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.