Yes!

The 300SD is very difficult on ice and compacted snow. I tried 2 pairs of cable chains on my moms 300SD and the car shredded them. On slight inclines the torque to the rear wheels goes from not enough to move the car forward at all, to spinning the wheels wildly. (Which doesn't move the car either). There was no in-between.

I had much better luck using winter tires designed to do well on ice. Unfortunately they don't all satisfy the highway patrol when chains are required. With the mountain and snowflake designation, they are acceptable when chains are required. With 80's tech snows I could go most places, but My Audis and VWs felt much more sure footed than my Mercedes.

No matter what you might hear, driving on PNW roads during and after snowstorms can be 10 times harder than here in the Inter-mountain west, where they use salt like it's going out of style.

Last year I went out and bought the best snow tires I could find, only to discover that they are only marginally better at climbing my hill than all seasons. That is in our usual white topped slush, kinda like a salty Slurpy. I got them at Costco and I decided on Michelin-Primacy Alpin PA3.

On cold packed snow or Ice they are like nothing I ever driven on. One night last year when we had single digit temps and high winds I found the tires amazingly grippy. I drove all over the neighborhood, trying steeper and steeper hills, but never found one I couldn't climb In my Camry Hybrid.

Dunlop Graspic comes in sizes that fits the 300SD and carry the severe winter service snowflake and mountain symbol, for use when chains are required.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Dunlop&tireModel=Graspic+DS-3&vehicleSearch=true&partnum=97QR4DS3&fromCompare1=yes&wTire=1
(Just an example, I've never used them myself)

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1979 240D, 4spd manual, Power Sunroof, manual windows, 147k miles, Pastel gray/Black MB Tex.
1991 300D 2.5 - Smokes like it's on Crack!