I am new to this forum but am looking for some advice.
I live in Calgary, Canada, and we get our share of snow up here in the winter and certainly so in the Rocky Mountains next door.
I am wondering if anyone has any experience with the E63 in the snow? I have also been looking at the E550 AWD and my head says that this is a much better choice but my heart says E63 all the way
Is the RWD E63 any good in the snow even with snow tires?
Thanks.

 

I got my 2010 e63 in Nov and it is my daily driver.

I put snow tires on 18 inch wheels and drove all winter long in Toronto.

It's doable, but I wouldn't drive up to Banf or Lake Lousie with it, in and around town its fine though.

R

 

RR4:

I'm curious - what did you get for your winter wheels? Brand, rim size and offsets would be helpful.

I will need a second set for my E63 for the winter as well.

J4S73:

With my former E55 and a dedicated set of snow tires, I had no problems running through the snow in the relatively flat Midwest. You have to be more careful because of the power available to break the rear tires loose. If you are going to take the car to the mountains where you need to get up a steep incline, the traction of a four wheel drive car would be important. Short of that - you should be fine.

 

I live in Boston and I am not sure how any of you drive the car in the winter. I tried and had issues leaving my own driveway. Maybe a good set of snow tires makes a huge difference. Then again the car is not designed to work with anything other than high performance tires really. She needs those tires for all that power

 

Thanks everyone for the info.
All reason points to the AWD E550. Still plenty fast.
But that E63, what a rush.

 

Snow tires make a difference of night and day...doesn't matter AWD or RWD. Get them on before the snow come! or learn it the hard way (I did)...

 

I used the 18 inch wheels that came with the car and put pirelli sotto zero's on.
I ordered the 19 inch for my summer tires.

I drove my car all winter long with snow tires.

Yes snow tires make a huge difference. You can't drive on all season tires it must be snow tires and you will be fine.

 

RR4:

Thanks! That is a great combo for summer and winter.

 

Can you advise on what sizes you got for the 18 inch winter tires with the Sotto?

I looked up Tirerack for Winter 240 SottoZero from Pirellis and the closest thing I got were:
245/40/18
275/40/18

Stock tires are:
255/40/18
285/35/18

Thanks!

 

I also live in Calgary and I can understand how crazy the weather can be. That's why my parents have a 2003 BMW X5 4.4i in the garage and it has battled Calgary weather for 8 years. I'm 19 and when I get my class 5 this September, my dad is giving me the X5 cuz he just placed an order on 2011 E550 4Matic yesterday at Lone Star. It should arrive in 3 months. Lots of people I know put winter tires on their sports cars and it works for them. My X5's have all seasons tires and it seems gto rip well in the snow. Just make sure get something that has a V8 with plenty of power cuz V6s don't seem to have enough power for Calgary snow.

 

Again, why do people willingly live where it snows & rains constantly?

 

Beauty of the land? Hardiness of the people? The snow itself?

 

I would not give up on E63 just because of snow.
Without a doubt the 4M will do better in the snow, but.....

I live in GTA and for years suffered the seasonal tire changes and the bad
dry / mild days performance of winter tires. Then, in 2003 started using
Michelin Pilot Sport A/S (now plus) with exellent results for my micro-climate.

The biggest problem with summer tires is that they become hockey puck hard
and therefore dangerous even at temps of less than +5-> +7 C even with no
snow. The all season compound of the Michelin A/S stays soft and drivable
even at -20C, yet durable due to it's silica content.

The tread handles the snow very well and the limiting factor becomes the
depth of snow due to low suspension (belly gets stuck in snow, not tires).
This will be an issue even with the E550 and you will have to leave it home
on those snow storm days.

The ESP and ASR handle the slip quite satisfactorily and I have not used
winter tires for 7 years. Got stuck only once on a back street that was not
plowed and even then with a bit of patience got back home.

So: 4M is a better choice if you can live without the performance the AMG
car on clear dry cold days of the winter, or have a dedicated winter car.
FWIW I choose AMG for a daily driver.

 

If Alberta didn't have oil, then Calgary would be just a town without any of the fancy expensive buildings you see today.

 

I drove my C63 on all-seasons and it was still pretty dicey in medium-deep snow or any kind of ice. I can't speak to how the car performs with snow tires but these RWD AMGs just don't appear to be designed for tough winters!

It's okay though, because the spring/summer/falls are a completely different matter. Zoom zoom!