How old is your current battery? How long did you attempt to start it before it made the "machine gun" sounds you describe?

If your batter is somewhat newer, chances are you drained the battery. I know on my 300TD I have MAYBE 3 minutes worth of cranking time before things start going south (by three minutes I mean I can run the starter for that long before the battery drains). Diesels take a lot of power to turn over, so don't be surprised if this isn't the first time it happens.

What size battery is it? Make sure you have the correct size as well, that makes a world of difference, especially for cranking.

Ive got an OM606 E300D and Ive never had any problems in starting after a filter change, Heres what I do

The engine should be normal operating temperature.

fill the new filter with a 1/2 fuel and slide it into place on the engine and put someting to raise it up to the securing bolt orifice, put a small funnel and slowly pour fuel into it - it will take about 4 or 5 top ups to fully fill up, be sure that the filters large Oring is fully seated with your makeshift support beneath the filter.

Once the fuel level in it does not fall, install the bolt/stop bolt with the 2 new washers that come with the package, Start engine, it will start as if nothing ever happened.

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2012 BMW X5 (Beef + Granite suspension model)

1995 E300D - The original humming machine (consumed by Flood 2017)
2000 E320 - The evolution (consumed by flood 2017)