bchalou

Hello,

It is a 2006 E350 7 speed auto and I live in Northern VA.

I have the staggered setup with the 5 spoke 18 inch AMG rims and unfortunately summer tires. I understand it's not ideal having summer tires but that is what the car had when I bought it. BTW they do have plenty of tread left. Any sim setups, thoughts?

Thanks,

BC

i_am_amused

if you plan on driving through the winter you *must* get all-season tires if you do not want major headaches. Summer treads can't handle snow (some barely handle a little rain!), and summer rubber can't handle the cold (you will have reduced traction even in dry cold conditions)

My coworker has an E55 and figured that since he lives so close to work he would just leave the summer tires on. FAIL! He could barely get out of his neighborhood (a distance of a couple hundred yards). He went with all-seasons as soon as he needed tires.

I live in NoVa as well (32+ years now) and had my S55 as my daily driver through the ridiculous snows last year. The car did great because I had great tires (Continental DWS) *and* I used a light foot in C setting (second-gear starts)

Benz-O-Rama

This. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^





Don't even attempt to drive on lightly snow dusted roads on summer tires. If, and it's a big IF, you're able to make it to a major road, you're gonna end up in a ditch somewhere. Not to mention that summer tires are not meant to be driven in temps below 40*F, even on dry pavement.

Don't do it. Get the Conti DWS all-seasons and thank us later. I have them on 3 cars (including my SL600) at this very moment. My 4th is a Range Rover will Yokohama all-seasons.

roomor

I took my 2003 E500 RWD a round trip of 8 miles in the first 4" fresh snow this winter (summer tires as well) and when I finally made it back home after having to rock between R&D to get out of a parking lot, went straight to the tire shop.

I have Nitto SN2 snows on the car for winter and two sand "tubes" across the back of the trunk. Night and day - it is completely fine and sure-footed in the snow and ice.

My wife drives a '98 E430 RWD -- same issues and since we purchased the car it has had dedicated winter tires (Blizzaks) and perfectly fine.

Dedicated snows are the way to go - just get them off promptly in the spring time so you don't burn them up. Dedicated summer tires for the warm months and you can enjoy the usual nice handling without giving up for all seasons.

LOVEMYBS

I've lived in NVA for 10+ years. During this time I drove my BMW M-cars with high performance summer tires in the snow which turned out to be a BIG mistake. I then drove my CLK55 AMG and E55 AMG in the snow with summer tires (BTW all cars had Michelin PS2's) which was another BIG mistake. I finally learned that NVA does a poor job of pre-treating the roads and if you don't have all season tires on your car you're in BIG trouble. That's why I now have an E550 4Matic (AWD) with Michelin Pilot Sport Plus A/S ultra high performance tires which I hope will keep me out of trouble. Make the switch to DSW's or Michelin A/S's ASAP and sell your old tires on Craig's List. Believe me, you won't notice any handling or performance loss during summer and you'll be much better prepared for NVA Winters'! JMHO.

sosh

Better yet, flip it for a 4Matic.

BenzBee

Do us all a favor get A/S or even better winter tires if you need to drive in this area when it snows. The last thing we all need is another accident on the beltway and have a 3 hour commute.

nopcbs

Listen very carefully...go and buy a set of snow tires, preferably mounted on their own wheels. You need to do this if you expect to encounter any snow. Forget the all-seasons. You already have summer tires which are better than all-seasons in non-winter use so you are all set to do the right thing and gets proper snow tires for winter only use. You will be shocked at how well they will work. I purchased Kuhmo 404's (not an expensive tire) a few years back for my '92 LS400 and it does better than my wife's RX330 AWD with new all-seasons on snow. You do not need to spend a lot, any modern snow tire with sipe grooves will work well. The ones with the softer tread compound at the outer portion of the tire are even better, but that wears out fairly quickly leaving a normal snow tire.

Just do it.

- nopcbs

bchalou

Since I cannot swing new tires all around right now I have decided if there is any chance of snow she will stay in the garage. I will just have to use my 96 Maxima. From here on out all season tires will be used. While a winter setup would be nice I just don't plan on using the Benz in poor weather that much.

mkhurley

Just put the Conti DWS's on ours with a new set of wheels (need to get some pics), plan on takin the MB 4-Matic out if the snow is too much for my Yukon Denali...

Bigglen1

Last weekend I just swapped on my Snow "package". I replaced my 18" MB wheels & Conti Pro Contacts with 17" MB wheels & Dunlop Snow SP's.

gnma

Based on your profile, u also drive an '01 Maxima. Don't know if your Max is manual, but I can tell you that my '02 6 speed Maxima + Dunlop Winter Sport M3's = tons of unstoppable, unstuckable (?) FUN!!

U've got the attractive RWD sport package on your MB, why put her through the snow?

Good luck!

bchalou

I do have a 01 Max, but it's a manual and has some HP upgrades so it's also pretty bad in the snow.