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Re: E36 manual

I have the Bentley manuals for my E30 318i, E34 525iT, and E36 M3.  All 
three are excellent manuals, although I'm most pleased with the E30 manual.  
I'm most disappointed with the E36 manual, because it has many drawings 
instead of photos, and several photos aren't really very good (not enough 
light).  What pissed me off most about the E36 manual is that Bentley didn't 
come out with it until late 1999, when the E36 was no longer being 
manufactured (1992-1999).

Shop around for a good price.  I purchased mine from 
http://www.booksamillion.com, although you can buy it from Amazon, Borders, 
etc.

Be careful when comparing Bentley's BMW manuals with VW and Audi.  Bentley 
publishes the official service manuals for VW and Audi, and they are very 
expensive, but thorough.  The BMW manuals that Bentley produces are for the 
aftermarket, as BMW publishes and sells their own (very very expensive) 
service manuals.

- -rb

>
>Date: Mon, 30 Apr 2001 08:35:02 -0400
>From: Peter Rossato <rossato@domain.elided>
>Subject: E36 manual
>
>I have the Haynes manual and it's "adequate".  I am about to buy the
>Bentley because I need to get more "personally involved" in the needs of my 
>e36 and the Bentley manual is a must.  Since I don't actually  own a 
>Bentley e36 manual, I can't comment directly, but from prior experience on 
>Audi and VWs, it is as complete a book as you can get.  If I had to buy one 
>manual it would be the Bentley, but up until a year or so ago, the Haynes 
>was the only choice.  The Haynes is cheap (about $15), especially compared 
>to the Bentley (about $80), and it's easily available at your local parts 
>store.  I have found that every once in a while there's a nugget of 
>information that Haynes will cover and Bentley won't.  So the best approach 
>is to get both.
>
>Peter Rossato
>'94 325 is "VDERZEN"
>NCC BMW CCA

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