Originally Posted by JimSmith

The squishy noise you hear would seem to me to be more likely associated with the brake. And, if the bearing was that shot, you would feel some serious wheel bearing roughness and wobble as you rotated the wheel.

To get it off, lower the jack until the wheel is touching the ground and bearing some slight weight. I have a hydraulic bottle jack for this, which is much more stable than the MB screw jack that comes with the car. Block the car up at that point with wood so it won't fall over when the wheel comes off. Let the jack down to put the car's weight on the blocks of wood. Then turn the wheel a bit, back and forth. Start the car if you have to. I had a new wheel stick on a C230 and no amount of kicking and banging worked. This did.

Jim