I'll second that opinion about Haynes manuals.
On the last forum I was on for Vx Senators the Haynes manual was referred to on a fairly regular basis as, The Haynes Comic Book, The Haynes Book of Laughter, The Haynes Book of Parodies.
I have just bought the Haynes Manual for the E46 (is that right, I'm not sure with these E numbers yet!) Series 3 from 98 onwards so I could get a bit more clued up on BMW's. I figured that the information on a Series 3 2494cc lump would be mostly relevant to my E39 2494cc 523i engine.
Was reading it last night and the picture quality is really very poor. All the photos are very dark like they have been photo copied about a dozen times. Also there are loads of errors, I don't know of any mechanical errors in this one but I'll not start on the mechanical/technical errors I have found over the years, but things like typing, grammar and spelling! I am no expert on the use of the English language as you can probably tell from my posts but I really think Haynes need to pull their socks up.
I remember the days when they used to give you full exploded diagrams for the diff's (whole rear rigid axle assys) and gearbox. For example I learnt last night that my oil pump is chain driven off the crank and is mounted in the sump but years ago you would have seen that in their exploded views of the engine assy I had to read about it.
They even stop showing full diagrams of the suspension components. I have an early Vx Carlton manual which has these diagrams in but the latest Carlton manual didn't. Have they not heard of the expression 'A picture tells a million words'?
I think the problem is the fact they now call them Service and Repair Manuals and they used to be called Owners Workshop Manuals.
Dare I even buy a Haynes Manual for my E39 if they ever get their finger out and write one?
Sorry got a bit carried away there, got cut up this morning by a diddy Corsa driver who pulled out into the middle lane for no reason!
Rant over fell better.
Andrew
Car manual
Topic Options
