S-Class (W220) 1999-2006: S 320 CDI, S 320, S430, S 500, S 600

Winter Storing the S Class...need help!

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Old 11-23-2008, 02:00 AM
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Winter Storing the S Class...need help!

well i tried posting in another thread but have had no luck with an answer to my question. This is first car I store that has air ride, and well probably the most expensive to fix if something fails during the cold winter, so I am trying to do the best possible to prevent anything from happening, so that hopefully in the spring she will be all good to go without having to go shop.

I live in Iowa and am getting ready to store the car for the winter, got some snowfall today, and temperatures are dropping to the teens. Now I pretty much know the basics: change oil, top up gas and add sta-bil, trickle charger for batter, now I also plan to try airing up the tires to 50psi hopefully it works, car has 20's (235/45/20 tires) on it and really dont have the room to take them off (heard thats bad for the car anyway) I have some pieces of carpet i might cut up and stick in the contact spots though. I have done that in the past and it seemed to work ok.

Now my question is would it be better to store the car in a heated garage? My garage is not heated. I was just wondering if there is a big benefit to storing the car in a climate controlled structure? Would I still have to do all of the above? If it saves me having to do everything I wouldnt mind taking the car somewhere to be stored. Tomorrow is supposed to be really nice and is when I want to get all this done.

So Thanks in advance all
Old 11-23-2008, 10:28 AM
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Originally Posted by donjuan45i
well i tried posting in another thread but have had no luck with an answer to my question. This is first car I store that has air ride, and well probably the most expensive to fix if something fails during the cold winter, so I am trying to do the best possible to prevent anything from happening, so that hopefully in the spring she will be all good to go without having to go shop.

I live in Iowa and am getting ready to store the car for the winter, got some snowfall today, and temperatures are dropping to the teens. Now I pretty much know the basics: change oil, top up gas and add sta-bil, trickle charger for batter, now I also plan to try airing up the tires to 50psi hopefully it works, car has 20's (235/45/20 tires) on it and really dont have the room to take them off (heard thats bad for the car anyway) I have some pieces of carpet i might cut up and stick in the contact spots though. I have done that in the past and it seemed to work ok.

Now my question is would it be better to store the car in a heated garage? My garage is not heated. I was just wondering if there is a big benefit to storing the car in a climate controlled structure? Would I still have to do all of the above? If it saves me having to do everything I wouldnt mind taking the car somewhere to be stored. Tomorrow is supposed to be really nice and is when I want to get all this done.

So Thanks in advance all
Why store it, Drive it. Iowa has it periods of rough weather, but it is no constant frozen tundra in the winter.

Keep in mind there is nothing special about these cars and as it is sitting there in hibernation it will be decreasing in value at a god awful rate and you will not even have the joy of driving it
Old 11-23-2008, 11:21 AM
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Originally Posted by rccmerc
Why store it, Drive it. Iowa has it periods of rough weather, but it is no constant frozen tundra in the winter.

Keep in mind there is nothing special about these cars and as it is sitting there in hibernation it will be decreasing in value at a god awful rate and you will not even have the joy of driving it
agree 100%. that is a all year around car why put it away!!!! i drive mine but it stays clean at all times, i mean all times !!!!!
Old 11-23-2008, 12:12 PM
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Its better for the car to be driven than to sit in a garage.
Old 11-23-2008, 03:00 PM
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i know its better but I live in des moines where the snow removal is like 50% effective at the most. all the rural roads arent plowed very good just the main roads. leaving a nice 2 foot drift of snow at the end of every rural road

then rear wheel drive + low pro tires (wished I had the 16's only have the amg 18's and foose 20's) and last year when I tried to drive it I wasnt able to make it up the driveway so several times it ended up getting snowed in the street until snow melted. not a good scene for a mercedes. I guess it all depends on how bad of winter we get, last winter was a pretty evil one
Old 11-23-2008, 10:28 PM
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Park it in the garage brother, it's just not worth it.
Old 11-24-2008, 08:10 AM
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I have stored mine in my heated garage with the obvious, full full tank, clean and wax paint and trikle charger. I would also add that you should start and run car once a month for 10 minutes. If you do decide to drive in the winter you will need to buy a second set of all season tires. The low profile high performance tire/wheel combination is terrible in the cold, tires are like rocks and they provide very little grip if the roads get icey. I will be driving mine this winter, but have a second 4 wheel drive if the snow gets deep. I too reside in DSM.
Old 11-24-2008, 05:41 PM
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Originally Posted by donjuan45i
i know its better but I live in des moines where the snow removal is like 50% effective at the most. all the rural roads arent plowed very good just the main roads. leaving a nice 2 foot drift of snow at the end of every rural road

then rear wheel drive + low pro tires (wished I had the 16's only have the amg 18's and foose 20's) and last year when I tried to drive it I wasnt able to make it up the driveway so several times it ended up getting snowed in the street until snow melted. not a good scene for a mercedes. I guess it all depends on how bad of winter we get, last winter was a pretty evil one
I guess what I was getting at is that you if have the ability to store your W220, I assumed you have access/use of another car. So when the weather is brutal drive the 'other' car, on nicer days take the the Whip out for a drive.

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