Background: I special ordered my '88 red/palomino 190E 2.6 five speed in August '87 and took delivery exactly 36 years ago in February, 1988. It had a lot of problems, but I really liked the car (and still do) and wanted to get it right, and the dealer was very good at fixing all the problems.

The four year/50K end of warranty hit at about the same time, and just before the head gasket and water pump had to be replaced, and they went ahead and refreshed the head with new valve guides and the latest (Viton) valve guide seals to address higher than normal oil consumption. I also had them put it together with a new accessory drive belt.

So now 32 years later it has about 87K miles, an average just short of 1200 miles per year, and I'm now down to no more than about 500 per year.

I've been concerned about that 32 year old drive belt and that silly "rubber donut" belt tensioner. A friend bought an automatic about the same time as me, drove it about 80K miles over the next four year and had that belt tensioner rubber donut fail causing the belt to break, which took out the trans cooler hoses making a big mess in the engine compartment destroying the hood pad. I think the bill was on him as it was out of warranty.

About ten years ago an acquaintance asked me to help him change the belt tensioner on his 300E, and I agreed if he would buy the special tool needed to remove the fan assembly, which he did. So I did the job and he agreed to loan the tool to me for when I did the job on my car, but unfortunately he passed away about five years ago, so no tool.

At this point in my life the job is probably too much for me, anyway, so I'm talking to Mercedes and BMW specialists A & R German Motors, a small shop in Hermosa Beach, CA, about two miles away from me about doing the job. They replaced the center drive shaft bearing ten years ago, which had also been replaced by the dealer during the warranty period.

In addition to preemptively replacing the belt tensioner and belt before they fail, the clutch fan is dead and needs to be replaced, and I'm debating whether or not to preemptively replace the water pump. I'm going to talk to Ralph (the MB specialist) about me buying the parts to take advantage of Pelican's new lifetime warranty on most parts. I'm also concerned about what brand to buy, and there are considerable differences in price on some parts. Here are recent Pelican prices on the major parts I will need.

Belt tensioner
.....MB $251.84
.....Febi $129.00
.....URO $87.00
Damper
.....Stabilis $29.29
Belt
.....MB $52.09
.....Continental $29.75
Fan clutch:
.....Meyle 83.75
.....Behr 140.75
.....Febi ????
Water Pump:
.....Laso $132.00
.....Graf 119.50

I'm not sure about replacing the water pump. Will it last another, maybe, ten years and no more than 5000 miles? The price of the pump is probably small compared to the labor if it needs to be replaced, but how good are the Laso and Graf pumps!

Any and all input is appreciated.

Duke