dieseldude:

With proper tires 4-Matic is not needed to handle ice and snow conditions in my experience. I use Blizzaks on my E500 to handle the ice and snow in the Northeast and they work well. I also used Blizzaks on a 95 E320 wagon with ASR. I used studded snow tires on a 90 300E with no traction control. While the traction was great in ice and snow they were very noisy on dry roads.

I was going to have my snows and rims put on this weekend but the temperature was 70 degrees on Saturday so I will wait a few more days. The soft rubber compound wears out quickly on dry roads.