2022-2025 Mercedes-Benz Recall: Front Brake Hose May Leak

A front brake hose on a 2022-2025 Mercedes-Benz S-Class can fatigue from years of heat and flexing and start to leak, leaving the car to stop on one of its two brake circuits. Mercedes-Benz USA filed campaign 26V638 with NHTSA on October 2, 2026 to replace both front hoses on 30,064 sedans, from the S 500 4MATIC to the Mercedes-Maybach S 680.

This is the second recall for the same part. The first, 25V116 in February 2025, covered 20,339 cars built through March 23, 2022, and its scope was drawn around hot, humid climates. Field reports in 2025 then came in from cars built outside that window, some of them driven outside those regions, so the new campaign takes in every car built up to November 28, 2024, the last day before a redesigned hose went into production.

The Issue

The recalled part is brake hose A2234201800, made by Continental Automotive Technologies in Frankfurt. It is the flexible section between the rigid brake pipe and each front caliper, so it bends every time the wheel steers or the suspension moves, and it runs beside brakes that get hot. Mercedes-Benz AG puts the leaks down to material fatigue from thermal and mechanical stress building up over the car's life, which can leave a hose short of its durability specification.

The 2025 report blamed climatic factors and the material behavior they cause, and said a hose would leak "over time with use in hot and humid environments." Bench tests in August 2024 had the hoses surviving up to ten times the stress of normal driving, and pre-aging them at different temperatures that autumn still produced no damage at standard brake pressure.

The S-Class splits its hydraulics into two circuits. A leaking hose drains one of them, which reduces braking performance on that circuit and, in NHTSA's words, can extend the distance needed to stop.

Affected Models

Model	Model years	Fuel type	Units
S 580 4MATIC	2022-2025	Gasoline	16,881
S 500 4MATIC	2022-2025	Gasoline	7,143
S 580e 4MATIC	2023-2025	Plug-in hybrid	2,277
AMG S 63 E Performance	2024-2025	Plug-in hybrid	1,746
Mercedes-Maybach S 680 4MATIC	2022-2025	Gasoline	1,070
Mercedes-Maybach S 580 4MATIC	2022-2025	Gasoline	947
Total			30,064

All of these are the 223-platform S-Class built between February 2, 2021 and November 28, 2024. Mercedes lists the share with the defect at 100%. An amended report on October 8 cut the AMG S 63 E Performance from 1,760 cars to 1,746 and dropped the 2023 model year from it, which brought the total down from 30,078.

Cars built from November 29, 2024 on carry the redesigned hose and are not included. The 2021 model year is absent too; 2021 S 500, S 580 and Maybach S 580 sedans were in the first recall, 25V116.

Chronology and Investigation

Mercedes-Benz AG first heard of a possible front brake hose problem at the end of 2023 and sent the parts to Continental. By February 2024 it had two warranty reports from the United States. No deviation turned up in the supplier's material or production process, and in November 2024 Mercedes examined its own German production process for deviations as well.

In mid-January 2025 Mercedes drove several cars with one brake circuit completely disabled to measure the worst case. It decided to recall on February 14, 2025 and filed 25V116 ten days later, scoped to region-specific climates and a production period through March 23, 2022. That report said cars outside the population had hoses that met durability specifications.

Between March and August 2025, more reports arrived from markets outside the United States. They involved cars built outside the first recall's production range, some of them driven outside the climates it was drawn around. Mercedes began organizing a Field Engineering Activity in November 2025 to pull hoses off affected cars, launched it formally in March 2026, and had the parts back by June. Continental ran laboratory and durability tests, Mercedes reviewed the results in July, and on September 25, 2026 it decided to widen the recall to everything built before the hose change.

The first campaign was 80% complete by mid-2026: 16,346 of its 20,339 cars had been remedied, according to the quarterly report Mercedes filed on July 13.

Reported Incidents

The 2025 filing listed seven warranty claims and one field report dated from December 1, 2023 through January 7, 2025, and no crash, injury or property damage worldwide. For the cars added in October 2026, Mercedes is aware of three U.S. reports, dated April 2, May 29 and August 10, 2026, and of no crashes, injuries or property damage.

I found no owner complaint to NHTSA describing a leaking front brake hose on a 2021-2025 S-Class in the federal complaint records TWD last pulled on October 12, 2026.

Remedy and Notification

Dealers will replace both front brake hoses free of charge. Mercedes notified its retailers on October 9, 2026 under its own campaign number 2026100002, and the same day affected VINs became searchable on NHTSA.gov and were flagged "PENDING" in the dealer system. The bulletin told dealers the remedy is not available yet and that cars will switch to "OPEN," with work instructions, once it is.

Owner letters are expected on November 27, 2026. Until a car is repaired, federal law bars dealers from selling or leasing a new one from inventory and rental companies from renting one out. NHTSA's record carries neither a do-not-drive nor a park-outside advisory.

If your car had its hoses replaced under 25V116, check the VIN anyway. Neither report says whether any car falls under both campaigns. Mercedes-Benz USA customer service is at 1-800-367-6372.

Symptoms to Watch For Before a Brake Hose Fails

The Part 573 report says the driver gets no warning before a hose starts to leak. Apart from the dashboard message, the signs below are the general ones for any leaking brake hose.

A red brake fluid message in the instrument cluster. This is the one warning Mercedes names, and the report says it may appear once a hose is leaking.

Wet residue behind a front wheel. Brake fluid is clear to amber and oily, and a leak shows on the hose, the caliper or the inside of the wheel.

A pedal that sinks further or feels soft. Losing one circuit adds pedal travel before the car slows.

A falling level in the brake fluid reservoir. The reservoir sits under the hood, beneath a cover, and a level that drops noticeably between services points to a leak.

How Long Will the Recall Repair Take?

Under 25V116, Mercedes allowed dealers 1.3 hours of labor for the job. The procedure replaces both front hoses without taking the wheels off: the technician lifts the car, turns each front wheel out to reach the hose, swaps it, torques the caliper end to 24 Nm and the pipe joint to 14 Nm, then bleeds the brakes at all four wheels and checks for leaks.

Work instructions for 26V638 had not been released as of October 9. If the procedure matches, the labor takes less than half a day, and the open question for any owner is when the parts arrive.

Bottom Line

A leak affects one of the two brake circuits, not both, and Mercedes knows of no crash or injury from this defect in either campaign. Treat the red brake fluid message as a reason to pull over and have the car towed rather than driven to a dealer.

The first group's letters went out on April 25, 2025, 19 months ahead of this one. A VIN lookup on NHTSA.gov has shown whether a car is included since October 9, seven weeks before the letters.

Find your Mercedes-Benz S-Class recall information: https://www.mbusa.com/en/recall

The cars added in October 2026 were built from February 2, 2021 to November 28, 2024, outside the climate regions and production window that bounded the first campaign, 25V116. Mercedes widened the scope after 2025 field reports from other markets and 2026 lab tests on hoses pulled from cars in service. It knows of three U.S. reports in the new population and no crashes or injuries.

25V116, filed February 24, 2025, replaced the same front hoses on 20,339 S-Class sedans built through March 23, 2022 in hot, humid regions. Mercedes reported 16,346 of those cars repaired by its July 13, 2026 quarterly report. The October 2026 campaign adds 30,064 cars and drops the climate condition.