I am considering purchasing either the ALLDATA CD or the MB Shop CD. The ALLDATA CD is a lot cheaper than the MB Shop CD. Any recommendations one way or the other? I was "raised" on the old Chilton manuals, but Chilton is better suited for American cars and it is not as informative as it used to be. I await your sage advice.

__________________
Current Benzes

1989 300TE "Alice"
1990 300CE "Sam Spade"
1991 300CE "Beowulf" RIP (06.1991 - 10.10.2007)
1998 E320 "Orson"
2002 C320 Wagon "Molly Fox"

Res non semper sunt quae esse videntur

My Gallery

Not in this weather!

Spend the extra money and get the MB CD. HANDS DOWN the MB CD is much better!! Alldata isn't too complete, from what I've heard. Definitly get MB CD, I will when it comes out for my car. Others will vouch for this.

__________________
2006 E350 w/ 155k miles (Daily Driver)

Previous:
1993 300E 3.2L Sedan w/ close to about 300k miles
2003 E500 Brilliant Silver (Had 217k miles when totalled!)
1989 300E with 289,000 miles (had for <1 yr while in HI)
03 CLK 500 cabrio (Mom's)
2006 C230k (Dad's)
1999 S420 (Mom's/Dad's)
2000 C230k Sport sedans
2001 CLK320 Cabrio (Mom's)
1995 C280 My First Mercedes-Benz... (155k miles. EXCEPTIONAL AUTOMOBILE. Was Very hard to let go of!)

I will vouch for David. I believe he will absolutley buy the MB CD when it comes out.
Personally I have not been that impressed with "No Data." The same problems afflict them as do the Chilton manuals in respect to info on MB.

__________________
Scott Diener
89 300E
93 300E
92 Volvo 740 Wagon aka "Mutt mover"

I second that opinion. I have Alldata and I find it exceedingly wanting. Good for only a few things. It has no range or scope.

Smiles.

__________________
Earl



1993 190E 2.3
2000 Toyota 4x4 Tundra

I would say that the MB CDs are absolutely the best for cars til about 1990. As the cars got more electronic the Diagnostic Manual became the most valuable info. Alldata does have the Diagnostic manuals and the ETMs (electronic troubleshooting manuals). They are very poor on repair procedures.

I don't know what you get with a consumer version of Alldata but what I get is semi usefull for late model cars. As I say it does have the DM and ETM and it does apply the right system to the year in question. (something a bit tricky if using the DM).

It will be interesting to see what MB will put on a CD for the 140 chassis. There were no print manuals that I know of to condense into a CD as there were with the current chassis being done on CD.



[Edited by stevebfl on 04-26-2001 at 09:11 AM]

__________________
Steve Brotherton
Continental Imports
Gainesville FL
Bosch Master, ASE Master, L1
33 years MB technician

I have both. I would not buy
Alldata again if the MB CD was
available. (Unless I wanted just
the diag charts Steve mentioned
above.) Alldata has a fraction
of the info.

Darrell

I've heard that the MB CDs are not Macintosh compatible. Is this true or should you be able to specify when ordering?

AARON ROCHARD

1976 230.4 W115

and a powerful G4 Tower !

The service CDs for the 1973-1993 models DON'T work on the mac. The shockwave stuff is the problem there.

One of the guys on this list rewrote the front page navigation for the 201 disk, so that if you copy the disk to a hard drive, and then add his new front page, it will work just fine. It hasn't been tested of course (neither he nor I have a mac), but since the only thing present is an HTML file and lots of PDFs, there should not be a problem.

The NEW service CDs for the 1954-1972 models ARE mac compatable from the get go.

-CTH

__________________
- cth350@gmail.com
http://www.111lakeside.com/

You can get The Popular Mechanics Alldata
for $19.95.
Worth the price for the codes and charts,
but just as an addition the the Benz CD.

Limited to each model, but does include TSB's
and Recalls.

I have both. The AllData is easier to "surf" through its logical set up and you don't have to exit and restart to use sections that are on the "other" disc, like the MB. But, the MB disc contains most all you need; although, it has NO basic troubleshooting section whic the All Data does.

Personnaly, I use the AllData untill I find what I need (it's faster that way) then use the MB Disc if the AllData info is vague or incomplete.

My friend has a Popular Mechanics CD that has info on many cars. He has to call in to get access to different model's data via some security code. Is that the disc you are all talking about? If so, can you tell me where to call to get customer service from them? We recently tried to get the MB data (you have to pay) but the phone # he had was no good.

Alldata has an on-line 1 year subscription for $19.95.

You sign up for it at http://www.alldatadiy.com

Smiles.

__________________
Earl



1993 190E 2.3
2000 Toyota 4x4 Tundra