow.
Anyway, I triple checked everything today after replacing the rr window regulator in my E430 (that was a very easy job!).
It has to be the belts I installed. Everything spins freely. No dents or foreign objects in the pulleys. Nothing has any wobble in it at all. Everything is lined up as it should be. I jacked it up and climbed underneath. Everything looks fine from down under as well.
I'll post back after the 8th and tell y'all if the new metric belts fixed it or not.