2025 Mercedes-Benz GLS 580 4Matic

I made a left turn and the rear passenger side axle broke. I didn’t hit anything.

After changing the tires on my G580 at my local Mercedes dealer on December 26, 2025, on the ride home, about 10 minutes after leaving the dealership, my left rear wheel detached from the vehicle. It hit oncoming traffic and caused an accident. My axle hit the ground after the wheel came off and dug a long and deep trench in the road, releasing vaporized asphalt and metal (from the axle, which got shaved down) into the cabin. I breathed this vapor for several minutes before it dissipated (it was 8 degrees F outside, so I couldn't wait outside the car). I ended up in the ER later that night with smoke inhalation symptoms and have sought medical treatment since.

My Mercedes GLS 580 has a soft-close doors feature. Upon getting my 2 year old out of the car, he pushes the door closed with his left hand while his right hand was between the front driver side door and the rear driver side door. I, his father, was standing right next to the rear door. The door does not close all the way because his fingers were in between the two doors. Then the soft close pulls the door closed crushing his fingers. To make it worse, I try to open the door but the system prevented me from opening it until the door was closed all the way. It crushed three fingers causing lacerations on both sides of two fingers. This would not have happened but for the soft close feature pulling the door shut then preventing me from opening the door. I tried successfully to replace the issue of the door not opening until it closed all the way; each time the door prevents me from manually releasing it until it is fully closed. Mercedes markets this as having an anti-pinch feature, however, this showed it is more a trap and crush feature. I plan to have the features inspected by the manufacturer in the coming weeks.