I doubt your problem is a fuel filter, but it won't hurt to change it/them. Remember new O rings for the prefilter. It does take a lot of cranking to get it running again, even when you have filled the filter canister with fuel.

I doubt your problem is the lines, from your symptoms. You can look to see if there are bubbles in the plastic lines when running. If so, you have leaks. If those lines have not been changed in a while and are so brown you can't see the fuel inside, change them. Suggest getting Viton O rings instead of the stock ones also.

My guess on your problem is the lift pump. After it stalls, open your fuel tank cap - do you have a big woosh? Changing the lift pump eliminated a start, run for a while then stall problem I was having, and stopped the wooshing... It's relatively cheap to change, so you might as well, if you are doing the fuel lines.

Rgds,
Chris W.
'95 E300D, 278K