BoBcanada

I'm in the middle of choosing weather to go with Cayenne TT or E55k i know it's two different cars, i always wanted somthing freaking fast which is E55k but also here in Toronto winters are bad, i need a car for all year driving....so did anyone get into alot of snow with e55 and how does it drive in the snow with winter tyres???

Finnish C32

Hello Bob, In Finland, we have a lot of snow and bad winter conditions and the E55 is REALLY bad to drive on snow, needless to say anything about ice. The Winter tires available don't really help at all. NO E55 for bad winters!

Ville

amg55

I don't have winter tires since we don't typically get more than a few days of real snow during the winter each year (and I just take my wife's X5 on those days), but we were blindsided last week by a big snowstorm that hit while I was at work. The weather forecasters missed the mark badly and had not foreseen that we'd get 6 inches of snow in a matter of hours.

You want to know just how badly the E55 performs in snow?
I had 6, count 'em 6, neighbors trying to push my E55 up my driveway after I got home. Driveway has about a 20 degree grade. Took us 70 minutes to get the car up the driveway, and only then after placing pounds of sand and salt on the driveway.

It was comical. The E55 would not go up our street which has no more than a 5-10 degree grade, unless it had significant momentum. If I stopped at a corner and tried to go up the slight incline from a standstill? Nothing but tirespin and sideways movement.

You might be tempted to conclude I simply don't know how to drive in snow but I grew up in Chicago and lived several winters in Minnesota, so I'm well versed at snow driving.

Some of the guys in New England claim that with proper snow tires their E55's are fine.
If you get a LOT of snow, though, I'd have to say that's a strike against the E55 if it would be your only car.


--One other thing I found very interesting: when a car is stuck and you're trying to rock it out of a snow rut you need to apply just enough gas to reach the point of tire spin, then back off. The E55's computer monitoring tirespin essentially cuts off the fuel once spin occurs. As such, it became nearly impossible at times to try to rock the car.

gclpc

With all due respect to those who claim otherwise, the E55 is absolutely fine to drive in deep snow, so long as you raise the ride height, choose the comfort setting, use decent snow tires (I use Michelins), and modify your driving habits slightly. I got mine 3 months ago, and I was apprehensive about using it as a daily driver. My wife has a Grand Cherokee, replaced yesterday with a Sienna XLE AWD. Neither of those vehicles has winter tires. I get better traction on ice than the Grand Cherokee, and have had no problem whatsoever.

I live in Edmonton, Canada, and so far this year we have had about 18 inches of snow, as well as temperatures dro[pping as low as -45 C. The City does not plow side streets, but they do plow some alleys. When they do, rows of snow are left that have to be traversed. No problem whatsoever. The only thing that one has to be concerned about is ensuring that the front air dam does not hit packed snow. That is something that any sedan is susceptible to, not merely the E55

Hope this helps.

Greg

Pbglas

I don't have an E55. It is on order.

But the car I have came with high performance tires and the first winter I kept them. They were miserable. Even minor inclines, as in getting out of a supermarket parking lot, gave me grief.

The delaer then changed the tires to all Season's (at no cost to me --- I might add). I have never had serious snow problems since. Even now, there is about four inches of snow in my driveway and a small bank at the end of it --- created bya plow. With a modicum of skill I get by.

Tires do make a big difference.

I too have considered the Cayenne Turbo. It is a great car to drive --- especially the high vantage point. But it too will need to have a/s or snow tires. And because of its greater weight, it might need very grippy tires to stop!

JTS

I too live in Toronto and find that with Michelin Pilot Alpins and the highest ride height, the car is fine....Of course the little yello check mark is flashing constantly.

I should say that one evening I had to leave the beast on the street as I too couldn't make it up my 25% incline driveway.

GDawgC220

You should try and turn off ESP if you didn't when you try and rock your car out. I found this out with our ML when it was stuck on some ice/snow and had to rock it out. Turning it off will just let the wheels spin freely when you applyin' the gas back and forth.

Kar don

get snow tires.

amg55

Thanks for the tip, GDawg.
I'm sure that'll solve that problem (assuming I have to deal with snow again--pefully not).

I used to turn off my ESP a lot on my CLK55.
I don't even think about it anymore with the E55--asking for trouble.
I hadn't thought about that as a possible solution.

GDawgC220

np. kinda doesn't make sense at first, but if ya think about it, when you try and rock it out, you hit the gas to go forward and when the wheel spins, it cuts it out, therefore no more power to the wheels, kinda defeating the purpose of rocking :p

vraa

Where's our 4Matic for our torque monsters Mercedes!!!

Eddie Knopp

The E55 is fine in the snow - provided you have 2 things - a good set of snow tires (I have 18*8 Winter Sport M3's) and you know how to drive in the snow - not to insult anyone, but there probably is a reason that those of us from the north are saying one thing and others the opposite.
For me it's my daily drive and has not failed me at all !!

tjcMBE55AMG

Let's just say that the stock car comes with the 'Snowless Go' option.

TJC