1985 500SEL Euro Spec having difficulty starting

[hawkpfc2]

I am in the Philadelphia area, normally I garage my cars, but as of late, I have been unable to garage my 500SEL. Whenever the engine is not warm, it has trouble starting. Hope it is not something expensive like the distributor cap or rotor, but if you think it is, will get fixed asap. A few days ago, could not get the car started except to hold the revs by hand for a minute. I also heard I may have problem with the idle control motor and my trans is a little rough shifting at the moment. Most likely the vacuum modulater as the trans was in good shape as last checked maybe 20,000 miles ago. Also, if there are any other Mercedes fans on the board in this area, let me know.

Thanks much,
Ben