Hi. Well, thats a nice gift. I have a '88 300SEL (same as the 300SE, only longer) and rarely I have to put the car in neutral to start it and sometimes it takes about rolling the car about 5 inches before it engages in park, but this is not an everytime occurance. Sounds to me as welll like a linkage issue.

The bogging down you mentioned could be as simple as a clogged fuel filter, weak fuel pump, or even out of gas. If a MB fuel gauge is on the fritz, it may show it has gas, when it actually has none. Could be something even more serious, but dont really sound to bad.

Keep us posted.