I got my brand new car stuck in snow trying to go up a hill that wasn't cleared as I thought it would be. When I could go no further, I tried to turn around instead of backing down and got stuck pretty good. In the process of digging out and "working" the car back and forth, I reved the engine well past the recommended 4000 rpm (my tech told me not to exceed 4000 rpm for the first 800 miles, I've got about 250 miles on it). I actually pushed it to the redline cutoff. Do you think I did damage? Should I take it in and have it looked at? It was for very brief moments and maybe just 3-4 times.

As you can imagine, I was pretty stressed at the situation, especially as folks were trying to dig me out with sholvels. (I did get one small scratch on the plactic underside panel below the passenger door, you can't see it unless you're on the ground looking up)

I knew I should have gone for the 4matic!!!

 

Your engine is fine, don't sweat it.... Besides, what is the dealership going to look at anyways.

 

I agree with the above

 

Agreed

 

Congratulations on your beautiful car!! I am in Miami, FL, but I have driven my car in the Western USA in winter and the car performed beautifully. Before you give up on your car, consider this open secret -- Winter Tires. I got Dunlop Winter Sport tires. There are other equally good to better options. The winter tires are mounted on a set of 16 inch rims I bought used for only $500. The added bonus for me is that I replaced my mini spare with a full size 16 inch tire which fits in the wheel well of my car.

Remember this also; a two wheel drive car with winter tires will outbrake a 4 wheel drive car with all-season tires. That is why you tend to see many 4 wheel/all-wheel drive vehicles in the ditch; false sense of security. It is easier to get into big trouble with all-wheel drive if you are not an experienced winter driver.

You didn't say what tires are on your car. Check tirerack.com reviews section and see what people say about the tires you have on the car for snow traction.

I am going to be driving out to Utah in about a week, and I may take a trip through California. I ordered a set of Pewag Sportmatik tire chains for $160 including shipping. I didn't buy the Rud chains Mercedes recommends because I assumed that they would cost much more. The tire chains would be messy to put on, but I liken them to relatively cheap insurance. I just did a test run putting the chains on, and it is not as easy as it appears on their website. Your car looks like it may have 17 inch rims, which I don't think will accomodate tire chains. Tire chains would be a solution for you now, but I would check with Mercedes to see what would fit.

Consider also carrying a small shovel and some sand for traction if you are travelling in snowy mountainous country. Good luck!

William
2003 E320

 

I agree with X72. I have an '03 E500 non-4matic, and with snows on it I have no issues. My wife drives a Touareg, and although it gets up the hills a little better, I feel more secure in my E with snows. Between the tires and the ESP, the car stays straight and stops without drama.

 

William,
Thanks for the thoughtful reply. I agree that winter tires are the ticket. I am debating whether to get them this year or wait until next. I am hoping that the snow season is almost over. I do have 17 inch Pirelli 245/45...I can tell you already that they are not good on snow. I looked at Tirerack and they have some winter pirelli's that will fit. I think I'll get some new rims as well so the change out is easier. Thanks to all who posted words of hope. I washed the car up today and put in it the garage. Looks good as new! I'll post some pictures soon, when it dries out a bit and I take it out of its dry, warm resting place.

Now for the big question...which winter tire should I get? Do I have to stay with the same size 245/45?[B]

 

I've been very happy with Dunlop M2's, and it looks from Tirerack's site that the M3's are even better. Unfortunately, they are sold out for this winter. You might at this point want to wait until next fall, when you will have a complete selection.

 

Purchased 4 Dunlop WinterSport M3's last November and have driven the car in every snow storm we have had this year. The car handles like my old Audi A4 Quattro. I even drive a E55 and was amazed how well this car handles the snow with winter tires.

Our last snow storm my buddy who just purchased a CL55 had troubles just taking off at a light and we only had a 1" of snow on the ground. Winter tires make a such a big difference.

I have the same size on all four wheels (245's) on my stock 18" rims.

 

You are welcome, e350. I chose the Dunlop WinterSport M2 tires (M3 were not available when I was shopping) because they were reported to do relatively well on dry roads, and I was going to be doing a lot of dry road driving. In my experience, they do handle dry roads quite well. They are slightly noisier than the stock Continental Touring tires that came with my car, and the winter tires seem to have higher rolling resistance because I notice slightly higher fuel consumption than with the Touring tires.

There are so many excellent tire options; I can understand the trouble you are having choosing. If you start browsing different online forums, you will see that there are fans of Nokian Hakkapelitta tires, Bridgestone Blizzak, Michelin Artic Alpin, Pirelli, Dunlop and others. Just take your time, talk with people and you will come to a decision. What helped me choose is this; were I to make the worst possible winter tire choice, that choice would be infinitely better than any all-season tire (Nokian all-season tires may be an exception).

I second what hilmar2k said. The ESP on this car works great, as long as you have winter tires if you are going to drive in winter conditions.

If you decide to go with a 16 inch rim/tire combination (225/55-16), just make sure that you have no brake clearance issues; this means that the 16 inch rims might not fit over the disc brake caliper.

I got a separate set of rims because I was able to pick them up used for not much money, and I detest the mini-spare. I do long distance driving and I do not want to be constrained by the vehicle speed and range limits of the mini-spare.

And for all you 4-matic drivers, if you have winter tires on your 4-matic, your vehicle is superior to our 2 wheel drive cars as long as you remember to exercise proper caution!
William
2003 E320

 

I have the Pirelli Winter 210 Snow Sports and love them. Other than some additional road noise, it's usually hard to tell they're snow tires. I have done some fairly high speed (120+) aggressive driving in them, and they responded well. When I chose snow tires, I took dry pavement handling into consideration just as much as snow handling. Remember, this is a sports sedan that will do the majority of it's travel on dry pavement. Years back, I had a Toyota MR-2, and I put a set of Blizzaks on it, and it drove like crap in anything but snow. It was so bad I hated driving. Not the case with the Pirelli's, they're great. I, too, now have a second set of wheels (thanks to lorinserbenz), which makes the seasonal swap a snap.

 

I was thinking of this post on my way home from the office last night about 8 PM in the blizzard conditions here in Boston - the snow and ice were almost vertical due to the wind. I can't even count how many cars I passed on the side of the road - I didn't have a problem at all. Going up a few hills was slow, but the car kept going and never stopped. Made it home in about 50 minutes versus a normal 30 minutes - never once felt like I wasn't going to make it. Even without the 4-Matic the car is just awesome!!

 

Here is what we use close to the Polar Circle. Winter tyres with steel dubs:

 

I think in the UK our snow tends to be a lot wetter with around 96% atmospheric humidity. Both of my MBs are garbage in the snow, even on a level surface. However, they are no worse than the 2 Bimmers I had previously.

 

OK, here is what I know. I use to always have studded snow tires on my W124 and other cars. They actually allow them here all year. I decided to use the new Bridgestone Blizzak WS 50 since they had the best ICE traction. I find that there is more noise when I turn at slow speeds. Otherwise they are very decent riding tires for everyday use in the winter months. They are much improved over the older Blizzaks. They also totally outperform the studded tires I had. It seems that most studded tires today are really truck tires. But since I think you live in Germany, studded tires are out of the question and totally illegal. Also, if you read the ADAC magazine, they always rave about Continental tires! All you have to do is turn the page and you will see that there is an add for Continental tires on it. I don’t think that the ADAC would put down a tire brand that advertises so much with them. In this sense Consumer Reports is much better since they don’t allow advertisements of any kind and they can slam anyone.

I have only gotten stuck in the snow once in my 4 Matic (with these tires). I more or less high centered the car on deep snow. I was able to back out without spinning out, but there was no way to move forward. So I got out the car, turned on the driveway heat and used the snow blower for a while. Then I got the car up the driveway.

March and April are our months when the most snow falls here. It is usually really wet and heavy. This is a totally different animal to drive on. I actually prefer the snow when it is powder and very dry due to really cold temperatures. Also, driving in temperatures when it is just above or below freezing is the worst and most dangerous since you can melt the snow and turn it into ice easier. Wet snow resists movement a lot more and can cause a lot more hydroplaning. This is when the 4 Matic is really useful.

Steve

 

Driving/Performance and Handling

Background: My name is Amy, and I guess by the name it tells you I’m a girl. I live in Central Vermont, and went to school in Michigan so I had my share of winter driving and got stuck way too many times. I work in a rather professional office so I wear a lot of skirts and dresses. I have a 2003 Mustang with manual transmission and a 2006 Mustang with automatic transmission. On this particular night I had my 2006 Mustang, it has all season tires on it, and this was the first time in the snow with it. I had left work about 7pm, we had a 3 inch mixture of snow and ice on the roads and cars, it was still snowing lightly. Actually due to my being somewhat of an air head I had to let the car warm up about 15 minutes because I neglected to put a snow brush and ice scraper in the car. So after warming the car up, I struggled to get the car our of my parking space and out of the parking lot, and managed to make my way to the entrance ramp to the interstate, a normal 10 minute drive which this night took about 30 minutes. The entrance ramp was clogged with cars trying to make it up, so I thought that I would drive to my tennis club to burn a little time and use the ladies room because by now I had to go sooooo badly. The club is located in a part of an industrial complex, I turned onto the road leading to the club, and was not picky as to where to park which was a parallel parking space in front of the building, only to find the place closed. The area where my club is, is not widely traveled and you somewhat have to go out of your way to find it, and also in a bad area as my cell phone could not get a signal. Once back in the car I found myself stuck so badly, spinning my wheels helplessly. Not that I mind being stuck, because for me I feel sexy and helpless spinning my wheels in my Mustangs, and you often meet some real cute hunks who are more than gladly to rescue the “damsel in distress”, however I was really not going anywhere, and I was getting frantic because of my need to use the ladies room at the time rather badly by now. I think I was there for a total of two hours and must have been on a lot of ice also because I was not going anywhere, when a plow operator who plows the club parking lot came by and helped me out of my situation. I finally made it home about an hour or so later.

Question: I would like to know from you guys other than getting new tires, which might or might not of helped what a girl should keep in her car so that she was have a decent chance to getting out of a situation (if I want to) again I know there are going to be times when I might not be able to do it on my own, however I would just say like to have an 80% chance at it. I really would like a list which could be a survival kit for female drivers in the snow. Also do you think snow tires would have made any difference in this situation, or would I have been still stuck on and in the ice snow mixture?

.

 

I'm sorry.. did I just miss something?

I keep re-reading this looking for the letters "M" & "B" together.. or "w211" somewhere in those paragraphs.. but nothing! Are my eyes failing me?

Talk about off-topic!

Sorry that you got stuck, Amy, but, !!

Oh, btw, my answer to your question: snow chains!

 

Sorry about being off topic, I just thought that I would give you some background to better give you my situation and then give me some advise. If this is posted in a wrong location also, I am sorry about that as I am new to teh site and it appears that I have not found my way.

 

Well, this is not a general automotive site, nor is it a even a Ford or Mustang site. Its a Mercedes Benz only site, and you have found your way to the "E Class, 2003 to Present" (a specific model of Mercedes car) part of the board. So yeah, its off topic for the board, but I hope someone here can give you the info you need.

Don't feel bad about landing here. If you don't get the info you need here try to Google the following words; Ford Mustang Forum Snow . That should give you a list of solid leads to post your question. Then you will be Unstuck, Amy!
BTW, thats a very long post, most guys will not read a long fully detailed post like that. (We're Guys, Remember?) Try to just present just the facts, to get the most answers, without getting any barbs.

You also might want to ask your local Cops what they reccomend be in your trunk because they work there & know what they would want in their GF's car.

 

Steel dubs? they would be heavy... I would think something lighter would do the trick!!

 

Pics or ban.








Get a set of snow chains...and if you're ever stuck on the highway or something, don't accept offers of help from strangers. Wait until the police or a tow truck shows up.

 

After spending the last year living on Peak 7 in Breckenridge, CO 2 miles down a dirt road that necesitated on a couple of occasions driving in snow up to the hood; I realized that I might as well leave home without my pants if I did not have the following items in the car:

1- Actual Snow Tires (Blizzak, etc.) mounted.
2- Factory tool kit w/ tow hook attachment.
3- Warm work gloves.
4- Tow strap.
5- Ice scraper/ snow brush.
6- Extra ice melting washer solution for trips out of town.
7- Something to stay hydrated with (water, gatorade, etc.) in case a long walk is necesarry.
8- If possible a cell phone or other communication device.
9- Golf Clubs (because you never know when the opportunity will arrise )