300sd very hard to start in cold weather

[willrev]

I bought my 300sd back in June. It's in great shape. Came from Pennsylvania and was a one owner car serviced by same mechanic for 22years. It has just gotten cold here in NC and the car will not start in the morning. I cranked, cranked, and cranked until it finally started. But I have to really use the accelerator pedal to keep giving fuel. I plugged in the block heater this morning. I had no similar problems in warm weather - it always started perfectly. I made an earlier post about the car shaking at a stop or in park. If this is a fuel delivery problem or a dirty injector problem or rack dampener - could that affect cold weather starting? I.E. could the shake and the hard starting in cold weather be related?