Winter Tyres or Snow Chains

[mbenz76]

Thanks for all the comments. Drifting towards winter tyres as they seem to be what everyone is recommending.

I'm not going to get new rims so will go for tyres that will fit my current rims. Might get a little lower grip but won't have the expense of new rims or the hassle of having to store them for half the year.

My concern is not so much on the flat in slush as I have never had a problem in any car with that, but inclines and hills are a worry for me. More so now I have the MB with RWD.

Will an MB dealer take off my current tyres and fit winter ones, and then swap them back again in Spring or are they funny about it?

Also, do MB dealers give good prices on tyres with haggling? I know when I had the Renault the dealer would come down a lot on tyre prices.

Online prices are OK, but for the hassle of having to have them delivered it may be worth just getting they from the dealer if I can get a good enough price.

 

[Egbert Nobacon]

Thanks for all the comments. Drifting towards winter tyres as they seem to be what everyone is recommending.

I'm not going to get new rims so will go for tyres that will fit my current rims. Might get a little lower grip but won't have the expense of new rims or the hassle of having to store them for half the year.

My concern is not so much on the flat in slush as I have never had a problem in any car with that, but inclines and hills are a worry for me. More so now I have the MB with RWD.

Will an MB dealer take off my current tyres and fit winter ones, and then swap them back again in Spring or are they funny about it?

Also, do MB dealers give good prices on tyres with haggling? I know when I had the Renault the dealer would come down a lot on tyre prices.

Online prices are OK, but for the hassle of having to have them delivered it may be worth just getting they from the dealer if I can get a good enough price.

Try www.camskill.co.uk or www.tyremen.co.uk for good prices for winter tyres especially Vredestein.

Any tyre fitter will happily swap tyres for you for a small fee per wheel. I just have a second set of steel rims and use them in winter as is common in Europe.

 

[timskemp]

I'm not going to get new rims so will go for tyres that will fit my current rims. Might get a little lower grip but won't have the expense of new rims or the hassle of having to store them for half the year.

Think carefully. Road salt will eat into your AMG rims, a decent refurb will cost not much off the price of a set of cheaper aftermarket alloys, and storing four mounted tyres and wheels takes no more space than storing four tyres.

 

[raymont]

I'm sure an MB dealer / tyre place will swap the tyres over twice a year. If you're concerned about your wheels bear in mind this involves removing old weights, re-balancing and the risk of damage to the wheels twice a year.

Takes me about 40 mins to swap my wheels over, not much of a hassle.

I know that MB in Germany offer complete winter wheel / tyre sets as options / accessories. Might be worth asking your friendly dealer how much, but I suspect it wouldn't be that good a deal.

 

[Animal Mother]

I just have a second set of steel rims and use them in winter as is common in Europe.

Can you get 18" steel rims to fit the Merc PCD?

 

[mbenz76]

The salt is not an issue IMO. As long as the wheels are cleaned regularly and taken care of then there is no need to think they will come out of winter any worse for it.

 

[312 Sprinter]

The salt is not an issue IMO. As long as the wheels are cleaned regularly and taken care of then there is no need to think they will come out of winter any worse for it.

It makes a surprising difference, my car is now on well over 200K miles. The summer rims have never been re-furbed and there is not a single bubble on them. I know you don't want to get different rims but taking tyres on and off the rim repeatedly doesn't do them any good. You should get more than one season out of a set of winter tyres.

 

[travelininstyle]

Click on my profile and open the statistics tabs and look under 'threads started' - there is a posting regarding winter tyres - I spent some time looking into this as the German motoring organization completed some very objective trials,which covered grip in snow,ice,wet,fuel consumption,wear on the tyres - from different manufacturers - I fitted winter tyres after the severe disruption of last year - once you do it you will never go back.

 

[Satch]

This takes you to the ADAC 2009 winter tyre tests (Winterreifen-Test)

Reifen-Test

lower score = better and in 205/55 at least the top three (in terms of brands in the UK) are:

Continental Wintercontact
Dunlop SP Wintersport
Goodyear UltraGrip

Worth noting that MyTyres do packages of winter tyres of your choice ready mounted on steel wheels:

mytyres.co.uk - A Complete Set of Wheels: Steel wheels with winter tyres

Yes, ugly as sin and you have to store them but better than constant mounting/dismounting/balancing on a single set of rims.

 

[x332race]

I ran winter tyres in 265/35/18 on my CLK500 convertible on the AMG rims last winter and they certainly helped and made the car much safer to drive. I changed back to normal summer tyres at end of March getting WIM to change the tyres for me...will change them back for winter tyres in November...costs about £20 per wheel to change tyre.

The only place I found to get tyres of that size was Mytyres.
I am running Nokain all-season tyres on the front all year at the moment.

I also have a C270 estate and I have a spare set of wheels for this fitted with Vredestein Quatrac 3 tyres that I use for winter driving...

I have found the winter tyres to be of great help and to give impressive traction.....in one instance I passed a 4x4 (presumably on summer tyres) who was having extreme difficulties getting any traction on a steep hill....I just cruised past, much to the drivers amazement!

Chains and snowsocks do work but are a pain in the neck to fit, especially to large tyres where clearance between tyres and bodywork is minimal.

 

[snoop51]

Link to winter tyres on rims

Satch are you sure these will fit a W212. I too have a 350CDI Sport on 18" AMG alloys. I however would like to run winter tyres and rims especially when they are cheaper than getting Vredestein winter tyres for the 18's.

 

[Satch]

Satch are you sure these will fit a W212. I too have a 350CDI Sport on 18" AMG alloys. I however would like to run winter tyres and rims especially when they are cheaper than getting Vredestein winter tyres for the 18's.

Sorry no idea. That site seems only to cover up to W211's and I do not have steel wheels: bought a second hand set of alloys and had them refurbished.

Now I come to think of it, do wonder if ye olde "you need a different wheel bolt length" problem might manifest itself on certain models.

 

[Alps]

Id say winter tyres too!

 

[mbenz76]

Will look at winter tyres then - you have convinced me

I know where to come and moan if I get stuck on them though in the snow

I'll revive this and report back when I have more info.

 

[grober]

Your winter tyres will give lots of extra traction- you will be pleasantly surprised. Just be gentle with the right foot! There are limits, and in saloon cars its ground clearance. Hang the body up on deep snow and the weight of the car goes off the wheels and you are going nowhere. That's where the higher ground clearance of a 4x4 comes in but since many of them run on entirely unsuitable tyres for snow its an advantage that's seldom realised.

 

[Noobdelux]

Will look at winter tyres then - you have convinced me

I know where to come and moan if I get stuck on them though in the snow

I'll revive this and report back when I have more info.

hey i live in norway and my work is a taxi driver..
got an w211 e200... and well i think abaout october il change to studless tires and when the ice comes i change to studs.. yes we do infact have 3 sets of rims lol

but as last poster said.. in the winter il even carry an showel in the back!

edit.. there is few times i have not been able to get somwhere but i do adjust where i drive. but those times i realy get stuck is few.. but ofcourse usually its in the middle of nowhere in the weekends in the middle of the night... *sigh* : P

 

[Smiley]

You have had the right advice from the other members. You will find it difficult to believe the difference between summer and winter tyres - it will mean you can safely drive your car in poor conditions - which you will definitely not be able to do with the tyre size you have now.
As others have already told you the smaller (narrower) the tyre the better.

 

[MeanRedSpider]

Colleague of mine runs an E350 - with winter tyres (and wheels) for the winter (here in the Highlands). Not as smart as his summer alloys but he says it's like getting a new car when he swaps back over.

I'm planning on fitting an old set of narrow (tatty) alloys with winter tyres on my E320 as it was TOTALLY useless in last winters snow. Fortunately my MTB is fitted with ice spikers for just such occasions though the brakes froze at -9C with added windchill!

 

[Smiley]

you will find the winter tyres make it completely useful in the snow and ice - the difference has to be experienced to be believed.

 

[raymont]

Having fitted your winter tyres your worry changes from will ‘I get stuck’ to worrying about someone else sliding into you.

You can make it round the corner without sliding, can the car going the other way, or is it going to fail to make the corner and hit you?

You can stop, what about the vehicle, often ridiculously close, behind you?