Fred, some delay is by design, for the reason you cite, but have you found that a delay of as much as 60 seconds is normal behavior? That seems excessive to me. My 1988 W124 with 722.4 transmission exhibits a short delay when it's stone cold, but for no more than perhaps 10-15 seconds on gentle acceleration. I suppose local climate conditions can play a role, but 60 seconds is a long time to wait for a shift.

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1988 California version 260E (W124)
Anthracite Grey/Palomino
Owned since new and still going strong and smooth
MBCA member

Past Mercedes-Benz:
1986 190E Baby Benz
1967 230 Inherited from mom when she downsized
1959 220S Introduced me to the joys of keepin' 'em goin'

There are only 10 kinds of people in the world--those who understand binary and those who don't