Official Service Manual?

Hello! This is my first BMW, and my first post. I tried searching the newsgroup for a previous answer, but couldn't find anything definitive, so here goes...

I just bought a very used 1990 BMW 525i. There's a number of things on it that need repair (engine components, plus some light collision damage on the front hood/lights/bumper cover), and the Haynes manual is a joke for anything nitty-gritty. Is the $75 Bentley manual the "official" manual with the most detail, or should I be looking to the dealership for something more official from BMW directly?

Thanks! MB

Reply to
mboszko
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If you are going to work on your E34, then get the Bentley! I doubt you will find anything more "official" that will be better.

Reply to
bfd

Seems to be workshop manuals on CD on eBay - but can't vouch for their 'value'

Reply to
DCA

I have the same year and model. The very first thing that I bought was the Bentley manual. It is one of the better manuals that I have seen. Well worth the expense, it will save you much aggravation.

Homer

Reply to
Homer Brinlee

BMW may or may not have the official manual available on CD right now. I know many of the older cars do not have any manuals available, but

1990 may be recent enough to have a CD available. BMW no longer supplies any paper manuals.

The official BMW manual is much better than the Bentley manual for electrical system information. The Bentley manual seems better than the official BMW manual for body work.

You can often find the official BMW manuals in their older paper format on Ebay at surprisingly good prices. Note that there are two or three different volumes for most cars: one for the electrical system, one for the engine, and one for everything else. Ebay vendors almost always split them up.

--scott

Reply to
Scott Dorsey

I would check the "official" BMW manuals thoroughly before buying. I recall that either a CD or paper format manual was available that contained info on the "E34." However, if you looked closely, 90% of the info was about the E34 V8 engine. Thus, if you didn't have an E34

530i or 540i, which both had the V8 engines, the info was basically useless.

I agree that the E34 Bentley Manual could have been better. I find the E28 Bentley manual to be substantially superior. However, the E34 has a wider range of bodies and engines than the E28 and I guess some compromises had to occur.

Reply to
bfd

Good but remember these are for BMW technicians that have loads of $$$ spent on their training. On the other hand if you are an "engineer" or have a brain that can transfer skills from limited info then go ahead but the ETK parts list is better to see how it comes apart or goes together but

formatting link
is cheaper for parts and the CDs are Ok for specs and general workshop stuff.

Reply to
hsg

Thanks for all the replies. I got the Bentley, and it looks really detailed for most of what I need. Thanks!

Reply to
mboszko

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