W126 Manuals
 

Ok, after countless hours searching and reading the reviews of the different versions of the FSM's, where the h*ll do I get actual service information?

I've already bought 3 different versions of "service information", and they all suck.

I have an '85 euro 380SEL, and I want real service info, not a bunch of crappily scanned pages.

I'll even take them in german, if I have to.

service manuals
 

I bought two manuals on eBay ($110).

Service Manual
Chassis and Body
Model 126, Volume 1

and Volume 2

I recognized the pages from the MB W126 CD I had bought earlier (crappy scanned version).

Difference is I can read these very clearly and I can thumb through the relevant pages at the car, rather than going back inside to the computer (laptop really doesn't cut it either).

Best $110 I've spent. Not sure if there are other volumes, but these two are great!

The service manual - this has different stuff than what comes on the star service CD, right?

I don't know what a star service CD has on it. I have the MB service manuals on CD and they're basically the same as the books but the books are easier to read and the pics are clearer

I have the MB factory chassis manuals for the 123, 116, and had them for the 114/115.

I have never seen anything better. They are worth any price, but I own all mine for less than 75 per set.
I also found the engine manuals for the 4.5, 3.8, and for the 61x diesels.
All are excellent resources.

If you want to search craigslist a region at a time for them use:

crazedlist.org

It will NOT work with internet explorer though. Works on Firefox.

The full set of W126 service manuals is

• The W216 chassis & body manual.
  early ones are 2 volume; later ones are a big single one
• The engine manual for your vehicle. Plenty to choose from
• Climate Control manual
• ETM (Electrial troubleshooting manual) for your vehicle.
  It's the schematic laid out as a "current flow diagram"; a map for your multi-meter.
• TDM (Technical Data Manual) that covers your model year. They come out every three years or so. This book is all the tables of guides for world models.
• The owner's manual (yess, this is classified as a service book; have you read yours?)
• The glovebox parts book

-CTH