Mercedes-Benz Widens Brake Hose Recall to 30,064 S-Class and Maybach Sedans
Mercedes-Benz USA filed an expanded safety recall with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on October 2, 2026. Campaign 26V638 covers 30,064 S-Class sedans from the 2022 through 2025 model years, roughly 50 percent more than the original campaign, 25V116, which was filed on February 24, 2025 with 20,339 vehicles from the 2021 through 2023 model years. Because the two populations overlap and NHTSA has not published the size of that overlap, trade outlets caution that the figures cannot simply be added together.
The VIN list spans six nameplates: 2022–2025 Mercedes-Benz S 500 4MATIC (7,143 units), S 580 4MATIC (16,881 units), 2023–2025 S 580 E 4MATIC, 2022–2025 Mercedes-Maybach S 580 4MATIC (947 units) and S 680 4MATIC (1,070 units), and the 2023–2025 Mercedes-AMG S 63 E Performance (1,760 units). All were built between February 2021 and November 2024.
In its Part 573 report, the company states that the front-axle brake hoses may rupture and leak brake fluid, reducing braking performance in one of the vehicle's two brake circuits and increasing the risk of a crash. Mercedes-Benz considers every vehicle in the population potentially affected. The filing carries no "Do Not Drive" or "Park Outside" advisory and offers no interim inspection instruction.
The 2025 recall blamed a specific production window combined with hot, humid climates, and early cases clustered in exactly those regions. Field reports arriving between March and August 2025 showed the condition outside both the original production period and the climate zones used to define risk, according to The Brake Report and Autoevolution. Mercedes-Benz retrieved hose samples, reviewed laboratory and durability test results in July 2026, and redefined the affected population.
The hoses in question were supplied by Continental Automotive Technologies of Frankfurt and failed to meet durability specifications, trade coverage reports. Mercedes attributes the failure to material fatigue accumulated from thermal and mechanical stress — front brake hoses flex with suspension movement while absorbing brake heat and moisture. Vehicles built after November 29, 2024 use a redesigned hose and are excluded.
Mercedes-Benz is aware of three reports in the expanded U.S. population, dated April 2, May 29 and August 10, 2026. It has identified no related crashes, injuries or property damage. That clean record explains the absence of an urgent stop-driving warning, though the underlying defect remains.
There is no way to determine in advance whether a hose is leaking, WBIR and Autoblog note. The only visible symptom is a red brake-fluid warning message on the dashboard, which may appear only once seepage has begun. Replacement is the sole remedy listed in the open record.
Authorized Mercedes-Benz dealers will replace the front brake hoses at no charge. Dealers were notified on October 9, 2026, and owner letters are due to be mailed starting November 27. Affected VINs became searchable on NHTSA.gov on October 9, and owners can also call Mercedes-Benz USA at 1-800-367-6372. Because new VINs may load into the database gradually, NHTSA advises checking more than once in the weeks after an announcement.
Owners of 2022–2025 S-Class, Maybach and AMG S 63 models should run their 17-character VIN through NHTSA's recall lookup, then book a dealer appointment once the November letters arrive. The episode also offers a broader lesson in automotive safety reporting: an automaker's initial cause analysis, built on climate and production data, can be overturned by real-world field evidence months later, and the most reliable number is always the latest filing.