i was punching the gas just to hear the air suck through my cold air, and then around the 3rd time, the engine shuts off... what the heck was that?

 

i think it's telling you not to do that.

 

haha, thats a duh, but mechanically, what went wrong?

 

Did your RPM's drop below 500 & stall out? If so, your IAC valve didn't like what you were doing. I had this happen a few times. The CLS doesn't like be revved in P or N. The rpm's sometimes fall too fast & the IAC can't control it fast enough, they drop & then the car stalls.