Manuals for New Owners

[mm]

Probably a very common question...so pls bear w/me. Recently got a 74CS and need parts/service/owners manuals. I've checked a bunch of sites...wondering what manuals people find most useful and where I can get copies. I prefer service style manuals with complete parts# listings.

Thank You.

 

[jhjacobs]

Unfortunately Ebay is probably the best source. I picked up my shop manual ($100+), owners manual ($80), an ETK electronic part manual CD ($30), and even a nice tabloid size color wiring diagram ($20). A few links:

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/select.do for an on-line parts manual
or
http://bmwfans.info/

http://www.colorwiringdiagrams.com/bmwcars.htm for wiring diagrams

 

[Tyler]

Jaymic has the shop manual on CD. Not so useful in the garage, but then again no torn pages!

 

[x_atlas0]

The blue books do have info in them that the CDs do not. Plus, you have to print it out to use it.

There are a few other good manuals:
Haynes 3.0/Bavaria shop manual: good for all mechanicals, well illustrated.
Motorbooks International BMW Shop Manual (ISBN: 087938347X) Very well illustrated, covers transmission rebuilds and other procedures that are not explained as well in other sources. Excellent purchase.

Those three (blue books, Motorbooks, and Haynes) are good for just about any job. Even with all the manuals, though, there is a good bit of intuition and improv involved.

 

[mm]

Manuals for New Owners - Responses

Thank You All, for the information. I especially appreciate the commentaries -- its tough to know what books are useful just from the listings on websites; even more helpful, thanks for the links.

 

[jamesr]

came across these on germman ebay...

http://cgi.ebay.de/BMW-2500-2800-3-...ryZ18409QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem