I had the identical problem last winter, right down to it working somtimes if I kicked over the starter motor. I too was convinced it must be the ignition switch.

Then for fun I popped the hood and fiddled with the connections at the relay. I pressed down hard on the small plug and CLICK on went the relay.

Drove that way, having to intermittently pop the hood and press down on the connector, for a couple of weeks until I got another relay.

Another local person on this forum had a similar issue with his SD, in colder weather, but in his case he had to tap the side of the relay to get it to engage.

I think I am going to go manual on my 300d one of these days.

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Mac
2002 e320 4matic estate│1985 300d│1980 300td
Previous: 1979 & 1982 & 1983 300sd │ 1982 240d

“Let's take a drive into the middle of nowhere with a packet of Marlboro lights and talk about our lives.” ― Joseph Heller, Catch-22