Vintage manuals on CD - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

SBJoe · #1 08-10-2008, 11:54 AM

Anybody have any experience using these? Apparently MBUSA has had these available for some time now for older models such as the Pontons, Fintails & Adenauers. I'm wondering if they are similar in function to the long available cd manuals for newer models. Thx.

-joe

pwogaman · #2 08-10-2008, 12:20 PM

The CDs from MB have never been as comprehensive as the actual service manuals. For instance, I ordered the 126 CD set from MB and looked for the procedure on how to remove the transmission. I could not find it anywhere so I called MB and they told me that is a dealer operation and beyond the scope of the CDs they sell to the public. I was extremely pissed to say the least!

I have since acquired a complete microfiche set that pretty much has everything from the end of WWII until about October 1991 - about 375 sheets. Dealers used to use them until they went to computers. They show up on EBay occasionally and are worth quite a bit. I recently saw a set passed over with a starting bid of $399. I got mine for about $30.

Somewhere in-between is more than reasonable. Cheap microfiche readers are also available from Ebay or maybe your local library has upgraded and is ready to chuck out an old one.

SBJoe · #3 08-10-2008, 07:02 PM

Thx. But I'm pretty familiar with the drawbacks and limitations of most of the manuals. What I'm trying to get at is simply whether these apparently fairly newly released service manuals for older models differ markedly from the more common ones that've been around for a good while. Believe me, I'm not expecting the sun & the moon & the stars from most likely the same geniuses who brought us those.

-joe

-joe

wbain5280 · #4 08-11-2008, 02:21 AM

I have the actual CD's from MB and they are direct copies of the paper manuals, pictures and all. Get them they are worth it. The Ponton manuals have the most detail and the Fintail manual has 'updates' to the Ponton manuals. I also have the paper fintail manual.

I have no experience with the 300's.

The W126 CD's could be allot better.

mbdoc · #5 08-11-2008, 08:27 AM

They are really a bargin at $20!

The info is just like the original manuals.

SBJoe · #6 08-11-2008, 10:27 AM

Thanks, guys. Just what I'd hoped to hear.

-joe

230/8 · #7 08-11-2008, 12:04 PM

I have all the vintage manuals and most of the later ones, except for the 201s, and can confirm their worth. They are not as complete as I would like, but by cross-referencing between the various manuals, like the 108 and 107 manuals when seeking data on the V8 models, you can gain a surprisingly complete picture of virtually all systems. I have found it most handy to use the manuals with the index system created by Steve Nervig. I recently tried to access his website and found it unavailable...maybe someone else has a new web address for this index.

SBJoe · #8 08-11-2008, 01:59 PM

http://web.me.com/dakota/Mercedes/Indexes.html

Just happened to have it open in a separate tab.

-joe (due to update to v.3.1 of the Library)

mercmad6.3 · #9 08-12-2008, 08:44 AM

I have all the manuals from August 1958 to 1972 for the cars I work on mostly ( i have later Fishe for the cars to 1992).
The Manuals were supplied to dealers only and those using them were expected to be Daimler trained Mechanics so it was obvious there were bits missing. Every month Daimler would post up dates to it's dealers to added to the manuals and the pages would be replaced with the up dates. I was lucky to obtain a full set of manuals with ALL the old pages plus the updates and the letters from Stuttgart which had accompanied the updates. It runs to 12 full volumes.
There is mountains of info in these manuals and you can chart the development of the Mercedes from the First W110 in 1959 to the last W109 in 1972 . I also have the 190 manuals which fill in a lot of info that is sometimes not listed in the manuals. Again ,it was expected that experienced mercedes Mechanics would understand the cars enough to only peruse the manuals to refresh information.

What I would really like is a fische reader/ printer,then i could print off pages when doing something like an early DB auto trans rebuild. And...I'm still searching for a copy of the W126 Chassis base panel diagrams

Douglas Broome · #10 10-20-2008, 02:38 PM

Recently there has been a major discussion on the Yahoo ponton group mweb site about the CD version of the service manuals. Mayn people have had trouble getting the CDs to work on very current Windows versions. Don't work on a Mac.

SBJoe · #11 10-20-2008, 03:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Douglas Broome

Recently there has been a major discussion on the Yahoo ponton group mweb site about the CD version of the service manuals. Mayn people have had trouble getting the CDs to work on very current Windows versions. Don't work on a Mac.

I'm quite sure that Steve Nervig is partial to the Mac so reasonably sure that his indices will play nice therein. His interface is lightyears superior to anything provided directly on any of the CD manuals, and for those with more than one model manual the Service Library organizes all model indices for access from a common link. Again, download is at
http://web.mac.com/dakota/Mercedes/Indexes.html

I currently have manuals for 6 different models all accessible through the Service Library running XPPro. I've forgotten which model(s) specifically are classified as Ponton, so I'm not sure whether he and his collaborators have done the necessary legwork to have indexed the Ponton manual; check at the above link. I'd be very surprised if his indices don't work with Vista as well.

-joe