I have a 1.8 1999 Mercedes C180 automatic, which over the last few years has developed an increasingly bad hesitation. The hesitation occurs from idle revs, and is most noticeable when accelerating from standstill; so at a roundabout , foot to floor and it can take a second or 2 to take off. This occurs in drive, 1st, reverse. This hesitation also occurs when not in gear but is less notable.

There is NO OTHER condition it has problems; so at speed/revs it picks up ok, it doesnt misfire at revs, or during the hesitation!

Initially the problem was intermittent so there was no point in trying to get anyone else to investigate.
As this has taken years to get this bad I have had time to visit possible problems; so first of all I thought it was gearbox associated so changed the transmission oil and transmission filter. I have also changed the MAF, plugs, leads etc. There are no faults being displayed.
The car has done 87K miles this started at about 64k

 

One of the leading causes for hesitation at throttle up is due to excess carbon build up on and around the throttle plate/assembly. This causes the throttle plate to stick and hesitate at throttle up. I would recommend an Air Induction service from a shop or dealer that carries BG products. They fog in powerful chemistry directly at the throttle plate which not only cleans the throttle plate but also the entire plenum and intake valves. Should be performed every 30k for routine maint. 7 out of 10 driveability concerns can be directly related to carbon build up. Hope this helps.

 

I had a look at the intakes and unlike the outside of the engine they were dirty with a tacking black substance, so I tried an induction service. The service resulted in nice clean butterfly valves and induction pipes.
But it still hesitates, in all conditions when accelerating/reving from idle.

Any one got further solutions please!