Customer Reviews:
 Good information but get ready to flip back and forth thru this manual August 21, 2005
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
I picked this up today since I needed to know how to remove the driver's airbag and the steering wheel on my '96 328i sedan. Spent a few hours doing research online and found some good info that gave me pointers but concluded I really wanted a walkthrough for doing what I needed to do.
The local automotive parts shop did not have the Bentley manual, only this -- so I browsed it to make sure it had the info I needed.
I give this manual 3 stars because while it has the info and many pictures showing what I needed to do, it was frustrating that some of the photos are misleading as to what to disconnect. You really need to give yourself plenty of time when doing a repair based on a manual like this or Internet postings at Unofficialbmw dot com. Also this manual refers constantly to other sections like "see section 24 of chapter 10" every other paragraph, so be prepared to read several section of the book before doing a repair.
In the end, because of this manual, I was able to remove my driver's airbag, the steering wheel and the instrument cluster to replace two readout bulbs -- took 4.5 hours, but then I saved $$$ since I didn't go to a dealer.
I've not looked at the Chilton or Bentley E36 manuals, so I can't compare. Another reviewer said it's probably best to have 2 or 3 of them to compare against. For me, the price of the Haynes was more than fair (it's half the price of the Bentley) and I got done what I needed to -- plus there's a lot of other info. about how the car operates, how to do exterior fixes etc. so you get a lot, relatively speaking, for the price.
I just wish the info was better organized so I didn't have to keep checking various parts of the manual to do one repair -- on the other hand, the E36 is a complicated vehicle, so bottom line: be patient and give yourself plenty of time when doing a repair. The Haynes manual is helpful and will walk you through what you need to do, but you'll still need to intuit how a certain wire disconnects, or which side the connector comes off on etc.
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