Which Winter Tyres for a W124 ?

[Spy]

Hi all,

I am thinking of putting some winter tyres on my W124 estate.

I have a spare set of early CLK rims (205/55 R16) which I was thinking of putting some winter tyres on and fitting to the W124 and swapping back to the current rims in the summer.

Which Winter Tyres should I go for ?
I was looking at these two:
Continental WinterContact TS830 - http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Tyre/Continental/Wint...
and
Dunlop SP Winter Sport 3D - http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Tyre/Dunlop/SP-Winter...

Problem is, these tyres are coming up fairly expensive at approx. £80 each !

Any alternative, cheaper suggestions which perform as well in the wet and snow ?

[Garlick]

Are you?

I haven't had a winter with mine yet, but the old 190E was fine in poor weather. Have you experienced poor grip in yours, or are you just preparing for the worst?

[Spy]

Garlick said:

Are you?

I haven't had a winter with mine yet, but the old 190E was fine in poor weather. Have you experienced poor grip in yours, or are you just preparing for the worst?

I haven't had the W124 for a winter yet so can't comment but all previous rear wheel drive cars I have had (incl. 190E, BMW 530D etc) have not fared well on the snow. The rear wheels start slipping and ccan't get any grip.

Saying that, I haven't had any problems in the wet with thos cars but if this year's snow fall is anything like last year, I want to have at least one car I can take out andnot get stuck.

[pits]

Just buy a bag of sand or two to stick in the boot much cheaper than winter tyres and you can use the sand for sand castles.


HTH

[Patrick Bateman]

If there's bugger all grip in the first place some extra weight in the boot isn't going to have that much of an effect.

[Spy]

pits said:

Just buy a bag of sand or two to stick in the boot much cheaper than winter tyres and you can use the sand for sand castles.


HTH

I read all those suggestions last year when I had the BMW and it didn't work for me when I hit icy roads !

[pits]

Spy said:

pits said:

Just buy a bag of sand or two to stick in the boot much cheaper than winter tyres and you can use the sand for sand castles.


HTH

I read all those suggestions last year when I had the BMW and it didn't work for me when I hit icy roads !

Use a couple of bags of grit and don't hit icy roads

HTH





ETA: The E34 and the 8er had no problems in the cold last year, nor in the snow for that matter, infact they got everywhere we asked them to get with minimal fuss.

Edited by pits on Monday 22 November 18:03

[nine6four]

My old 124 was worse than appalling in the snow last year on brand new Michelins (no problems in the 964 C4). A cheaper option to winter tyres might be snow socks which I was going to get but they had sold out by the time I got round to looking.

[Spy]

nine6four said:

My old 124 was worse than appalling in the snow last year on brand new Michelins (no problems in the 964 C4). A cheaper option to winter tyres might be snow socks which I was going to get but they had sold out by the time I got round to looking.

Thanks - where do I get snow socks from ?

[nine6four]

Spy said:

nine6four said:

My old 124 was worse than appalling in the snow last year on brand new Michelins (no problems in the 964 C4). A cheaper option to winter tyres might be snow socks which I was going to get but they had sold out by the time I got round to looking.

Thanks - where do I get snow socks from ?

http://www.autosock.co.uk/ no experience of them but read some good things about them last year. Halfords stock them too from memory.

Incidently I didn't have any problems with the 124 on wet or greasy roads, just snow and ice.

[EDLT]

Bosscerbera would be the man to ask:

[Spy]

Has anyone tried snow socks ?

Like these here:

http://www.care4car.com/productdisplay/productid/3...
and
http://www.roofrackshop.co.uk/snowchains/weisssock...

Do they work and are they likely to come off once you get on to a motorway at higher speeds ?

[Bluebarge]

Spy said:

Has anyone tried snow socks ?

Like these here:

http://www.care4car.com/productdisplay/productid/3...
and
http://www.roofrackshop.co.uk/snowchains/weisssock...

Do they work and are they likely to come off once you get on to a motorway at higher speeds ?

You take them off once you hit dry tarmac otherwise they shred quite quickly. 30mph would be a realistic max on these, as for any snow chain. They are a "get you home" device only.

[Chicane-UK]

Worth it, definitely. My W124 estate (200TE) never got stuck anywhere but I had a few hairy drives home in some of the heavier snow where the back end stepped out slightly twice whilst driving along very steadily. Luckily managed to correct both times without too much incident but was plenty scary.

Was good fun in the freshly snowed and un-touched car park at work in the morning. Got in extra early so I could enjoy some doughnuts

[Spy]

Thanks guys, educational feedback !

The reason I am concerned is that nearly all other rear wheel drive cars I have had (incl. 190E, 530D, M3 etc) tend to lose grip once you hit compacted snow/ice. I had a particularly stressful moment last year in the 530D on a road with a slight incline where I couldn't get the car to move - had to get the wife and kids out to push

These have all been saloons and my thinking is that an estate may be worse as it must be even lighter at the rear wheels ?

Edited by Spy on Wednesday 24th November 09:40

[Deva Link]

nine6four said:

My old 124 was worse than appalling in the snow last year on brand new Michelins (no problems in the 964 C4).

Wierd that, isn't it? Mercs do seem particularly bad but then the next thing someone comes along and says their BMW was fine.

I know when the snow started last year the RWD drive brigade (mainly BMWs and Jags) couldn't even get over the lip of our car park. None of the FWD cars had any problems.

[Bluebarge]

Spy said:

Thanks guys, educational feedback !

The reason I am concerned is that nearly all other rear wheel drive cars I have had (incl. 190E, 530D, M3 etc) tend to lose grip once you hit compacted snow/ice. I had a particularly stressful moment last year in the 530D on a road with a slight incline where I couldn't get the car to move - had to get the wife and kids out to push

These have all been saloons and my thinking is that an estate may be worse as it must be even lighter at the rear wheels ?

Edited by Spy on Wednesday 24th November 09:40

I doubt the amount of bodywork at the back will make much difference. Mytyres will sell you some Falken winter tyres for £59 each + fitting, or Nankang Snow SV-2s for £50 - these will be much better than summer tyres.

Otherwise, snow socks to get you as far as the gritted road, or a bag of salt/grit and a shovel in the boot, or stay at home until the weather improves.

[rhinochopig]

I suspect having left it until now, you might be buying whatever is in stock. Demand seems to have outstripped supply this year for winter tyres.

[Spy]

Bluebarge said:

Spy said:

Thanks guys, educational feedback !

The reason I am concerned is that nearly all other rear wheel drive cars I have had (incl. 190E, 530D, M3 etc) tend to lose grip once you hit compacted snow/ice. I had a particularly stressful moment last year in the 530D on a road with a slight incline where I couldn't get the car to move - had to get the wife and kids out to push

These have all been saloons and my thinking is that an estate may be worse as it must be even lighter at the rear wheels ?

Edited by Spy on Wednesday 24th November 09:40

I doubt the amount of bodywork at the back will make much difference. Mytyres will sell you some Falken winter tyres for £59 each + fitting, or Nankang Snow SV-2s for £50 - these will be much better than summer tyres.

Otherwise, snow socks to get you as far as the gritted road, or a bag of salt/grit and a shovel in the boot, or stay at home until the weather improves.

Which are the better "budget" tyres ?

The following have been suggested:
Nokian WRG2 - http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Tyre/Nokian/WRG2.htm
Avon Ice Touring - http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Tyre/Avon/Ice-Touring...
Falken Hs439 - http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Tyre/Falken/Eurowinte...

The Nokian's seem to be the better ones to me - what experience do others have of these tyres - obviously I don't need high performance tyres as they are going on a 15 year old E220 Estate !

[Bluebarge]

Spy said:

Bluebarge said:

Spy said:

Thanks guys, educational feedback !

The reason I am concerned is that nearly all other rear wheel drive cars I have had (incl. 190E, 530D, M3 etc) tend to lose grip once you hit compacted snow/ice. I had a particularly stressful moment last year in the 530D on a road with a slight incline where I couldn't get the car to move - had to get the wife and kids out to push

These have all been saloons and my thinking is that an estate may be worse as it must be even lighter at the rear wheels ?

Edited by Spy on Wednesday 24th November 09:40

I doubt the amount of bodywork at the back will make much difference. Mytyres will sell you some Falken winter tyres for £59 each + fitting, or Nankang Snow SV-2s for £50 - these will be much better than summer tyres.

Otherwise, snow socks to get you as far as the gritted road, or a bag of salt/grit and a shovel in the boot, or stay at home until the weather improves.

Which are the better "budget" tyres ?

The following have been suggested:
Nokian WRG2 - http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Tyre/Nokian/WRG2.htm
Avon Ice Touring - http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Tyre/Avon/Ice-Touring...
Falken Hs439 - http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Tyre/Falken/Eurowinte...

The Nokian's seem to be the better ones to me - what experience do others have of these tyres - obviously I don't need high performance tyres as they are going on a 15 year old E220 Estate !

Never tried any of them, but based on others feedback I would say:
1 nokian 2 falken 3 Avon but unless you can find a roadtest comparing the 3 on the same car, it's all subjective.

As you say yourself, I doubt you would notice the difference on your car. Even the nankangs get decent rep from M-B owners and would be better than what you have now. You really need to check stock availability rather than make theoretical choices based on test reviews. I doubt you will get stock in time for this forecast snowfall.