Hi,
I have a 1986 2.3-16V. The MB manual says it is possible to remove the oil pan on this car without removing the engine. I crawled under the car and it looks like the rear part of the oil pan will not clear the crossmember. Has anybody done this? Any tips will be appreciated.

Yes you can remove the oil pan in the car!
I do that all of the time on my race car. Takes me about 2 hrs to R & R. On your car with AC the factory time is 4.5 hrs!
MAKE sure to remove the coolant hoses when lifting the motor off of the motor mounts.

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Thanks for the info. So, it sounds like I will have to remove the motor mounts and lift the engine from above for the oil pan to clear the cross member. Is my assumption correct? Also, will I have to disconnect my AC lines?
Thanks