I recently purchased a 1996 S420. There were a few things not working on the car when I bought it, but I have begin to remedy those. Suprisingly about four of those have been resolve by replacing bad (or absent) fuses. (I haven't seen any smoke yet so I assume all is well.) I'm getting into some of the vacuum lines at this time. Some have only needed replacing or re-connecting.
What I really need is a good shop manual for the car. Who makes the best? I don't mind computer software either and usually prefer it to paper because I can print it out, get it as dirty as I want, and then throw it away when finished.
Can anyone make a recommendation?

MBUSA offera a DVD set for the W140 chassis here in the USA.

__________________
MERCEDES Benz Master Guild Technician (6 TIMES)
ASE Master Technician
Mercedes Benz Star Technician (2 times)
44 years foreign automotive repair
27 Years M.B. Shop foreman (dealer)
MB technical information Specialist (15 years)
190E 2.3 16V ITS SCCA race car (sold)
1986 190E 2.3 16V 2.5 (sold)
Retired Moderator

I just opened mine up a few minutes ago. It was $65 plus tax, just a single disk, at least for the service manual, which should be nice compared to the two disks of some others. Order number is 800-for-mercedes.

Is there a site to visit where I could get some idea of what I am getting?
You refer to this as a service manual. Does this contain wiring diagrams, vacuum diagrams etc. ?

Try www.alldatadiy.com The offer subscriptions to the service manual online. It's something like $25/year. I have this as well as a copy of WIS and I find myself using the website more because it's more convenient for most things.

__________________
"It's not about how fast you can go, but how well you can go fast."

Bob in Richmond

'97 S320 (LWB), Ruby Red Metallic, 73k miles
'97 S420V, Smoke Silver Metallic, 155k miles

No, I don't think there's any way to try the service manual DVD. AllData would be about the closest you could come. I subscribed to AllData a couple years ago for the 124 and dumped them a few days later because it was so lacking - a small fraction of what was on the CD, but that may have changed since.

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/showthread.php?t=142445
MB Tech Manuals from MBUSA





Have a great day.

__________________
ASE Master Mechanic
https://whunter.carrd.co/

Prototype R&D/testing:
Thermal & Aerodynamic System Engineering (TASE) Senior vehicle instrumentation technician.
Noise Vibration and Harshness (NVH).
Dynamometer.
Heat exchanger durability.
HV-A/C Climate Control.
Vehicle build.
Fleet Durability
Technical Quality Auditor.
Automotive Technical Writer

1985 300SD
1983 300D
2003 Volvo V70

https://www.boldegoist.com/