in my books
How reliable are these ASP 180mm pulley's?
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2005 E55 AMG
How reliable are these ASP 180mm pulley's?
I am about to pull the trigger again on another aftermarket pulley on my 05 E55. Had a 172mm had issues fell off from being unbalanced. Back to stock pulley, but still have the upgraded ECU. Any positive experiences with ASP? How often do pulley's walk off and shatter woodruff keys? I just need some positive feedback from ASP 180mm owners. James down in San Diego will be putting on the 180mm. I guess he has done dozens of E55's.
Last edited by mokushiroku; Mar 30, 2010 at 09:07 PM. Reason: redo
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2005 E55 / 2001 e39 M5
I have one for sale-and they're the best pullies EVER :-)
Haha...seriously though, just replacing a 172 with a 185, sticking with ASP, over 20k miles in the past year with 0 issues.
Bought the 180 used (~4k miles on it) and tripped over a 185...
Haha...seriously though, just replacing a 172 with a 185, sticking with ASP, over 20k miles in the past year with 0 issues.
Bought the 180 used (~4k miles on it) and tripped over a 185...
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From: Illinois
GL550, C55, 335i Coupe, vintage Mustang
I think you brought up some good questions regarding pullies and their proper operation. First and foremost, a crank pulley is, at it's most basic, a harmonic balancer. That is it's top priority on the front of your engine. A good symptom of a pulley not providing the proper dampening characteristics for any given engine is a short life. If you are lucky, the rotating assembly hasn't beaten itself or the bearings to death, and the pulley was the weak link(which it should be). I can definately see crank keys being damaged by improper pulley installation, but I would venture to say that many are sheared sideways because of improper dampening of the crankshaft harmonics or the keyway in the pulley was not machined to properly fit the key. These parts should be machined with accuracy down to hundreds of thousandths of an inch, and if they aren't, pulleys are destined to move microscopically at first, eventually moving on to a wobble, where it's fundamental responsibility of providing harmonic dampening is lost. I don't have an ASP pulley, let alone anything other than stock on my car, so sorry if this was more of a lecture than the post you were hoping to have reply.
Nick
Nick
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2005 E55 AMG
Well thats 1 positive. So your going to a 185? How come? What other mods do you have. Did you see any heat soaking? Did you do a heat exchanger and pump. I will be doing this down the road.
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2005 E55 / 2001 e39 M5
Then when the 185 fell in my lap I figured I'd try and turn the tables a bit...my car has lots of goodies(HE, Pump, N2O, exhaust, etc) , I have heard some stories of 185 having some heat issues, but have a few plans in place for that as well...
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Nov 2009
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2005 E55 AMG
I think you brought up some good questions regarding pullies and their proper operation. First and foremost, a crank pulley is, at it's most basic, a harmonic balancer. That is it's top priority on the front of your engine. A good symptom of a pulley not providing the proper dampening characteristics for any given engine is a short life. If you are lucky, the rotating assembly hasn't beaten itself or the bearings to death, and the pulley was the weak link(which it should be). I can definately see crank keys being damaged by improper pulley installation, but I would venture to say that many are sheared sideways because of improper dampening of the crankshaft harmonics or the keyway in the pulley was not machined to properly fit the key. These parts should be machined with accuracy down to hundreds of thousandths of an inch, and if they aren't, pulleys are destined to move microscopically at first, eventually moving on to a wobble, where it's fundamental responsibility of providing harmonic dampening is lost. I don't have an ASP pulley, let alone anything other than stock on my car, so sorry if this was more of a lecture than the post you were hoping to have reply.
Nick
Nick
Well long story short I am back to the factory pulley but still have the aftermarket tune, the pulley was either not balanced properly or installed poorly due to not torquing enough or matching up the Woodruff key. I just need someone to talk me into it or out of it. I just want to make sure using a 180mm ASP pulley is reliable and worth the upgrade. Also since my tune is for a 172mm, I assume the 8mm won't make much of a difference, since the fuel and air ratios have been curved for the larger pulley anyways. I had a horrible experience at SpeedTuning and will never buy anything from these clowns again. I have read horror stories about aftermarket pulley's fusing the woodruff key to the crank shaft. I now know the tq specs have to be correct as well with the correct belt size and water pump pulley. Not to mention NEVER re-use a tq to yield bolt. None of these things where even mentioned when I bought the 172 mm pulley from Speed Tuning. I ussually do my research, but I assumed a pulley was something simple. Man was I ever wrong.
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From: Southern Cali (Ontario)
my 178 ASP I bought for $800 from another board member.. installed.. in 2006 and after 60k miles.. no problems at all.
welds were not that great back then.. but still holding up.
I would say.. that if given the opportunity, I would buy a new 180mm just to swap out to a newer unit.
I do inspect the pulley from time to time.. just to make sure no signs of wear or wobble.
btw: I have been to the dealer dozens of times and received maint services and warranty repairs with absolutely no issues. Looks like stock.
welds were not that great back then.. but still holding up.
I would say.. that if given the opportunity, I would buy a new 180mm just to swap out to a newer unit.
I do inspect the pulley from time to time.. just to make sure no signs of wear or wobble.
btw: I have been to the dealer dozens of times and received maint services and warranty repairs with absolutely no issues. Looks like stock.
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CLS55 AMG & RRS S/C
ive been running an asp 180 as well and havent had any problems at all!
it also helped me reached my PB's which are in my sig, still lots of room for improvement too.
im probably going to go with something bigger soon, and i will definitely get the new pulley from ASP.
it also helped me reached my PB's which are in my sig, still lots of room for improvement too.
im probably going to go with something bigger soon, and i will definitely get the new pulley from ASP.
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From: Abu Dhabi
C218 CLS63TT PP Edition1, W213 E63S
why not going to 185mm or 190mm as i did ( but not ASP)??
you will love the power. and untill now no heat problems although before couple of days, i hit it 5 times in a row @ 30C and didn't felt it was slower nor the heat got higher.
you will love the power. and untill now no heat problems although before couple of days, i hit it 5 times in a row @ 30C and didn't felt it was slower nor the heat got higher.
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From: Bloomingdale,IL
2004 W211 E55K, GL550
Well this is funny we are talking about this i accaully had my 180mm asp pulley installed some time in sept or october of 09 and after 2 weeks and 3 run down the track my belt snapped so i thought nothing of it and replaced it with a Gates belt. Since then i have kept a close eye on it to see if the wabble got worse and just a few days i noticed that the crank pully had a signifigant amount of wabble then when i first had installed it. As i know from past experiance that almost all Crank/harmonic pulleys are going to have some type of wabble and won't rotate with out any wabble. But i just recently replaced my second belt do to inproper wear. So i sent the pulley back to ASP so they could inspect or replace it. I should hear back from them probably by Thursday, Although i had this problem as unpleasent as it may sound i would not shy away from ASP's products. I like to think that nothing is perfect in this world as far as automotive products concidering i am also in the auto repair business and know first hand that some things maybe defective or damaged thats why there is a GUARANTEE OR WARRANTY with almost every thing that is sold in the world. FYI the pulley was installed and torqued properly by a skilled shop and tech 
Thread Starter
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2005 E55 AMG
Well this is funny we are talking about this i accaully had my 180mm asp pulley installed some time in sept or october of 09 and after 2 weeks and 3 run down the track my belt snapped so i thought nothing of it and replaced it with a Gates belt. Since then i have kept a close eye on it to see if the wabble got worse and just a few days i noticed that the crank pully had a signifigant amount of wabble then when i first had installed it. As i know from past experiance that almost all Crank/harmonic pulleys are going to have some type of wabble and won't rotate with out any wabble. But i just recently replaced my second belt do to inproper wear. So i sent the pulley back to ASP so they could inspect or replace it. I should hear back from them probably by Thursday, Although i had this problem as unpleasent as it may sound i would not shy away from ASP's products. I like to think that nothing is perfect in this world as far as automotive products concidering i am also in the auto repair business and know first hand that some things maybe defective or damaged thats why there is a GUARANTEE OR WARRANTY with almost every thing that is sold in the world. FYI the pulley was installed and torqued properly by a skilled shop and tech
See thats what I am scared of, I don't want to risk a 60,000$ engine on a mod that will give me 30 rwhp. Maybe the tune is enough, I don't track the car. I just love dusting anything with 4 wheels. I think a nitrous set up on these are safer then an aftermarket pulley. You only use it when you want to.
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2005 E55 AMG
lol, nice, but not really looking for a 10 second Luxury car, just wanted mid 11's, but I probably allready hit that with my minor mods as it is. I have seen stock e55's drop into high 11's on stock with paper air filters. I guess each Handmade engine is made differently. One of these day I will take it down to the Vegas raceway and 1/4 it.
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2005 E55 AMG
Simply put, a friend of mine has a 180 and his car is 2-3 tenths quicker than mine with the 172, consistently. Thats unacceptable. :-)
Then when the 185 fell in my lap I figured I'd try and turn the tables a bit...my car has lots of goodies(HE, Pump, N2O, exhaust, etc) , I have heard some stories of 185 having some heat issues, but have a few plans in place for that as well...
Then when the 185 fell in my lap I figured I'd try and turn the tables a bit...my car has lots of goodies(HE, Pump, N2O, exhaust, etc) , I have heard some stories of 185 having some heat issues, but have a few plans in place for that as well...
Hey speaking of NO2. I yanked my Zex wet system off my Porsche GT3 and was playing with the idea of adapting it to the E55. I know this is kind of a taboo subject, but I am pretty sure these handbuilt forged bottom end engines could handle a little cold condensed air. It cleans out the injectors and lowers the intake manifold temps
. My question is did you use a wet system after the blower I assume. How did you inject it with a throttle plate or just drilled the nozzles in after the blower? A 100 shot would be safe on this car I am sure. The bottle is full and sitting in my garage, I am just itching to install it.
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From: Jacksonville, Florida
2006 E55 AMG --old cars -- E39 M5, 2.7tt Audi S4, E36 M3 **Ducati 996, 748
lol, nice, but not really looking for a 10 second Luxury car, just wanted mid 11's, but I probably allready hit that with my minor mods as it is. I have seen stock e55's drop into high 11's on stock with paper air filters. I guess each Handmade engine is made differently. One of these day I will take it down to the Vegas raceway and 1/4 it.
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From: Jacksonville, Florida
2006 E55 AMG --old cars -- E39 M5, 2.7tt Audi S4, E36 M3 **Ducati 996, 748
I am down to offer assistance "hold flash light"
Hey speaking of NO2. I yanked my Zex wet system off my Porsche GT3 and was playing with the idea of adapting it to the E55. I know this is kind of a taboo subject, but I am pretty sure these handbuilt forged bottom end engines could handle a little cold condensed air. It cleans out the injectors and lowers the intake manifold temps. My question is did you use a wet system after the blower I assume. How did you inject it with a throttle plate or just drilled the nozzles in after the blower? A 100 shot would be safe on this car I am sure. The bottle is full and sitting in my garage, I am just itching to install it.
. My question is did you use a wet system after the blower I assume. How did you inject it with a throttle plate or just drilled the nozzles in after the blower? A 100 shot would be safe on this car I am sure. The bottle is full and sitting in my garage, I am just itching to install it.
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From: Springfield, Missouri
03' E55 Techtite Grey
Who makes the 185 or 190? How much did that run you?
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2005 E55 AMG
that would be cool. Good taste in cars, lol. I had a black E39 M5. Blew the clutch twice, Vanos Cracked, ***** oil out of the air horns out the air plenum onto the filters. Sold it as is on Ebay. I will never own a M powered Squirrel powered dumpster again. I don't even know how these magazines compare the 2. A handbuilt Forged bottom end Beast with a 1000 hp rated tranni to these High End Nissan Maxima looking SMG shifting V10 11 shift point pieces of crap. Vanos my ***! You can take an 03 E55 Station Wagon and blow the doors off of pretty much anything including a 2010 M5. Everyone is allways playing catch up to the E55. I mean how many years did it take Cadillac to finally make CTS-V that could come close. They had to shove a monster Corvette ZR1 engine to compete, lol.
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From: California, USA
E63 P30, CL500 Sport
I am about to pull the trigger again on another aftermarket pulley on my 05 E55. Had a 172mm had issues fell off from being unbalanced. Back to stock pulley, but still have the upgraded ECU. Any positive experiences with ASP? How often do pulley's walk off and shatter woodruff keys? I just need some positive feedback from ASP 180mm owners. James down in San Diego will be putting on the 180mm. I guess he has done dozens of E55's.
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2005 E55 AMG
I unfortunately purchased it from this guy Oliver at SpeedTuning in MD. I believe they manufacture their own. What a mistake it was buying from them. The pulley almost ruined my engine. Then he had the audacity not to refund my money or anything. Luckily the pulley was the weak point and just walked off the drive shaft, but it was scary. So I filed another report with my bank and the BBB. I guess they have had lots of complaints of shady workmanship. I got my money back, but never got compensated for the work getting the shattered keyway out of the gears. Lesson learned.
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From: Bay Area
2015 E63S, 2018 E63S
lol, nice, but not really looking for a 10 second Luxury car, just wanted mid 11's, but I probably allready hit that with my minor mods as it is. I have seen stock e55's drop into high 11's on stock with paper air filters. I guess each Handmade engine is made differently. One of these day I will take it down to the Vegas raceway and 1/4 it.
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From: Houston, TX
2003 E55 AMG; 2013 GL550 4Matic; 2003 CL600
On my Maxima I've had an ASP underdrive pulley for probably 20K miles or so now. Awesome pulley, 0 issues.
If the E55 ever get a pulley, it will likely be from ASP.
If the E55 ever get a pulley, it will likely be from ASP.
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From: Southern California
E55 w/ goods, Z32 Project underway
Do a search, your going to receive a variety of answers to which you will end up more confused than when you started. Those that never had an issue will claim it is the best thing on the planet, and others that will never touch ASP again. Search. The older ASP pulleys were not perfect with many examples having wobbles. Of course then you have a few people blaming installation which is silly as the pulley is a very straight forward install-yes, I'm sure there are few exceptions. A few vendors tossed that excuse into the mix in order to pass blame from their own products.. From what I gather ASP took care of these customers.
Further, be careful of members selling used pulleys as further communication might review, yep-a wobbler. Make sure you ask if it is not mentioned in the ad.
Wobbles are not good for the crank at all, do not believe anyone that claims otherwise. There is no such thing as 'it's just a small wobble' or 'the wobble goes away.'
Now, I can say that I have the newer Eurocharged ASP made 180mm pulley and it is flawless-so far. Very well made and not a hint of 'visible' wobble. I'm sure a dial indicator would review something on any pulley.
To add, bigger is not necessarily better. Some of the PROVEN fastest E55s are running small pulleys. Have not seen any track data or dyno comparisons from those running 185s or larger.
Further, be careful of members selling used pulleys as further communication might review, yep-a wobbler. Make sure you ask if it is not mentioned in the ad.
Wobbles are not good for the crank at all, do not believe anyone that claims otherwise. There is no such thing as 'it's just a small wobble' or 'the wobble goes away.'
Now, I can say that I have the newer Eurocharged ASP made 180mm pulley and it is flawless-so far. Very well made and not a hint of 'visible' wobble. I'm sure a dial indicator would review something on any pulley.
To add, bigger is not necessarily better. Some of the PROVEN fastest E55s are running small pulleys. Have not seen any track data or dyno comparisons from those running 185s or larger.
Last edited by pearlpower; Mar 31, 2010 at 06:24 PM.
