99 E300 in the snow
 

So i have a 92 300d in very good condition that i store in the winter. I picked up a very clean 99 E300 for my parents with a blown head. Ended up swapping in a used motor with 74k. 195k on body. In the winter I drive a 2004 civic with snow tires. Well i was feeling the wagon bug and bought a 2006 awd bmw530xi wagon. After i got it home I'm thinking its much to nice for me to use as proper wagon so i asked my folks if they wanted to swap. So my question is, how would a E300 with snow tires compare to the civic with snow tires. I can casually drive down 6" deep streets with ease, will the E300 be similar?

Having driven in snow only twice in my lifetime, I can't answer your question directly, however FWD and AWD vehicles tend to be better in snowy/icy conditions since the driving wheels are in the front and the weight of the drivetrain is directly over them.

The Civic has pretty anemic torque compared to the E300, so its tendency towards spinning the tires is pretty low. My Accord and SDL both run very similar tires, both from the same manufacturer, and in the rain the SDL has a tendency for the rear end to step out if you're not careful or paying attention. Not exactly a "snow" condition, but still adverse weather with reduced traction.

That said, you can drive ANY car in ANY condition if you're a skilled enough driver. It's all about matching your driving style and skills to the current conditions. Not sure how an E300 would stack up to a Civic driving down a 6" snowdrift though...

A wagon should be pretty comparable to the FWD if it has good tires. If you need more traction you can add a few sand bags in back.

Yeah i bought the wagon to replace the civic, i'm always picking stuff up and need more room than the civic so i picked up the wagon. But after driving it a bit its to nice for my needs. So i would swap the wagon for the e300 and get rid of the civic. I would keep all of them but michigan insurance rates are very high and not practical to keep cars you aren't driving.

I had a '99 E320 with 4matic. It was decent in snow. But a RWD car, no matter what anti-slip gimmicks it has, just won't measure up. Skill and guts don't beat physics.

Yeah thats kind of what i'm thinking. But wasnt sure if the weigh of the diesel in front would help. The civic with snow tires just kind of floats across the deep snow.

My 96E300D was terrible in the snow. Rear wheel drive, a slight incline, and the rear end would almost fishtail with the slightest touch of the accelerator. On level ground you still have to be careful when accelerating.

I've a lot of seat time on slippery pavement and prefer driving RWD on snow. Having the steering separate from the drive wheels gives twice the options for car control. If all you've driven is FWD I suppose there might be a time needed to get used to the difference.

Heck when I started driving there were no FWD vehicles on the road in the US.

Might be right, fwd with snow tires is pretty much point and shoot. Only driven on rwd in the snow with one vehicle. A 78 dodge adventure with bias ply snow tires. Would load the rear up with sand and had no issues. Other than that, mostly 4wd suv/trucks. I drive from michiganto chicago around the holidays and everytime on 94 around the edge of the lake its crazy white out snow storm.

I have been driving for 64 years and have owned a '98 e300 for the last 10 years. I have never driven a car that is worse in snow than this one. It is difficult to control and gets stuck easily. I live just outside Washington, D.C. and do not drive the car when there is snow on the roads. It is not much of a burden, because I am retired; we don't get much snow; when we get it, the snow doesn't stay on the ground long; and in those few instances where it has stayed, the roads are cleared pretty fast.

I grew up in northern Illinois where we got lots of snow and moved from there in 1962. The cars I drove there (a 1935 Plymouth, a '49 Chevy, a '50 Chevy, a '51 Ford, a '56 Ford) were all better in snow than a '98 e300.

Swap in an ASD diff from a 124 with manual control and snow tires.

out of curiosity did you have snow tires on the e300?

...and extra weight in back?

No. The tires had lots of tread.

There's no replacement for snow tires.