Hello, New to the Site with Questions
 

I have a 1999 Mercedes e320 wagon with 157K and love the car. I worry about the chain and tensioner.
Can I just replace the chain by wrapping it?
Do I need to remove the front cover for the job?
Should I just replace the tensioner and not worry about the chain yet?
I did a SEARCH and really didn't find a definitive answer.

Thanks in Advance and I hope to contribute back to the board.

You can check the chain for slackness by putting a socket on the crank nut and gently moving right to left. If it's way loose, you'll feel a certain amount of movement b4 any real resistance is felt. Another method of detecting loose chains is to put a timing light on and see if the marks jump around at a slow idle.

On some Mercedes( I did a 1979 450sl this way) is to take off a valve cover and split the chain at the link, attach the new chain and feed it around. I would prefer to open it and do a proper job if it was a keeper car.

I have always wrapped the chains before they get too sloppy and the rails usually aren't a problem.
My question on this particular V-6 is can you wrap it like the V-8's? I was told you couldn't but it just seems if you keep the chain taught at both sides of the sprocket there should be no issues.
I'm going to replace the tensioner but sure would like to see if anybody has an "average" mileage for chain use on the V-6.