How can I make my 1998 E320 safe in the snow? Father of 3 month old daughter.
 

Hello,

I need some advice. I recently purchased a 1998 E320 with 80,000 miles. The car is great but upon my first winter driving day (I live in Michigan) the car was sliding, fish-tailing and stopping long all over the roads. Even the seemingly light flurries would send the car in a tail spin. I have a 3 month old daughter and I am very concerned about her safety as well as mine. I know how to drive in the snow but am having a difficult time with this car. It has brand new Michelins (not snow tires) all seasons. If there any advice other than purchase snow tires, that you can give me so that I don't have to sell this car or buy another vehicle just for snow? Which buy the way, buying another vehicle is not an option for me at this point.

Example...What are the best snow/ice tires?
How can I make it safer for Michigan winter driving?
Is there a tire that one would for all season?
Should I make the trunk heavier? Sand bag? Etc

Thanks,

Eb

RE: How can I make my 1998 E320 safe in the snow? Father of 3 month old daughter.
 

Hi, we've got a couple of these cars. They do great in the snow when fitted with winter tires. We have a very steep driveway, car would never make it up without proper tires.

Would you consider buying appropriate tires for your driving conditions?

RE: How can I make my 1998 E320 safe in the snow? Father of 3 month old daughter.
 

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/Compar...mp;RunFlat=All
or it's equal.Lots of snow and ice all seasons dont hack it.
ohlord
studs if legal in your state on all four.
post a shout out for winter tires members have used sets for sale cheap often here and also on benzworld.org w210 section.

RE: How can I make my 1998 E320 safe in the snow? Father of 3 month old daughter.
 

IMHO.

Brand new tyres are not good in snow / wet conditions due to release agent on the surface layer of the rubber compound.

Michelins aren't the best in cold/wet weather but give good life due to use of a "hard" compound. The tyre compromise choice is down to you. Life vs grip. In Europe we are used to tyres that may only last 10k miles ior even less whilst I believe the general compromise in the USA is towards life.

Summer tyres aren't as good as Winter which have a compound best suited to low temperature + of course a better pattern to assist traction in significant snow/mud.

However driven with due consideration for the conditions the MB should be no worse than any other rear wheel drive car and SHOULD be adequate to manage a light snowfall if driven appropriately. In general terms rear drive cars are less stable than front wheel drive cars which is why systems like ESP were introduced

Are you sure that your ESP / ABS are working correctly?

Are you using W on the gear selector?

These systems are specifically designed to assist in making driving in adverse conditions safer by restricting power and braking forces to the maximum that can be applied safely commensurate with road conditions.

However BE AWARE. ESP / ABS cannot rewrite the rules of physics. ABS will prevent the wheels locking (in order to maintain steering capability which is badly compromised with locked wheels) but this does not mean the car will stop if traveling to quickly for the amount of grip available.

With ESP and W selected + awareness of the conditions, you should not have a problem with spinning wheels.

Entering a corner too quickly will initiate the ESP which will do its very best to correct for having entered the bend too quickly but if the speed (in the wrong direction) is too great even the best system (or driver) is unable to defy the laws of physics.

Winter tyres will help and are mandatory in many countiries that experience snow regularly but driving style is the most important factor.

Are your expectations reasonable for a rear wheel drive car in bad conditions?

Stuart

RE: How can I make my 1998 E320 safe in the snow? Father of 3 month old daughter.
 

Thanks for the advice so far. The car is always driving in the W for winter driving and ESP on constantly flashes when I hit a patch on the road. It feels as if the brakes are type or as if they almost lock up due to the cold weather. Although, I've had all those things checked and everything works fine. I have a 2008 Cad CTS RWD and it drives perfect in the snow (company car) without snow tires. My Merc almost scares me.

RE: How can I make my 1998 E320 safe in the snow? Father of 3 month old daughter.
 

Hi,
The yellow flashing ESP light is advising you that the car is about to "skid", i.e. you have reached the limit of adhesion.

OK you are used to RWD cars and you have not experienced problems previously.
I cannot think of a reason why your MB appears to be so bad. It certainly isn't the brand of car so I guess the particular summer tyres you are using must be aimed at max mileage / reduced rolling resistance rather than wet / cold grip.

Sorry I can't offer any additional advice other than snow at around freezing point is much slippier than snow at lower temps. I used to test cars in Canada / Scandanavia during the winter during the development of ABS systems and it is surprising just how much grip can be available at low temps. However when the snow is wet / at around freezing point it can be awful slippy.

stuart