Mercedes-Benz S-Class Has Issued A Recall Affecting 20,339 Units

Mercedes-Benz USA has issued a recall affecting 20,339 units of the German manufacturer’s flagship luxury sedan, beginning with the 2021 and 2022 model year S 500. The remainder of the recall population comprises the S 580, S 580e, Maybach S 580, and the V12-powered Maybach S 680.
 

Supplied by Continental Automotive Technologies, the front brake hoses of the subject vehicles may fail and leak over time. Reduced braking performance in one circuit obviously increases the risk of a crash, though drivers will notice a red brake fluid warning message in the instrument cluster when sufficient brake fluid exits the system.
 
The Stuttgart-based automaker says that affected brake hoses do not meet durability specifications, though Mercedes didn’t clearly explain why these hoses fail so easily. As far as Continental Automotive Technologies is concerned, the supplier corrected this problem in 2022. Regarding suspect production dates, make that June 20, 2020 through March 23, 2022 for model years 2021 through 2023.
 
Mercedes-Benz AG started looking into this matter in late 2023. To date, Mercedes received a single field report and seven warranty claims related to the described condition, with receipt dates that range from January 2023 to January 2025. No crashes or anything worse have been reported thus far.
 
Mercedes-Benz USA dealers have been instructed to replace all subject hoses with parts that meet durability specifications. A2234203101 is the part number of the remedy hose, whereas A2234201800 is the part number of the recalled front brake hose.
 
The seventh-generation Sonderklasse, which is referred to as the 223 series, entered series production back in 2020 for model year 2021. Underpinned by the second-generation Modular Rear Architecture, the flagship luxury sedan had a rough 2024 in the United States market, where it moved 8,809 units compared to 11,824 deliveries back in 2023.
 
With a bit of luck, sales will rebound with the introduction of the model year 2026 refresh. The facelift will bring forth starry headlights and taillights, along with a techier cabin and greener engines. Merc recently confirmed that it’s keeping both its V8 and V12 engine families alive, which means that the Maybach S 680 will continue to pack 12 cylinders.
 
The Maybach lineup is listed with starting prices of $203,500 for the V8-powered S 580 and $240,500 for the S 680, whose archaic V12 generates 621 horsepower and 664 pound-feet (900 Newton-meters) of twist between 2,000 and 4,000 revolutions per minute. It goes without saying that not even said V12 can hold a candle to the plug-in hybrid Mercedes-AMG S 63 E PERFORMANCE, whose electrified V8 setup includes a 150-kW rear drive unit.
 
At full chatter, the S 63 E PERFORMANCE delivers a whopping 791 horsepower and 1,055 pound-feet (1,430 Newton-meters) between 2,500 and 4,500 revolutions per minute, resulting in a 0-60 time of 3.3 seconds. The most powerful Sonderklasse to date offers 16 miles (26 kilometers) of electric driving range in the EPA’s test cycle.