fijidawg

We have had some unusually cold weather and snow in the Seattle area beginning Christmas night. I have no intention of driving my 2019 SL450 on the snow and ice-covered roads. However, I am interested anyone's experience driving their SL in snow/ice conditions. Minnesota and Wisconsin posters?

Streamliner

Hey, Wolfman! I believe you can answer this owner’s question.

Wolfman

Somebody called?

We used to store our SL every winter for several months in Minnesota until I asked myself the obvious question. Why would the SL be a bad winter car? People have driven RWD cars for decades safely in the snow (including us in Switzerland which included the use of chains) and the cars worked great. With the electronic anti-slip support and proper tires, these cars are proper winter cars. After all, most cars found in the ditches of Minnesota highways during winter are SUV's and 4wheel drive cars. Traction comes second to braking and steering.

There is also nothing particularly fragile about the car. Supremely rust resistant via its high use of aluminum, composite and magnesium and a full coupe via its hardtop, all the car needs are proper snow tires. If worried about chips on paint, we get those all year and PPF is the answer to that. We used our stock wheels for dedicated snow tires (Pirelli Sottozeros - staggered setup) and the car was a pleasure to drive in the winter.

For those that believe that only SUV's are useful in the winter time, they are not. Snow removal in MN is quite efficient even if quality declined somewhat but if there is over a foot of snow during a storm, neither car is safe to drive...

JettaRed

iTrader: (1)

Wolfman, is your car lowered?

I think that if there is any limitation to driving the SL in winter, it would be due to low clearance. That said, I have a set of winter tires and wheels from waiting to be used.

Tires: Vredestein Wintrac Pro | 255/40R18 (tirerack.com)
Wheels: 18x8 American Eagle AE901 HYPER SIL


This is a TireRack photo with my chosen winter wheels.
​

Wolfman

Car was lowered (gone now) via electronic lowering module. With ABC the car can be raised and the lowering can be turned off instantly on the module.

Clearance really isn't the issue IMO, at least here in MN due to the way the streets are plowed. We have had no problems getting up our driveway with a 5' elevation change and 6-8" of snow. Even though we have a Mercedes SUV, our BMW M8 is our primary winter car
The option varies by state and personal preference of course but it worked for us. I may choose different if driving in the mountains, etc, but it worked well for us in Minnesota where we usually have snow on the ground for 5 months a year...

JettaRed

iTrader: (1)

I put the winter tires on today (see my post above) and I have to say that the ride seems greatly improved. Could be the 18" wheels and/or the conventional tires (instead of run-flats on 19" wheels). I will have to seriously consider my options when it comes time to replace the MOE Extended (run-flat) tires.

Wolfman

Snow Tires are always softer but I recommend getting rid of the RFT's. Usually the first thing we do on any car that has them. Michelin PS4's are my go-to tire but requires a wider rear (295, which is fine) or use Michelin PSS (Tirerack has those in original MB spec). You'll never go back

JettaRed

iTrader: (1)

How have you addressed the need for a spare with conventional tires? AAA?

Wolfman

Tire Fix Kit. Mercedes delivered cars without a spare (or run flats) already 20 years ago when we got our SL55. Definitely works unless there is a catastrophic tire failure. But that is the same with Run flats. A bigger cut in the sidewalls makes them useless as well. For the rest there is a call to Mercedes or AAA...