While driving our 2018 Mercedes GLS 450 down Highway 80 just outside Sacramento, CA, the stationary glass panel of our panoramic sunroof spontaneously explpoded. There was no impact by any outside force, it just shattered with the sound similar to a gunshot. Fortunately I did not lose control of the vehicle, and thankfully the sun shade was closed otherwise broken glass would have showered down into my vehicle. this happened in early evening (around 7:00PM and the ambient temperature was 66 degrees outside, so this had nothing to do with temperature either. Mercedes Benz told me that since I am 3 months outside of warranty they would do nothing to help us and I would need to have this repair done on my own. Mercedes Benz of Walnut Creek, CA has inspected the vehicle and we're in the process of having the claim approved through my insurance. Completely unacceptable that this would happen on this (or any other vehicle). There is a class-action lawsuit against Mercedes for this exact same problem across a number of their models, so this is not an isolated incident. Had my wife been driving, she could have been startled to the point of losing control of the vehicle, possibly causing serious injury or death.
NHTSA ODI 11457706