My 85TD seems to do just fine in the snow. But if you are having problems, the real solution is to put in a NA engine. My wife loves her 77 300d here at a mile high because, since it starts out in 2nd gear, the engine doesn't even have enough power to spin the wheels on glare ice.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

I live on a hill. You turn off the main street then you start going up the hill so you only have the speed you can carry through the turn. My old Camry and my moms car will pull up the hill without any trouble in the worst conditions. My friends E300D with an LSD and ESP (ESP rules in the snow!!) will pull up the hill with tired tires. My Uncles AWD G35 is like a tank in the snow! AWD with traction control is really nice when their is no traction. My SDL will just lose traction part of the way up and slide back. No matter what I do with only one wheel doing the work she just can't get up. The 560SEL's had an LSD, MB cheaped out.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

Since we don't have any of the traction control stuff on our 123's, 4 studded snow tires are your best option. I have four for the war wagon and my 4-wheel drive Pathfinder. I keep them mounted on extra rims. If I know a storm is brewing or I get caught by suprise it only takes 20 minutes to put them on. I don't run them anymore then I have to. This way, they last a long time. I currently have a set that is eight years old and in good shape. I would stay away from only running two snows. The car may move better but stopping and lateral grip will be a problem.
I pull my sleds on a 8'-10' trailer with my 300d. Thats about 1500 pounds and I have no trouble.

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If it isn't old. It isn't worth beans!

85 300d 365,000mi war wagon
84 300sd parts doner, many parts for sale
90 Nissan Pathfinder 250,000+mi work horse

Thanks to all!

I've never used the W123 wagon in the winter before. Always just garaged it when the season came, but now don't have the garage space because of another toy and since it's outside to stay I want to drive it around year-round.
Being up here in Alaska for a month has me already thinking of the winters to come when I return back East.

I have found that my state allows stuuded snow tired from Nov 1-Apr 15. I may just go that route and try to relax on the acceleration so as not to engage the turbo at the wrong time. I had never considered that the turbo would be a real problem. Any suggestions on studded snows?

The responses were very helpful to me and interesting.

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PagodaLOVER
1967 230SL, manual
1959 180D, manual