I've had my E-320 cdi less than a week, 250 miles on it, and notice there's about a 3 sec. hesitation when starting off. Is this normal? This is my first diesel.

 

That does sound a bit odd. I just bought a '98 E300 Diesel and it doesn't have any hesitation at all! It picks up real quick with that turbo in it! I just love my newly bought car!

 

I had a '98 and went to a '05 CDI ............ My issue is that the car will stumble around 1200 RPM's whether it is cold or warm in traffic or when it is coming down getting off of the highway ....... They have replaced the EGR valve ......... reprgrammed the transmission . they are telling me they will be changing out the fuel filter next . By the way, I have 25,000 miles on the car and otherwise, I really enjoy the performance and mpg..... Nothing comes close ............ Th e'98 was much less troublew and ran like the wind .............

 

Back from having my new cdi checked and all is normal. It seems there is a learning curve to the accelerator and the spooling up of the turbo. I was a little embarassed but they were very nice about it.
Aside from this little 2-3 second issue, I'm very impressed with this car.