BMW 3 Series (E30) Service Manual: 1984-1990 [Paperback]

Robert Bentley (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0837603250 | ISBN-13: 978-0837603254 | Publication Date: April 2003

318i, 325, 325e, 325es, 325i, 325is, 325i Convertible

The BMW 3 Series (E30) Service Manual: 1984-1990 is a comprehensive, single source of service information and specifications for BMW 3 Series (E30) cars from 1984-1990. Whether you're a professional technician or a do-it-yourself BMW owner, this manual will help you understand, maintain, and repair systems on 3 Series cars.

BMW E30 models and engines covered in this BMW repair manual:

* 318i
(M10, 1.8 liter engine)
* 325/e/es
(M20, 2.7 liter engine)
* 325/i/is/Convertible
(M20, 2.5 liter engine)

BMW E30 transmissions covered in this BMW repair manual:

* Getrag 240
(4-cylinder cars)
* Getrag 260
(6-cylinder cars)

Note: For model years 1991, 1992 and 1993 E30 6-cylinder BMWs, this manual is applicable. For model years 1991, 1992 and 1993 E30 4-cylinder BMWs, the engine and engine-related systems are not covered in this manual but the chassis/body systems are covered.

Technical highlights:

* Fundamental automotive concepts, including explanations of basic troubleshooting, safe and effective workshop practices, and tools.
* Complete preventive maintenance procedures from resetting the oil and service indicator light to the yearly brake fluid change. This manual tells you what maintenance to do, how and when to do it, and why it's important. Many of the maintenance recommendations actually exceed factory-recommended service and are designed to extend your BMW's service life.
* Comprehensive Engine Management information explains specific BMW 3-Series driveability problems, with detailed troubleshooting and repair information for these Bosch Fuel Injection and Engine Management Systems: L-Jetronic (318i), Motronic (325, 325e, 325es), and Motronic 1.1 (325i, 325is, 325i Convertible).
* Troubleshooting tips with fast, proven repair procedures used by BMW technicians and specialists.
* Hard to find service information from dealer service bulletins, such as how to replace the camshaft timing belt, sprocket and tensioner with the correct Z-127 update, and cylinder head bolt replacement on early 3 Series cars.
* Large, easy-to-read wiring schematics for major circuits.
* Procedures and specifications for rebuilding engines and manual transmissions.

Product Details

• Paperback: 528 pages
• Publisher: Bentley Publishers (April 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0837603250
• ISBN-13: 978-0837603254
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (52 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #684,008 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Since 1950, Bentley Publishers has helped professionals and do-it-yourself mechanics by publishing highly detailed automotive manuals and time-saving service guides. We started by reprinting and distributing hard-to-find British car manuals, such as Austin-Healey, MG, and Triumph. Today we offer a full line of technical automotive reference information for Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Volkswagen and many other vehicles.

Everything that goes into a Bentley manual - from developing the outline, tearing down a car, authoring the repair information, taking our own photography, to meticulously disassembling the vehicle (and putting it back together again!) - is done by our team of Technical Editors right here in our Cambridge, Massachusetts office.

In authoring our manuals, our approach has been to go for the details, resulting in books that may look intimidating, but are easy to use. More detail and less "averaging of facts" leads to less guess work when you are working on a car.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

85 of 96 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not as good as first thought., February 4, 2002

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: BMW 3 Series (E30) Service Manual: 1984-1990 (Paperback)

The manual looks good until you actually have a need for information. The electrical diagrams are crude, inaccurate, improperly drawn, and actually very limited with almost nothing about the engine or fuel system (what you need the data for most).

Have a question about the steering rack? Want to rebuild one yourself? Want to see a parts break-down before tearing into it?? Forget it, there is little mention of the rack other than telling you to buy a new one from a BMW dealer. How much fluid does the power steering pump hold? No data. Want to see a photo of under-carriage parts? Forget it. Want to know which wires run to the fuel pumps? Forget it. Ignition switch data? Ha! Want to trouble-shoot your ignition or fuel injection? Forget it. Anyone who has ever spent much time at all servicing their own vehicles already knows more than what this book contains.

Over and over the book purposefully avoids giving information, totally skipping the topic entirely by stating things like "...we recommend that this be done by an authorized BMW dealer...". It is personally insulting that the author deems everyone who buys the book is not competent enough to service one's own vehicle. A service manual should be just that, a service manual, one that supplies technical information. This book fails to live up to that need. I now recommend avoiding the Bentley book. A Chilton should suffice as well and cost half the price.

I am a 25 years+ experienced electronics technician whose specialty is trouble-shooting everything from basic house wiring to the most complex computerized security access systems. This morning I wasted almost 3 hours tracing down a bad fuel pump relay, but could have found the problem in less than 5 minutes if the manual had given correct information. (In the afternoon it took me less than half an hour to trace down a faulty CPU chip connection on a circuit board I've never seen before, one that caused two separate main security system controllers to malfunction, and with my having no data whatsoever to go by. Obviously, I would have been better off not using the Bentley manual at all while working on my BMW.) If you cannot trust a manual's diagrams and writing, then it is of no value, actually a liability. I personally will from now on avoid anything from Bentley. Yea, I'm ticked at Bentley!

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars essential for home wrenchers and checkbook mechanics too, December 10, 2000

By 

Robert A. Sutterfield (Saratoga, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: BMW 3 Series (E30) Service Manual: 1984-1990 (Paperback)

If you are (or are considering becoming) a home mechanic whowants to work on your own car, this is the essential volume - farbetter than Chilton or Haynes because it's much more specialized. Ifyou'd rather pay a professional for a particular job (or foreverything needed on your car), this book will give you the knowledgeyou need to not get fleeced.

It's pretty good with the step-by-stepwalk throughs, though it depends a bit too much on cross-references toprocedures that are described elsewhere but seem to belong *here*,in-line with the rest of the work you're doing *today*.

One weaknessis lack of detail on changes through the model years. For example, itdescribes the power steering pump and coolant plumbing location on6-cyl cars from mid 88 on, but doesn't discuss the earlier locationthat permitted the PS pump drive pulley to saw through the lowerradiator hose...

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Nice book but doesn't cover what it should have, July 15, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: BMW 3 Series (E30) Service Manual: 1984-1990 (Paperback)

This is a good book. Has good information on specifications, maintenance and mechanical work. However, the book has no information on working on the factory wiring for a a car stereo replacement process, which is probably a very popular thing to do on an older car. There was no wiring diagram or instructions on how to work it. It also had no information on pulling the on board computer.

Another area of disappointment was removing interior and exterior body pieces. Very minimal information.

Almost nothing specific to the convertible model 325ic.