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Might be a dumb question, but with all of the motors, sensors and other gadgets in this vehicle, how does it fare in winter? My car will be outside 24/7 in the cold Canadian winter, likely a shock to it after a previous 9 year existence of summer driving only, and garage stored.
Any precautions or things to keep an eye on, or features that should be disabled (ie. mirror auto folding)? Or dont worry about it and just drive?
Why bother with all wheel drive if I don't use it in conditions that warrant all wheel drive?
year round outside. At least 8 of those months have snow.
Drive it. Go through a car wash on those few warm days to get the buildup out of the bumpers.
Just keep washing the undercarriage, and keep all the crevices around fenders, bumpers, door sills, windshield pillars, etc clean of salt and snow as much as possible. If your car has radar sensors, even more, to keep it clean.
I used to live in Ontario, but driving Toyota/Honda at the time. The 1993 Corolla lasted until 2012, and because I neglected washing the undercarriage I myself replaced the rear brake lines (the car was not worth paying someone else at the time). Then, later rear brake backplates rusted to the point the brake's shoes either stuck all the time, or the plate's integrity was compromised. With the 2001 Honda Odyssey (gave it away in 2015), I was a bit more diligent but still, the salt made its damage on the undercarriage.
Modern MB are well rust-protected.
When winter for me is 80F, I bought W211 in the past, who spend 6 years in NY. The only rust I could see was on suspension bolts heads and that was just slight "patina"
That said, Toronto is judged to be "the most salty roads in the World" and MB owners there do have rust buckets.
When I was living in salt belt, I was washing inner fender after each trip who would push some mud there.
I have a set of 17" wheels with studded tires for winter use. Additionally, I sign up for a monthly subscription at the local car wash during winter months and try to go through it frequently.
Thanks for the responses, and that is good to know. I should have highlighted I have the E550 coupe, so RWD. Now I've owned rear wheel drive vehicles in the past (pickup trucks) so that really wasn't a primary concern - I was more concerned about the gizmos freezing up. So I guess technically this question should belong to in the C207 sub, but it seems to be pretty quiet over there....
My E550 4M is my daily in this Chicago pot hole ridden and salt laden environment. It goes like stink and still looks brand new. Cars are designed for harsh German winters. They warm up quickly, have great seat heaters, heated windshield washers, etc. They are amazing year ‘round vehicles.
Exaggerating a bit?
When last time I was in Germany was 20 years ago, the nation has been the most organized community for centuries.
In Germany snow plows hit the roads when the snow starts coming, not a day or 2 later.
Germans are very particular with throwing garbage away, so their garage will accommodate the car.
Bare in mind that house ownership is low and lot of Germans live in condos.
I spray lube the key slots on the driver's door and trunk every fall, I also spray the lug nuts with lithium grease to keep the rust down, I also wash the inner door jambs a lot. I have a heated garage and park in a parking garage at work, but I do notice some slow starts when I leave the car out in the weather overnight, I think this is because it stays relatively warm most of the time and isn't used to the really cold starts. I do rinse the salt off pretty much every night as the garage is warm and I usually go out to the garage to smoke after dinner with a glass of wine. So far the only really rusty thing is the rear brake lines, they look nasty rusty, but are original, so seven years so far. I always ran dedicated snows on my 2wd Benz's, not necessary on the 4 magic's.
I "over-maintain" my car, replacing things when they just begin to show the need, etc., but I drive it wherever I need to go. I live near Chicago, so the winters are real and the streets are not. We do just fine. I keep "all-season" tires on the E400 4Matic, and it does just fine. A few extra trips through the car wash helps keep things from rusting, and keeping it in an unheated garage helps, too. I just don't worry about it any more than any other season, I guess.
I am more concerned about other drivers doing stupid things than I am about rusting. If the MB's we now have are anything like the Toyota products that came before them, no problems expected. We kept a 2001 and a 2002 Lexus and Toyota until mid-year 2015, and neither of them had any rust issues. I expect nothing less from the 2015 MB's.
I just sign up for a monthly touch-less car wash here in my town. For about $45 a month I get unlimited washes (undercarriage and the works). I use that from around November-March and I can use it on any car. I go probably 2/3 times a week. Sometimes even more if I have time.
As others have said, find a touchless carwash in your area with undercarrage spray. Run it through 2-3 times a week if needed. The one in my area is still only $6 a trip. You can spray the undercarrage with one of those waxy oils. I used Noxudol but several companies sell similar products. Mine is rear wheel drive. For $120 I can switch out the summers tires with all season continentals. Its slow going @ 8+ inches but most roads are clear by the end of the day.
Mass owner here. love my 550 in the winter. tossing a set of sottozero's on it and adding a remote starter this year. while its garaged parked i wash it once a week. no problems here. highly suggest getting the all weather floor mats.
Mass owner here. love my 550 in the winter. tossing a set of sottozero's on it and adding a remote starter this year. while its garaged parked i wash it once a week. no problems here. highly suggest getting the all weather floor mats.
We DD our S212 and it's parked outside most of the time. Currently on Pirelli A/S but will be looking to source a winter set of wheels and tires soon even though the Pirelli's did pretty good this past winter.
We DD our S212 and it's parked outside most of the time. Currently on Pirelli A/S but will be looking to source a winter set of wheels and tires soon even though the Pirelli's did pretty good this past winter.
Planning for a winter set of alloy wheels? or steel with covers?
09-10-2021, 09:04 AM
