when the car is cold it takes off like a rocket. its pretty smooth and roars down the street.

when its warmed up its all jerky/bucking/spitting and sputtering.
-- from a dead stop, once its up to cruising speed its fine.


im thinking its got nothing to do with the second gear start.

Maybe your cars fans stuffed up. This could be the cause of the engine over heating and not running.

Vacuum gages work very good once we find out how to use them correctly.The gage will tell you anything from the valves performance to vacuum leaks and proper timing.

yea most mercedes are like that when cold but as far as getting warmed up and starts sputtering that unusual really dont kno.