"...Quick question for 190e 2.6 owners....
....w/ 5-speed OD trannies and 2.87:1 rear end: How do you feel the car responds to throttle inputs in everyday driving? i.e. do you find yourself needing to downshift a lot to pass on highways, or to get into an open spot in traffic? Thanks..."

I have a M103 2.6 Liter, with an automatic transmission...

When I drove the car for the first time I was shocked at how low the rearend was geared...

60 m.p.h. equates to 3,000 r.p.m.

When I mentioned this concern to the previous owner, he stated "oh thats okay... you still get 25 miles per gallon... also if your speeding the gearing will effectively slow you down if you take your foot off of the gas pedal..."

The car does average from 24-26 miles per gallon as promised...

Eventually I found it written that the factory purposefully lowered the gearing on the W201 in north american models to reduce top speed to a more acceptable level...

Say from 145+ down to 125+ miles per hour...

Digressing for a moment, while I dig through the old trusty mental archives...

I previously owned a 1991 General Motors Cheverolet Camaro... 305 multi port injection, 5speed standard transmission...

The car would cruise all the way to 90 mph with ease...

At 60 mph the tach would be @2,000 rpms...

One day I filled the gas tank at an exit near Savannah, Georgia... got on I-95 travelling north...

Drove non stop to I-81 south of Roanoake, Virginia... made a pit stop there to refuel...

The trip odometer read 369 miles... since last filling up...

It took only 12 gallons of gas to refill! ...that is 30 miles per gallon average...

The most interesting thing was that I had not been nursing the engine at all...

I was exceeding 90 mph in places to pass long lines of tractor-trailers who were running above the speed limit...

Conclusion
If that heavier V-8 Camaro was capable of 30 miles per gallon... that smaller lighter weight W201 should do the same or better...

With the right gearing of course...