This the third merc w124i have owned, the first an estate (300tD) the body work gave up after an accident at 375000 miles. these are one of the best cars/ mercmodels ever made. I also owned a 230 petrol estate. I now enjoy a 300d,saloon(non turbo) However I have a problem which has started to worry me , This problem has started to become more serious , my car is maintained by me with all the usual filters etc. etc.I purchased this car 6 months ago and did notice that after a runout it took a second turn for her to fire up. most unusal for a w124 diesel - but lately if i go to the car cold - it as usual - fires up straight away, however if a i go to the local supermarket, 6 milesaway. or turn the car off after a minute or so the car refuses to start and would drain the battery if I continouslyturned the motor over. BUt if I leave itfor 10 mins it will fire up immediately--- to me it seems a fuel problem but al my filters are clean. once she has started the car drives as if nothing has happened whether cold or hot, temp is the same etc. I can do most things on my cars but this is a new and unexpected problem for me, DOES ANYBODY HAVE ANY EXPERIENCE OF THE SAME PROBLEM< THE CAR PULLS AND DRIVES GREAT ON THE OPEN ROAD SO IT CANNOT BE A FUEL PROBLEM _ IS IT AN ELECTRICAL PROBLEM . look forward to hearing from somebody. cheers Sam.

 

ihad a hard starting problem similar as yours, but after doing a valve adjustmentthe problem issloved hope this helps