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Yesterday I got stuck while driving the short stretch from my parents’ house to the main road.
As you can see from the photo, there’s only a slight incline, but nothing major.
However, I couldn’t move forward at all, as the wheels just stopped turning.
Luckily, I was able to reverse several meters and then build up a bit of speed (still limited), which allowed me to reach the “top” where the main road is.
I did switch off ESP, which helped a little, but not much.
Afterwards, I read that you should also put the car in “E”, which I hadn’t tried.
How do you guys handle situations like this?
To clarify: it’s only some small roads that have snow on them; all the main roads are fine. So this isn’t a question of putting snow chains on.
i do not have the snow setting. (i take it, this should be under the drive program right? ,(E, C, SPORT...)
And i don't have winter tires
You say this can be activated, but is this like a hidden or paid feature ? why wouldn't it be standard on the car ?
This is useless feature anyway, somehow because maybe no software can do anything with non-compliant tires. Bosch is still considered to young compared with Issac Newton...
This feature just dramatically reduce power class and make transmission slip at maximum, ...same can be achieved pressing very slow on Acc....
The closest thing to "Snow" setting in the EQE SUV is "Snow Chain Mode", which is in the vehicle settings menu. I think it is standard and nothing you need to get "coded". It disables the rear-wheel steering and some other driving intelligence. Personally, I would simply recommend putting driving mode in "E" (i.e. Eco). This limits the torque when pressing the accelerator to put the car in motion.
@Egonvdv , where you live do you have occasional snow, or was this a rare event? Might want to consider some snow-capable tires. All the traction management in the world won't help if you don't have good grip. In the winter, I mount Nokian WRG5 all-weather (European "all-season") tires, which have excellent grip in snow and ice, and represent a reasonable compromise to having full-winter tires, which, while better in snow and ice, have too many other compromises. We've actually had a fair bit of snow here lately, and even during our road trips to the north country, the WRG5s have been unstoppable. I suspect using Michelin CrossClimate 2 or 3 tires would have a similar effect. The three-seasons "all-season" tires we have in the US simply aren't equipped to handle much snow. The EQE has some of the best traction management I've seen in slippery stuff, but if you don't have the grip, it doesn't matter how good it is.
You didn't indicate what kind of tires you have mounted, but the post immediately above cannot be over-emphasized. The difference between an ordinary all season rated tire and an all season that has the 3MPSF snow traction rating, or better yet a snow specific tire is immense, not only in the tread design but in the rubber compounds used. If you drive regularly in snow, get at least a set of Michellin CrossClimates or similarly rated tire.
The closest thing to "Snow" setting in the EQE SUV is "Snow Chain Mode", which is in the vehicle settings menu. I think it is standard and nothing you need to get "coded". It disables the rear-wheel steering and some other driving intelligence. Personally, I would simply recommend putting driving mode in "E" (i.e. Eco). This limits the torque when pressing the accelerator to put the car in motion.
i don't have 4 wheel drive so this function is not available
@Egonvdv , where you live do you have occasional snow, or was this a rare event? Might want to consider some snow-capable tires. All the traction management in the world won't help if you don't have good grip. In the winter, I mount Nokian WRG5 all-weather (European "all-season") tires, which have excellent grip in snow and ice, and represent a reasonable compromise to having full-winter tires, which, while better in snow and ice, have too many other compromises. We've actually had a fair bit of snow here lately, and even during our road trips to the north country, the WRG5s have been unstoppable. I suspect using Michelin CrossClimate 2 or 3 tires would have a similar effect. The three-seasons "all-season" tires we have in the US simply aren't equipped to handle much snow. The EQE has some of the best traction management I've seen in slippery stuff, but if you don't have the grip, it doesn't matter how good it is.
I live in the south of France, where it almost never snows.
When it does, first of all you don’t even want to drive because it turns into a complete **** show, since we’re not really equipped to handle those conditions.
And second, the snow never lasts very long.
Right now I’m at my parents’ place in the Netherlands, where snow has become more and more rare as well, and all the main roads are quickly treated.
It was just strange to get stuck on such a short stretch of road, just because it went up a little bit.
With my previous E-Class, this would never have happened. I guess the weight of the EQE SUV also plays a big part.
I don’t think it’s worth buying all-season tires, but I’ll get some snow “socks” just to be safe.
The south of France might not get snow, but many areas in France do, so it’s better to be prepared.
I live in the south of France, where it almost never snows.
When it does, first of all you don’t even want to drive because it turns into a complete **** show, since we’re not really equipped to handle those conditions.
And second, the snow never lasts very long.
Right now I’m at my parents’ place in the Netherlands, where snow has become more and more rare as well, and all the main roads are quickly treated.
It was just strange to get stuck on such a short stretch of road, just because it went up a little bit.
With my previous E-Class, this would never have happened. I guess the weight of the EQE SUV also plays a big part.
I don’t think it’s worth buying all-season tires, but I’ll get some snow “socks” just to be safe.
The south of France might not get snow, but many areas in France do, so it’s better to be prepared.
I'd be willing to bet some amount of money that if you'd had the same tires on your old E-class, the situation would've ended up the same. Weight helps, not hinders, in snow traction. A good tire and the EQE's traction management are among the best snow combinations I've ever driven.
There is very little drawback these days to using all-seasons over summer-only tires (assuming we're not talking track or extreme use). Might be a good idea to change up so as not to get stuck when the weather doesn't behave as predicted.
In the 90's I was doing quite a bit of business travel in the Netherlands. I don't remember encountering any snow, but I remember asking out sales rep there if there was a Dutch word for "sunshine", and it took him a minute to remember it (lol). We have a similar climate in Seattle.
i don't have 4 wheel drive so this function is not available
Originally Posted by Egonvdv
I don’t think it’s worth buying all-season tires, but I’ll get some snow “socks” just to be safe.
The south of France might not get snow, but many areas in France do, so it’s better to be prepared.
With RWD and summer tires, don't even think about driving on any snow whatsoever or it may end worse than just getting stuck. Also, it's not just snow, but driving on summer tires below 7 degrees Celsius is highly ill-advised. The compound gets hard and you will lack traction even in the dry. Not a good combo if you have to make an emergency stop and the tires don't grip.
I live in a similar climate here in California. No snow unless I drive up north into the mountains and temperatures are generally above 7C. My RWD AMG is on high performance summer tires all year, but I have CrossClimate 2 tires on my wife's car, just in case we drive it up into the mountains. I've never been a fan of all-season tires, but I'm impressed with the CrossClimate 2. They perform excellent in the heat. I wouldn't put them on my AMG, but on a normal car it honestly doesn't get much better. No real downside in the summer and the dry, but you have the piece of mind that you can drive them below 7C and on snow like you encountered. Now it also helps that my wife's car is FWD.
I've posted this graph before. It shows how the CrossClimate 2 essentially performs the same regardless of the weather, whereas other tire types have significant performance degradation outside of their intended season and/or weather conditions. In Europe, the new CrossClimate 3 is now available, and there's a CrossClimate 3 Sport. They are not sold yet in North America, but they take it to the next level. The CrossClimate 3 Sport is particularly interesting for somebody who wants an all-weather tire, but also a performance tire.
Last edited by superswiss; Jan 30, 2026 at 01:01 PM.
Thanks, might have a look at those next time i need to change my tires
it's dark now, so it's difficult to read, but it seems i have Pirelli ZERO 255/45r20.
will have a proper look tomorrow
There's a Pirelli P ZERO All-Season tire. It'll say AS behind ZERO, but generally the P ZERO is a summer performance tire. Absolutely not to be used on any kind of snow and below 7C. .
BTW, it seems the CrossClimate is becoming a favorite for rental car companies in Europe as well. I was in Germany and Switzerland last October for a month and the rental car had the CrossClimate on it. It was perfect, because the first two weeks were mild and nice weather, but then as November approached, it got cold and wet and it even snowed one day. The tire handled high speed driving on the German Autobahn equally well as the cold wet temperatures. Perfect tire for that kind of transition period and if you don't drive in deep snow or on ice.
Last edited by superswiss; Jan 30, 2026 at 01:55 PM.
I have to second (third, fourth?) the CrossClimate 2.
Had those on our GLC and IMO they actually worked better than advertised.
Have junk (though still fairly new) tires on the EQE because we haven't been around for winter weather. But now we will be so I'll be switching out as soon as I get back to the States.
EV has too much torque ... not to mention Mercedes's 4WD (or AWD) (except the G wagon) isn't known to have great offroad/4wd capabilities (normal use is ok..but at a difference class compare to G Wagon / Land Cruiser / Land Rover). Ease up on the foot, plus tires pressure can be on the 'high' side compare to ICE vehicles which also drops traction. It's not my ideal vehicle to bring to ski trips. My LX570 has always been my choice when it snows / going on a ski trip.
EV has too much torque ... not to mention Mercedes's 4WD (or AWD) (except the G wagon) isn't known to have great offroad/4wd capabilities (normal use is ok..but at a difference class compare to G Wagon / Land Cruiser / Land Rover). Ease up on the foot, plus tires pressure can be on the 'high' side compare to ICE vehicles which also drops traction. It's not my ideal vehicle to bring to ski trips. My LX570 has always been my choice when it snows / going on a ski trip.
OP's car is RWD, so AWD isn't even in the discussion. Regardless, the reason why the G, Land Cruiser etc. are more capable off road, is because they have locking differentials. There are RWD/AWD models outside of the G with locking rear differentials, specifically the AMG 63 models. What you are getting at is the fact that an open differential as it's used in most cars always splits torque 50/50. That means if one wheel is spinning, it puts down very little torque, so the other wheel gets the same amount of torque which isn't enough to move the car. The result is one wheel is stuck and the other one burns up the power spinning and the car isn't going anywhere. So the brakes have to be used to apply a braking torque to the spinning wheel, in order to send more torque to the wheel with more traction. This system is cheap and works well enough in normal situations, but it's pretty terrible if you are stuck. The brake action can actually make the wheels stall and then you are not going anywhere, which is why you often need to turn off traction control and hope the wheels will dig through the snow and make contact with the underlying pavement to get traction. A locking differential will send torque to the wheel that has more traction, so whichever wheels have traction can pull the car out.
Last edited by superswiss; Feb 1, 2026 at 10:06 PM.
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