Yes, I'd second that...

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1987 Mercedes 300SDL; SOLD
1985 Mercedes 300D; SOLD
2006 Honda Pilot - wife's ride; 122K;
1995 Toyota Land Cruiser - 3X locked; 182K

I own two 61x diesels and both of them are way slower when cold than after they warm up. I think this is normal.

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Whoever said there's nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes never had a cheap Jaguar.

83 300D Turbo with manual conversion, early W126 vented front rotors and H4 headlights 400,xxx miles
08 Suzuki GSX-R600 M4 Slip-on 22,xxx miles
88 Jaguar XJS V12 94,xxx miles. Work in progress.

Did you check the compression of the engine?

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1986 300SDL, 211K,Dealership serviced its whole life
1991 190E 2.6(120k)
1983 300D(300k)
1977 300D(211k)

Don't know your location, but my car did the same thing when the temperature went down to around 10-12 degrees. I put in anti gel, but not in the amount recommended by the manufacturer, and went a little light on the ratio of anti-gel to diesel. The car started fine as usual, but when I got on the road it did not have any power for the first 4-5 miles. After that, it ran perfectly. It is my theory that the fuel in the lines leading to to the engine may have partially gelled, and starved the engine for fuel. As the fuel in the lines was used up, the fresh fuel in the tank worked its way through. Once the temperature hit 20-30 degrees, the "problem" vanished. This issue only happened twice during this past winter, and both times it was during very low temperatures.

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96 E300d

Hey there,
I too own an 85 300SD. Which was very slow when it was cold. The diesels usually are. I thought nothing of it. However I just had a lot of work done on the car and my mechanic discovered something. The linkages on top of the engine were not properly adjusted and lubed. He corrected this. Now the car is much more responsive in cold weather and a WHOLE lot at crusing speeds. Somthing to consider. I also agree, it could be the valves being tight or the ip not working correctly. Hope this may help.

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1985 Mercedes Benz 300SD, TMU
2015 Chrysler 200S

Sounds like you need a block heater, plug it into a timer, and you have a warm engine in the morning . . .