OWNER DJ RaMiN (E420)

[DJ RaMiN]

Hey guys!

I got a set of rare 2 piece Lorinser LM-5s made by Ronal in my possession. They're staggered 8.5JX18H2 ET38 and 9.5JX18H2 ET38. These were on my brother-in-laws C32. He wants me to sell them for him. I might buy them for our R129, still undecided. I know they wont properly fit my E420, but they do look good!



Photo of them mounted on W124 (found online):

 

[DJ RaMiN]

The rear of the car was too empty after installing the ducktail spoiler. As I mentioned before I was thinking of installing the star emblem. Then a friend of mine suggested to do the engine spec too, kinda like older models.



For the star I decided to go with the same size as the original one. About 100 mm.



Then for the "4.2 - 32" I had to design one to make it almost like the original font that MB uses.



I know the placement looks kinda high, but I had to level it with the "AMG" logo engraved on the left.

Edges:

 

[DJ RaMiN]

That nose though...

 

[TerryA]

@DJ RaMiN,
Looking Good DJ.

 

[DJ RaMiN]

@DJ RaMiN,
Looking Good DJ.

Thank you!

 

[DJ RaMiN]

Rolling in hot!

A friend of mine took this last Sunday at Mercedes Mornings. It's part of a longer video, which I will post the link later. I was a bit late to my own event! Damn SF traffic!

 

[DJ RaMiN]

Some R129 love,

Tires are getting old! Might as well get a new set of wheels for it too. Kinda want to use the Lorinser LM-5s I have in my possession. Can't find any photos of them on a R129. So not sure if I'll like it.



Don't mind a set of Maxilite Aero 3 style wheels too!

 

[DJ RaMiN]

Not sure if I have asked about this before, but does anyone know the part number for this alarm sticker?

 

[gsxr]

IIRC... there is not a Mercedes 10-digit part number for that decal? It may have been applied by USA dealerships. Search the forum, I think this has been discussed in the past. At a minimum there was no cheap/easy source as I would have bought a few.

 

[DJ RaMiN]

IIRC... there is not a Mercedes 10-digit part number for that decal? It may have been applied by USA dealerships. Search the forum, I think this has been discussed in the past. At a minimum there was no cheap/easy source as I would have bought a few.

Thanks! I'll do more research, might have to remake them myself!

 

[DJ RaMiN]

Hey all!

Finally was able to install my repaired LH module with WOT enrichment!

Big thanks to @Alphasud40

I got a new battery and thought it was a good time to do the LH module swap!

I can feel the difference in Fwy speed!

 

[DJ RaMiN]

Got a new license plate frame from Autobahn Motors, since my car was originally purchased from them in 1994!

Now I kinda want to find one from 1994 to be more period correct.

 

[DJ RaMiN]

The 190E was featured in Avants magazine!
Amazing work by my friend Vijay! @pink_helmet

When Mercedes Was on Top of the World — Avants

The world was treated to some of the finest driver’s cars of a generation during the 1980s and ‘90s, when Mercedes-Benz and BMW went head-to-head in the fierce arena of Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM) racing. Enter the 190E Cosworth 2.3-16 (chassis code W201). Hailing from an era of Mercedes when

www.avants.com

 

[DJ RaMiN]

Hey guys,
Quick update — but first, I’m back to chasing a belt issue
The Contitech 6PK2535 belt I installed back in April 2025 is already failing. Around 1000 miles on it!



Not exactly what I expected. I’m starting to wonder if Contitech belt quality has gone downhill lately. Has anyone else here run into this?
That said, I’m not ruling out a tensioner or pulley issue yet, so I’ll be doing some investigating before blaming the belt entirely.
In the meantime, I’m thinking of switching to Gates, since I’ve heard good things. But I’m running into conflicting part numbers and wanted to check with the group:
Our 1993 500SL runs a Gates K060997 (6PK2532)
Gates’ website suggests the E420 should use K060988 (6PK2512)
Has anyone here confirmed which Gates belt works on our cars?

Thanks as always

 

[gsxr]

6-rib belt (1993-up USA model years) length should be 2535mm, your Conti is correct. The Gates 2532 is closest in length. The Gates website is WRONG with the recommendation for 2512 length.

Based on your photo, since one edge of the belt is fraying, I suspect a pulley alignment issue. This will be difficult to find. I have a feeling one of your pulleys is too far forward, stressing the inside edge of the belt.

 

[Jlaa]

Hey guys,
Quick update — but first, I’m back to chasing a belt issue
The Contitech 6PK2535 belt I installed back in April 2025 is already failing. Around 1000 miles on it!

View attachment 232353

Not exactly what I expected. I’m starting to wonder if Contitech belt quality has gone downhill lately. Has anyone else here run into this?
That said, I’m not ruling out a tensioner or pulley issue yet, so I’ll be doing some investigating before blaming the belt entirely.
In the meantime, I’m thinking of switching to Gates, since I’ve heard good things. But I’m running into conflicting part numbers and wanted to check with the group:
Our 1993 500SL runs a Gates K060997 (6PK2532)
Gates’ website suggests the E420 should use K060988 (6PK2512)
Has anyone here confirmed which Gates belt works on our cars?

Thanks as always

I think it is best to check pulley alignment on all the pulleys - AC compressor, PS pump, water pump, tensioner, alternator, etc etc ... 1000 miles shouldn't do that to a belt (and I personally have not had an issue w/ Contitech belts.... recently installed one 9K miles ago on a m112....)

 

[DJ RaMiN]

6-rib belt (1993-up USA model years) length should be 2535mm, your Conti is correct. The Gates 2532 is closest in length. The Gates website is WRONG with the recommendation for 2512 length.

Based on your photo, since one edge of the belt is fraying, I suspect a pulley alignment issue. This will be difficult to find. I have a feeling one of your pulleys is too far forward, stressing the inside edge of the belt.

Thank you!

I feel like all these belt issues started after I removed the alternator to replace the voltage regulator late 2023. But can't really mess anything up by doing that. So I got some testing to do!

Is there any special tool to use for checking the alignment?

 

[DJ RaMiN]

I think it is best to check pulley alignment on all the pulleys - AC compressor, PS pump, water pump, tensioner, alternator, etc etc ... 1000 miles shouldn't do that to a belt (and I personally have not had an issue w/ Contitech belts.... recently installed one 9K miles ago on a m112....)

Yes, I gotta do that!

Hopefully its something simple like the belt tensioner pulley part # 119-200-14-70

Similar to what happened to @anderzen 's E420:

 

[gsxr]

I'm not aware of any special tools. I'd probably try to remove the fan clutch+blade, and lay a level / straightedge across the pulley faces to see if any are visibly out of alignment.

The tensioner pulley is the least likely culprit because it lacks an "edge" to rub against the side of the belt. However, if anderzen had a similar issue that was cured with a replacement tensioner pulley, that's interesting. I'd only use OE though, not the Febi seen in his video (I didn't have time to watch, just skipped around a bit).

 

[DJ RaMiN]

I'm not aware of any special tools. I'd probably try to remove the fan clutch+blade, and lay a level / straightedge across the pulley faces to see if any are visibly out of alignment.

The tensioner pulley is the least likely culprit because it lacks an "edge" to rub against the side of the belt. However, if anderzen had a similar issue that was cured with a replacement tensioner pulley, that's interesting. I'd only use OE though, not the Febi seen in his video (I didn't have time to watch, just skipped around a bit).

Oh alright, thanks! I'll see what I can do! Hopefully I'll figure it out easily!

 

[DJ RaMiN]

Another quick update:

Headlight switch!

Last week I noticed my headlight switch didn’t want to turn to the OFF position. I had to wiggle it around a bit just to get it to shut off.

Honestly, I’ve had weird behavior from this switch ever since I got the car, it never felt normal compared to my other MBs, so I kinda knew it was on its way out.

Anyways, I ordered the genuine Mercedes replacement and swapped it in last weekend. Super easy DIY.



A couple notes for anyone else doing this:
The new switch has a gray plastic housing, whereas my old one was black.


New part number: 000-545-62-04


The new one also has two extra pins on it compared to the old switch.

So far everything works perfectly.

 

[gsxr]

I'm not aware of any special tools. I'd probably try to remove the fan clutch+blade, and lay a level / straightedge across the pulley faces to see if any are visibly out of alignment.

Update - due to the pulley shape, you won't be able to use the straightedge idea.

Look at how the belt rides in each pulley. It should be dead center. If the belt is riding closer to one edge on any particular pulley, that's not right.

 

[DJ RaMiN]

Update - due to the pulley shape, you won't be able to use the straightedge idea.

Look at how the belt rides in each pulley. It should be dead center. If the belt is riding closer to one edge on any particular pulley, that's not right.

Yes, I was thinking about the same thing! Thats why I just inspected how the belt was riding on each pulley.

 

[DJ RaMiN]

Update on the belt issue (progress!)

So I pulled the belt back off and did a closer inspection.
The inside of the belt actually looks totally fine, the only damage is on the outer edge (engine side) where it’s fraying in a few spots.
I inspected all the pulleys and overall they look okay. No obvious bearing noise from anything. The only one that might look slightly off is the tensioner pulley, which seemed a tiny bit wobbly, but honestly that could just be me overanalyzing it.

Here’s the big thing I found:
When I inspected the pulley grooves more closely, I noticed the smog pump pulley had a bunch of old belt material melted into the last groove closest to the engine. It was actually covering about 3/8 of the pulley groove around the circumference.

Then I found the same thing on the water pump pulley, also in the last groove. This one was WAY harder to spot because it was basically the same color as the pulley, I definitely could’ve missed it last time when I cleaned everything.

So I cleaned every pulley groove again (really thoroughly this time), and installed the new Gates belt.


New Gates belt on the right and Contitech on the left. Comparing these two belts, here’s what I’m seeing:
Contitech (left): the ribs look a little more rounded/softer, and the overall belt looks slightly more “compressed” or worn-in. The rib edges don’t look as sharp anymore. Even the new Contitech belts are kinda like that too!
Gates (right): the ribs look sharper and more defined, and the belt looks more “square” in the grooves, like it’s designed to sit deeper and more evenly.


Huge difference, the Gates belt now sits perfectly smooth and even in every groove. With the old Contitech belt, I could actually tell it was riding slightly raised in that last groove, which makes a lot of sense now.

So I’m thinking the belt wasn’t necessarily “bad”… it may have been getting forced up/out of the groove because of that built-up material, and that’s what was chewing up the outer edge.

I’ll report back after some miles, but so far it looks WAY better!

Moral of the story: don’t just glance at the pulleys, check and clean every groove, because it’s super easy to miss and can make the belt ride up and shred the outer edge!