jahquan3

I feel like I haven't seen another person on here with one. I know there has to be someone else other than me. Just looking to see if there is any experiences that could be shared. From wet weather or snow driving? Overall experience with burnouts for any reason or fish tailing etc.

I've driven in very bad rain and have had no issues of yet and I'm actually looking forward to the snow coming soon. I recently got new tires so I should be in ok shape from that stand point. I've never had a 4 or AWD vehicle as my DD but they've always been FWD.

One thing I've noticed is that after I leave my go to the car wash (twice weekly). Is the silicon/tire shiner material gets all over the exit area and whenever I turn out of the car wash a regular press of the gas pedal will cause a slight fishtail and the Traction Control comes on. I'm guessing this will be what happens when it snows or worse. So I'll have to just take it easy and learn on the fly. Any experience that can be shared would be helpful.

mikemargolis

My 2011 E-350 Bluetec is RWD.

I put four snows on it for winter, and am 100% fine even in New England.

VegasE

Only OK in rain and absolutely worthless in snow. Going to ContiExtreme DWS has improved bad weather traction dramatically. P.S. from what I've read on this forum the 4matic isn't much better in bad weather than the RWD. Again, I'm going to blame that on the crappy OEM tires.

cc16177

My E550 is RWD but i've only had it since i've been in FL so no snow experience.

The first week I had it I accelerated a little too much from a stop and the roads were wet which resulted in the traction control coming on to cut power... the only other time I was doing a U-Turn on a completely empty road and I just cut the wheel all the way and floored it which resulted in throwing the back end out completely as I did the U-turn.

I've been very careful since I realized how quickly you can lose the rear wheels even with traction control on.

jahquan3

I hear Conti's are they best but I don't have them of course.

jahquan3

You guys get it worse then even we do so if you're ok then it definetly can be done. How about if you just had all season would you be comfortable?

jahquan3

Ah yes I do think I remember you mentioning you had RWD before. You're lucky since snow won't be an issue for you. I guess it rains down there alot though but unless some one has really old tires or summer tires on almost any car can get by in the rain with some patience.

CarolinaBluetec

I drive my AWD Volvo wagon when it snows. My RWD E320 Bluetec was useless in the snow.

cc16177

Yeah, the rain gets pretty serious and i've put 20k on my tires since June (yikes) so i'm starting to notice traction loss much more often as of recently.

Dallas5Star

With my 2014 E350 Sport RWD, my rubber is the Pirelli P Zero Nero All Seasons. Never had any issue on wet roads or rain. I remember having to launch off the line to make it to the left turn lane from the right lane and had no issues with wheel spin.

No doubt OE tires aren't the best...but I've had great experiences with all season Pirellis, especially on my 2012 ML350 4Matic.

jahquan3

I recently got Yokohama Advan Sport A/S. They are reviewed as being great in rain and so - so in snow. My expectations are low so I'll take it easy the first snow fall we get. I'm surprised we've had none so far.

Peter Fan

I know that you are asking about E class, but I have been driving my C with RWD in Chicago and no major problems for 12 winters and now going into 13th. For the first 10 years I drove on Michelin all seasons (forgot the model, but it was the OEM model) and the last two on Continental ProContact all seasons . Just recently I had a nail in one Conti, and it was cheaper to get 4 Cooper than 2 Conti, so I got Cooper, but no snow experience on them yet. I'm looking for a new E, and for a right price would probably get a RWD but none are available in Chicago dealerships that I was able to spot.

El Cid

There are probably a lot more RWD's on here than you think. RWD is the standard transmission and 4matic is optional.
As for snow, I don't go. Stay home and wait for it to go away. Which fortunately is only a couple of days every couple of years where I live.
Learned long ago in different parts of the country, NOBODY can drive on ice and damn few on snow, even with 4WD.

PaulE550

Hi Jahquan3,


I have a RWD E550 and it handles reasonably well in moderate snow with all season tires and driving in manual mode. I drive both my RWD cars in manual mode when it snows and the Mercedes handles better than the Lexus in snow. Of course I'm driving conservatively when it snows. No trying to do burnouts or aggressive highway driving when everyone else around me is crawling along. On really bad snow days, I do like El Cid and have the luxury to just stay home and off the roads.


As for driving in the rain, I don't drive the car much differently than when it's sunny and the roads are clear. The car holds the road very well in the rain. No fishtailing or tire spinning in normal driving on the highway. I can accelerate around other drivers with no problems. No concerns about doing 75 or 85 mph in the rain. I can get some tire spin in the rain, if I intentionally floor it when the tires are cold though.


If you want to do really aggressive driving in the snow, like highway racing or burnouts, when the roads are a real mess you would definitely need a good set of snow tires. Then again under those conditions, you would surrounded by a lot of other cars and drivers of questionable driving skills.

achim11f

Hi Jahquan3,

I have a E550 RWD with Continental All Season tires. It's been ok last winter here in Upstate NY. I have lost the rear end occasionally when going through a roundabout, but that wasn't a big deal.

I didn't get the 4Matic since I was afraid of potential maintenance issues and the RWD seemed to be noticeable more reliable in reviews, however, here on the board I haven't heard much about AWD issues.

Winter service is quite good where I live. By the time I have cleared my driveway, the streets are also free. If not, I'll take my wife's Outback which has snow tires - it's fun in the snow. :-)

But I agree, I almost never see E550/E350 RWD, all the W212 I see are E350 4Matic.

Nuru

My former C230, 4 door RWD, could not handle 1/2" of snow with OEM tires, I switched to a 2008 C300 4MATIC and it worked very well with OEM tires in 6 - 12" of snow. My 2 former W212s both did the same. My current W221, I have not tested yet.

Nuru

With the W212, I think the Airmatic Struts have been more of an issue than the 4MATIC. I had a 2010 and a 2012 W212, no real issues on either. A few more issues have occurred on my W221, but no deal killers - got good warranty coverage.

Nuru

Yeah I tend to use my Jeep if it snows.

PJ550CAB

C207 E550 cabriolet here. Last winter was my first with the car, and it is completely useless in packed snow. Had it out in slush, it was fine. Any kind of ice, or packed snow and it is really simple, you just can't move on any type of uphill. I keep a cheap SUV around for winter duty, no sense in risky the good car. AWD isn't available in the cab, so you buy this car in the Northeast knowing what you are getting into.

SteveE400

I live in the snow belt, so both of our cars are now AWD. I agree - we see very few RWD MB's in the Chicago area -- the dealers just don't stock them.


A couple of weeks ago I was down in the Orlando area. Saw LOTS of RWD MB's and BMW's there. It almost seemed odd to see the MB's with staggered wheels. . .

jonUF02

Just turn off the traction control, find an open parking lot, and pound it! That's the only reason I wish I didn't have 4matic. I got the RWD squirrley on a test drive, but with 4matic I could not break anything loose even with TC off and pounding the gas down the drag strip. All that's on stock size P-zero tires. Fortuantely I don't have to deal with any snow. 4matic feels extremely confident in rain, even in downpours at 80+mph.

My CLK430 has quite a bit less power, larger rear tires, and I can still wobble the rear at will on any corner. The TC kicks in and just wobbles a little, it's kinda fun. If you turn the TC off, be ready to do some scary driving! I tried it a couple of times, and had to change my pants. Thought I would spin completely around, but recovered. Only turn off the TC in open parking lots for a few donuts.

It would be fun in some wet or snowy weather to find an open parking lot, like at a mall, and just feel out the limits and attitude of your car when it looses traction. I used to do that in high school when I had to drive in snow with my Hondas, but in reverse of course.

YYZ-E55

The only way to kill traction control on a non-AMG 212 is dyno mode.

jahquan3

Great feedback, it appears we do have a wealth of experience with RWD on this board. I feel more confident just by hearing some of the lil tidbits some of you have given. No matter how much it snows I'm lucky enough to be able to work from home if need be but I can't depend on that all the time. The Murano's is my wife safe haven so I atleast feel better knowing she'll be ok during bad conditions. So I'm stuck with the 550 if worst comes to worst in a bad weather situation.

Patience is always the best technique but as some one else mentioned sometimes the other drivers on the road can cause just as much of an issue with bad driving.

I guess I'll probably avoid sports mode and any TCU resets for the next month or so since the car goes with a slight tap of the gas when either of those are done. Right now it seems to be in granny mode with a slight lag from when I had some misfires and I drove like Ms Daisy for a few weeks.

jonUF02

If I scroll through the menus, there is a choice to turn it off. I've seen some info that this may not completely disable it, but it's really unclear. I'm not sure why they would put the disable option there, but does not really disable???

jahquan3

[QUOTE=PaulE550;6651216]Hi Jahquan3,


I have a RWD E550 and it handles reasonably well in moderate snow with all season tires and driving in manual mode. I drive both my RWD cars in manual mode when it snows and the Mercedes handles better than the Lexus in snow.

I guess you mean using the paddle shifters? Or does your newer model have the ability to strictly go to a paddle mode with no auto trans ability?

I've only used the paddles a hand full of times and only for a couple minutes here and there. I feel like it's clunky when compared to my Fusion I had previously. So instead of causing any damage to it, I just don't use it much. Maybe I can train myself on it going forward.

FYI the first car I learned how to drive on was manual so I'm use to the standard gear shifters and clutch. I did it all through college but the paddles always seem clunky to me.