Repair manual

This is my first day here because I bought my first Mercedes. I found a '76 240D for $450. There is no rust anywhere and that's why I bought it. I'm more excited about this car than a brand new one. I've done mechanical work for 30 some years but I know nothing about diesels or Mercedes for that matter. I'm not afraid to tear into anything but I need guidance to do so. Please give me some recommendations for a good repair manual.

[NC240D76]

I also have a 76 240d and have just started here.
I bought a cd for the 114/115 series and have found it kind of hard to work with and search through. I have also seen several books that had 1976 240d listed but it was the next series and they are very different. I am also curious to see which manuals are recommended but I wanted to warn you about the above items.
Good Luck.

[mbtjc]

Hey guys...congrats on your first Benzs. As far as repair manuals, I think, as many others I'm sure, that you cannot beat genuine MB service manuals. I got all 3 (engine, 2 volumes for chassis) for my 126 and love them. You can get real MB manuals in CD and real paper....the consensus is split on this one, but I personally like the paper ones. They are easier to find what you are looking for in there and you can have it right by your car when working on it...unless you have a laptop I suppose, but not all of us do!

So check out www.books4cars.com They've got about all of them. A little expensive, but if you do just one pretty big repair by yourself, you will have already paid for them, and the parts probably, by the savings on the labor you would have paid a pro.

Just one word of caution about the manuals. They don't have specific step-by-step procedures. They have procedures, but they are a little more on the general side. These manuals are made for people that already pretty much know what they are doing and just need reminders or need to be cautioned on certain things. That's how I see it anyways. The manuals are also very useful in giving you torque specs, fill capacities for everything, and so on. So..the bottom line, if you already have a mechanical mind, like Gary mentioned, I would recommend the MB manuals. Just remember, who's gonna know a car better, the people that built it or some other idiot?

Thanks guys. mbtjc, your Books4cars is an excellent site! I wish I had seen this one before.
Gary

[sohj]

I've got the Mercedes manuals. I'm mechanical but I think that i still need a little more help. How do you all regard the Haynes books?

First project was an emergency repair to a window on a -15 C night during a 300 mile drive with an eight-month old in the back seat. Got the thing up and then tried to fix it for real the next day but had trouble.

An off topic comment: Why are the window ratchets made of plastic?!

[Mike Murrell]

Here's another:

http://www.tmcpubl.com

[Jon Hrut]

I have also used the books4cars site to purchase manuals. I do warn that you really need to know exactly what you want. I have always bought the shop manuals for cars I own(ed). I ended up purchasing the 2 volume Series 124 service manuals for my 96 E320. While those manuals do not cover the 96 series, I have still found them to be a great deal of help. I also purchased the "Model Year 1996, Model 210" Service guide along with the 1996 "Service Information Manual". All of these have been excellent resources.

I will say that even with these manuals, I would not attempt to do any MAJOR work on my car. These cars are so complicated that I prefer to pay my dealer's service shop do the work. As a pilot and aero engineer, when I first got my manuals, I could not put them down. These vehicles are designed and built at the "top of the class". Amazing. I cannot point to many things as much as the Mercedes to underscore the point "you get what you pay for".

I see posts in this thread about CD-ROM manuals......where can those be purchased?