any other questions?

OK... just tried the starter fluid in the air box... started right up after a second and then died out again. So its off to the fuel side of the issue.

I'm going to check the EHA by replacement w/ a good unit. I don't want to get into the distributor, but I have access to one in good condition fairly cheap.

Are there any other weak points in the fuel delivery system I can look at? Would the fuel filter be a possible problem?

Sometimes the engine wont start if it doesn't get an RPM signal from the crank sensor I think. Try to pull out the fuel pump relay and short holes 7 & 8 (confirm which pin hole to short since my cars a 190E) with a thick gauge insulated piece of wire (it gets very hot). If the engine starts and runs I see 2 possiblities; a FPR dud or busted sensor.

Fixed!
 

Alright, my friend John(JEdwards) and I fixed the problem. Being the jackass that I am, we hooked up spark plugs according to the firing order, not simply from front to back. (Hey, I'm a diesel guy....sparkplugs???) Anyways, its fixed and running smoothly, and now a lot of random parts that weren't needed (no more than 100 bucks, junkyard stuff) are waiting until they are needed. The 300E lives again!

still idles rough at low rpm though and wants to sputter and die... but atleast it runs

my 300TE had that. I never quite got to what caused it. so I sold it and swore to never buy a gas MB again, ever.

thats not very reassuring...

I did the quarter turn on the eha and the idle roughness is less than what it was before, but its still there, and only when the car is in gear. More research is needed though, but I'd suspect its not really fuel delivery related now. Oh well, hopefully I can snag more stuff off the benz in my local bone yard.

Sticky idle control valve could cause this. Check resistance of idle valve coil, should be between 7 and 10 ohms. At idle, about 600 ma current should be flowing thru the coil. Idle valve receives its voltage via the OVP relay, clean the contacts at the OVP relay socket. Also check the idle switch on the throttle body, the computer needs to know that you are in idle mode, this switch must be closed when idling and opens as soon as you depress the pedal. Check air sensor's resistance between pins 1 and 2 (with car off), this should be between 1 and 2K when the plate is all the way to the top. With car on, check the voltage of the center terminal (note that the cable connector must be connected to the sensor for this test), at idle should be between 0.5 and 1V, ideally 0.7V, if not, there is an adjustment screw, higher this voltage, higher will be the rpm.