Bentley Service Manual?

[mikester318]

Hey, I've heard some info. on the Bentley manual (version for E36). Does anyone here recommend it? there are a few things i'd like to have done to my car. Wondering if it'd be a good manual to go by for maintenance and/or quick mods.
1) The inside of the headlights are starting to 'fog' up, and would like to clean them, I need to know

2) Maybe add a small spoiler, equal or very close to the M3 spoiler.

In the future to perform various maintenance myself on the car, would the manual be a good investment? Anyone who has the manual and could post some of their opinions of it would be great. Thanks

Mike

[M3Daemon]

Don't know about the manual, but about the lights... as far as I know the american spec lights are sealed, so you can't really open them up unless you glue them back together. You should consider getting ZKW lights... much better anyway.


Daemon

[dutchbmw]

A good manual is the price worth it.

[Charles C]

One thing I found is that if you have a later model year (mine's a '98), some of the descriptions/pictures are not up to date. For example, I replaced the 4" HK speakers in the door, and the manual talked about (and showed pictures of) these metal brackets that needed to be unscrewed and removed, and how the battery had to be unplugged, the airbags disconnected, and the windows reset. But on the '98, the speakers do not have this bracket -- all you have to do is pop the door panel part way off, reach in and unscrew this plastic cowel and the speaker comes right out.

Usually the parts guys at your local BMW dealer can be quite helpful with this. Also, the folks you buy the new parts from can help as well -- the guys at Bavarian Auto have helped me with some aftermarket advice, though admittedly I haven't done too much. Yet.

Just something to be aware of. Otherwise, I think it can be a helpful tool.

[CiscoKid]

check out websited for your spacific needs... i bought a manual, but i just use the internet walkthroughs becase they are better

[Wurzig-Drei]

Iv got the bentley manual for my 85 528e and it is god to me. Within a week of first getting it, i was able to fix 3 problems right away. I would highly recommend it.