Correct me if I'm wrong, it's been about 13years since I last had a 103-powered Mercedes, but from memory it seems that you can see the airflow-meter plate with the air-filter assembly removed.

Anyway, gain access to the airflow-meter, take a magnet (one of those magnet-on-a-pen things usually works well if it's strong enough) and touch it to the bolt in the center of the airflow meter plate, see if you can lift it. It should lift smoothly, without scraping the sides of the bore. Also, it should rest with the top surface just about the same level as the bottom of the tapered part of the bore. If either of these things are not true, it needs a simple adjustment to correct it.

I have had several cars (mine and friends') which for no reason I know, have gotten to a point where the metering plate will touch the sides and drag a bit. When this happens, the cranking vacuum will not lift the plate enough to provide adequate fuel, even with a wide-open throttle. VERY easy adjustment but be careful and ask questions first.

If it got that way after needing some throttle to start, sounds like a possibility. This also affects mixture at idle some times.

The other common problem in that system for hard-starts is the cold-start injector or the temp sensor, not providing the extra fuel shot to start the cold engine.

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Gone to the dark side

- Jeff