Lino

Believe it or not your car is probably perfectly normal.

My 89 300ce does the same on warm starts (you do not specify). On cold starts there is no problem as the cold start circuit takes over.

It was driving me nuts going through the start and die then start routine especially with the seatbelt retractors. I was thinking of throwing dollars at it.

Most likely old injectors are the biggest contributor as apparently they can leak down minutely after shut off when the engine temperature actually gets hotter before cooling. This tiny amount of extra fuel is what causes the start and die. Confirming this theory mine will restart perfectly within a few minutes of shutdown but not after a few minutes and the time to get to the temp. when the cold start takes effect.

The solution is to depress the throttle when starting and this gives the extra air to burn the fuel and you're away. In time you get very adept at just how much throttle to give it and it becomes second nature.

If you think I am joking check your owners manual. This gives these instructions for warm starting a new car let alone one 15 years old. I guess it is marginal at best when new but over time injectors and other items exaggerate the problem.

89 300CE
145k kms