As locomotives with pure turbine propulsion consumed too much, eight locomotives of the class 210 were built after the prototype V 169 001 from 1970. In principle, this was a class 218, whose 2,500 hp diesel was supplemented by a 1,150 hp turbine. This turbine needed little space, could burn the same diesel fuel and was switched on when heavy express trains had to be accelerated. The locomotives were used successfully between Munich and the Allgäu until 1978, when the first signs of fatigue appeared due to the frequent switching on and off. The turbines were then removed and the locomotives were redesignated as class 218⁹.

Since the class 218 was not yet ready for series production in 1968, 150 class 215 locomotives were built. These already had many features of the class 218, but basically the same engine as the V 160 with 1,900 hp. Only a few locomotives had a MAN engine with 2,500 hp. They should later be able to be converted to the class 218, but this did not happen. The locomotives pulled passenger and freight trains until 2003 and the car train to Sylt until 2008. Some were previously converted to the class 225, with the steam boilers being removed, among other things.

As the last and most frequently built member of the V 160 family, the class 218 was the most important mainline diesel locomotive on the Bundesbahn and remained a very important model on the DB until after the year 2000. Originally designated as the V 164, it received the more powerful MTU TB10 engine from the class 215 with 1,839 kW. Later series also received the 2,060 kW TB11 or the French Pielstick 16PA 4V 200 with 16 cylinders and 1,986 kW built under license.

The hydraulic transmission could be switched between two gears while stationary, which, with a maximum speed of 100 and 140 km/h, allowed both high tractive forces for freight trains and high speeds for passenger trains. In the period up to the unification of the Bundesbahn and the Reichsbahn, they were used on non-electrified routes, sometimes double-headed, in front of almost all types of trains and, thanks to their push-pull train control, also enabled efficient use in local transport. Eventually, the Soviet class 232 locomotives took over many of their duties and supplanted them from many trains. They were also used on routes in front of passenger trains, where they could take advantage of their slightly higher speed. There were also conversions that were 160 km/h fast. Above all, these are still used to some extent today as towing locomotives for broken-down ICEs, for which they were given automatic couplings and always run in double traction.

In the meantime, their number has shrunk, but now all have either the TB11 engine with optimizations in the area of exhaust and noise insulation or have been converted to the modern MTU 16V 4000. In October 2018, a total of 126 of 399 units were still in use, half of which were used by the DB AG and half by private operators, which are gradually disappearing. In many places, the 218 was replaced by DMUs or the new genset class 245.

The Kdl 01, where Kdl stands for “Kleinstdiesellokomotive” (“smallest diesel locomotive”), was a small series of shunting tractors built by Schöma in the fifties. They were used to move locomotives and cars inside depots and repair shops. The prototype was built in 1953 and had an installed power of 15 hp, hence the manufacturer's designation Kdl 15. Two more of this pre-production variant were built in 1956 and 1957. Ten more were built in 1958 which were somewhat heavier and had 20 hp. Due to their small length of only four meters, they could fit onto a turntable together with a locomotive. Similar vehicles were delivered to industrial railways.

In order to be able to replace steam locomotives on branch lines, MaK developed the V 100 on behalf of the Bundsbahn. In order to save development costs, the drive train of the locomotive corresponded to half a V 200. In the basic design, the V 80 was taken as the basis, but its weaknesses were eliminated. In view of the more powerful V 100²⁰, the locomotives were soon designated as V 100¹⁰ and became class 211 from 1968. By 1963, 381 units had been built for the Bundesbahn. Ten more MaK V 100 PA were built for private railways with a slow-running MaK marine diesel with 1,300 hp. 

Most of the locomotives used the two models from Maybach and Mercedes that were also installed in the V 200 as engine. Only a few received an engine from MAN, which was later replaced. Since the cardan shafts of the outer axles on the V 80 could be bent under load due to their length, only the inner axles on the V 100 were driven by the central cardan shafts. Inside the bogies, another cardan shaft ran from the inner to the outer axle. Since the electric engine control of the previous diesel locomotives was not sensitive enough, a new, electro-pneumatic control was developed.

Since the wide hoods of the V 80 impaired visibility, they were made narrower on the V 100 and were not accessible. Maintenance was now carried out from the outside via hoods that could be opened. The option to temporarily overload the engine to 1,250 hp was installed ex works. To reduce wear and tear, this feature was later blocked. Many locomotives received multiple and push-pull train controls, which were compatible with all subsequent diesel locomotives up to the class 218.

The top speed of initially 90 km/h was increased to 100 km/h in 1965 after the installation of an Indusi. In the seventies, some of the engines without piston cooling had to be replaced. The 1,350 hp engine of the V 100²⁰ was sometimes used here, but it had to be de-rated to 1,100 hp when using the original transmission. By 2001, all locomotives were retired from Deutsche Bahn.

In the early 1990s, 36 units had already been sold to ÖBB, where they received a new Caterpillar 3512 engine. They were used until 2003 as class 2048. Other locomotives were sold to private companies, mainly track construction companies. Some of these had been refurbished by Alstom. The new operators came from several European countries, from Asia and Africa. Some of the locomotives that remained in Germany were preserved in museums.

Although the V 100 quickly proved to be a successful replacement for many tank locomotives, with its 1,100 hp it was only sufficiently motorized for use on branch lines. Although the locomotives initially had an additional acceleration notch for a short-term increase in performance, this was soon removed due to excessive wear. The torque converter in particular had already reached the limits of its performance.

Thus, Voith developed a new variant of this transmission that could also withstand more power and thus the V 100²⁰ with a 1,350 hp engine was created. Due to the higher power output of the engine, the hood was lengthened by 20 cm and a stronger cooling system was installed. The resulting locomotives could now also be used on main lines or on steep ramps. Locomotives for the latter area of application were also equipped with a hydrodynamic brake and assigned differently to class 213 from 1968.

Since in the meantime some V 100¹⁰ engines without piston oil cooling had become damaged, these locomotives were also equipped with the engine from the more powerful series. If they kept their old gearbox, the engines had to be derated to 1,100 hp. However, if the gearbox was also exchanged for a new one, they could use the full power of the engine, but there was no re-classification to 212.

The last 212s were initially phased out in 2004, but some were reactivated in the years that followed and fitted with modern MTU 8V 4000 R41 engines. However, these 1,360 hp machines did not stay with Deutsche Bahn, but were sold to private railways.

The steadily increasing power of diesel engines in the 1950s gave the Bundesbahn the reason to order a series of large single-engine diesel locomotives instead of the previous two-engine series. A locomotive with 1,400 kW was planned, which had to be able to run at 120 km/h and to have steam heating for passenger trains.

The pre-production locomotives were delivered in 1960 and received a locomotive body with rounded fronts, which earned them the nickname “Lollo”. In the production series, this was replaced by one with a more angular front end, which not only had better aerodynamics, but was also much cheaper to produce and shaped the image of all other models in the V-160 family. A 16-cylinder from Maybach was used as the engine, which later became part of the MTU program and delivered exactly the required 1,400 kW. As with all Bundesbahn diesel locomotives, power was transmitted hydrodynamically. In order to be able to make better use of the engine power, the gear ratio could be switched while stationary in order to achieve a top speed of 80 or 120 km/h as required. Many locomotives were also equipped with the then current technology for multiple working and push-pull trains.

224 units were manufactured between 1964 and 1968, the last of which received the new class designation 216 ex works. They were used with all types of trains on non-electrified lines, but were soon overtaken by the more powerful diesel locomotives that were based on them. From about 1990, they were no longer used for passenger trains, since from that point on there were no longer any steam-heated passenger cars available and, unlike their successors, they did not yet have an electric heater. In the years from 2000 to 2004 they were decommissioned by Deutsche Bahn, with some pieces being sold abroad or to private railways. The rest fared like all post-war classes at the end of their lives, they were almost all scrapped. Today there is only one running example and two museum locomotives.

Five prototypes of the V 200 were built by Krauss-Maffei in 1953 as one of the first mainline diesel locomotives in the Bundesbahn. The high-speed Maybach and Mercedes V-12 diesel engines available at the time had 1,000 hp, which is why two were used in each locomotive and led to the designation V 200. In the production models, they each made 1,100 hp. 20 locomotives were built by MaK and 61 by Krauss-Maffei.

The engines were behind the cabs and each had its own torque converter under the cabs. In order to enable jerk-free shifting, the shifting points of the transmissions have been slightly offset from one another. The two engine types and the two different gear boxes were interchangeable, also with the locomotives of the V 80 and V 100¹⁰ classes, as well as the VT 08, VT11⁵ and VT 12⁵ multiple units. They had push-pull and multiple controls and had a train heating boiler in the middle of the locomotive body.

The V 200⁰ was initially used in high-value express train service. Especially on mountainous routes like those in the Black Forest, the engine power could not cope with the increasing train weights, which often led to damage to the locomotives and gave the impetus for the development of the V 200¹ with a total of 2,700 hp. As the electrification of the Bundesbahn network progressed, the V 200⁰ was no longer required in express service and was increasingly used in front of local and freight trains. From 1977 they were concentrated in the north, where many lines were not yet electrified. Since the steam heating could soon no longer be used and the maintenance of two diesel engines was too expensive, they were retired by 1984. Later diesel locomotives of the Bundesbahn only had one, more powerful engine.

Then seven units were sold to the SBB in Switzerland and used in front of construction and freight trains. The machines used there as the Am 4/4 attracted attention with many defects and were sold to various private German companies in 1997 after a general overhaul. Also in the eighties, ten pieces came to Italy to the Ferrovia Suzzara-Ferrara. The nine remaining were completely overhauled between 2002 and 2006 and fitted with new Caterpillar engines. In 2017 and 2018, the remaining seven units were sold to a track construction company.