repair manual on cd

Im curious if anyone has ever used a repair manual on CD? It kinda seems like a great idea (and cheaper too). Are they as extensive as a paper manual such as clymers or haynes??

bmdubyou said:

Im curious if anyone has ever used a repair manual on CD? It kinda seems like a great idea (and cheaper too). Are they as extensive as a paper manual such as clymers or haynes??

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The BMW DVD Repair Manuals are very complete, except for electrical schematics, which are on a separate (and separately purchased) CD. They are written for use by technicians, so they are not at the "BMW Maintenance for Idiots" level, but neither are they above a reasonably intelligent shade-tree owner's head.

A few years ago, the CD manuals were literally just .pdf copies of the paper manual, and with enough reams of paper at hand, you could print out an entire hard copy in addition to using the computer.

Today, they are massively-cross-linked, hyper-linked electronic documents, with a pretty slick "front end" interface. I recently purchased the DVD to go with my '09 R12RT, and was impressed by the product's usability and vast coverage -- e.g., US and other country-specific model coverage, model specific coverage (e.g., R12ST, R12GS, K's, F's -- a wide range of models). Moreover, the information is so both so complete, and so specific that you have to specify the build date and optional equipment content of your bike to get a tailored presentation of information in each subject area.

On the one hand, the new DVD approach is not as handy as just grabbing a book and immediately flipping to the page you want, but IMO it is a good solution to the problem of there being *so* much information to cover that the paper version would be enormous. And in fairness, it doesn't take long to get to the info you are looking for. One thing I very much appreciate with the DVD version is that you can simply click a link in the middle of a procedure to get related info, like the specifics for a summary step listed in one procedure (like "remove tank" before replacing a control unit) -- much faster than having to jump around a paper book several times to find/perform all the prep work for a given procedure.

Excellent description the only other thing i would add is that you can stil print off of the CD.

Whenever i work on the bike it is always there.

It is worth the cost.

Interesting aside: I ended up with 2 DVDs (long story) one an "unofficial" from e-bay for $12 and one through BMW parts for $120. They both look to have originated from BMW and are both for my year and model. Otherwise the content is different in detail and depth. While the bootleg looks complete I was surprised as to how much more information there is in the official version.

Either one works for basic wrenching but if someone can afford the $$$ I would advise going through the official channels for service DVDs.

Talmadge

I would not support any pirated material in any way.

It just adds to the need for something that should be quickly extenguished

Yes I use mine. I have the "official" BMW service manual on CD. I have a laptop computer which I use with my GS911 to read computer faults and set the TB's for the sync adjustments.

I keep the service disk in the laptop which is in the garage and just bring up the page that I am working on.

Very handy. I think it is better than a paper manual.

Same set up for me - but no GS911 - but it is on the list!!

whats a GS911??

bmdubyou said:

whats a GS911??

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http://www.gs911usa.com/