Hi I'm a newbe to Mercedes and to Forums.
I have a 300D and on very cold mornings it starts easily and runs smoothly, however I have to warm it up by idling before I dive off, if I don't when select drive and try to accelerate it manages to get up to a slow walking pace and no faster for the first 200 - 300 yards, after that it picks up. (embarrassing or what)
Anybody got any idea why? Any help will be appreciated.

By the way I'm from the UK

 

have you checked out/ replaced the fuel filters? this can be a big problem.
John

 

The fuel filters were replaced at the last service, about 1000 miles ago.
another question that could have a bearing on the problem is the idling RPM cold is the same as when hot, is there a relay that controls this RPM? And might it be faulty.

 

yeah- jsut warm your car up before driving it when its cold.

 

Been doing that till I was advised against letting deisels idle to warm up, by the way my car is an automatic, could this be significant?

 

Is it a turbo? If so, the oil will be too thick when it's very cold to allow the turbo to spin fast enough. Let it warm up.

 

No, it's not a turbo just a plodder, but a nice drive except for the cold problem.

 

My 300SD (auto trans) does the same thing when it's very cold. I allways attributed it to the turbo, but perhaps I'm wrong. The engine will not get enough RPM's to move. I doubt the trans is the problem Does yours have an EGR valve in the exhaust manifold?

 

Sorry, what’s an EGR valve and how do I find out if I’ve got one?
Like you my problem only happens on very cold mornings, I’ve found that by setting the parking brake, engaging drive and letting it tick over for 30 sec’s eases the problem but I’d still like to find the cause.

 

Exhaust Gas Recirculator, it's on the exhaust manifold. I think if it get's stuck it "could" cause the problem we are having, but I'm not sure. Maybe someone else knows??? I also have a 240D no turbo, I'll check to see if it has one.