escapA8

It's out! Bentleypublishers.com sent me an e-mail yesterday confirming it is available now. Sorry for them but I chose to order it over the phone from bavarianparts.com and pay only $71 + tax. Bentleypublishers.com sells it for $99 as you might know.

No strings attached getting it for $71 + tax! It's the exact same publication. I'll have it in about 5 days they told me.

Bavarian Parts
Huntington Station, NY, USA

Toll Free (USA): (1).866.228.7278 (toll free)
Main: (1).631.549.7211
Fax: (1).631.549.7196

Click on the word AUDI on the left if you follow the enclosed URL (As you can see, Bentley Publishers has promised us this for a while now: note the expected release date: June 15 2001!).<ul><li><a href="http://www.bavarianparts.com/catpage/specmenu.html">http://www.bavarianparts.com/catpage/specmenu.html</a</li></ul>

skiracer

I received my copy of the Bently CD yesterday (Saturday) from Ross-Tech, and I spent a couple of hours parusing through its contents. So far, I'm less than impressed. Most of the content is simply PDF copies of the factory manual with limited to no additional information. Organizationally it can be anywhere from relatively simple to almost impossible to find specifically what you are looking for. There is NO mention of approximate repair times (that I found, anyay), and no recommended maintenence intervals other than what is contained in the manual that came with the car. A few threads down there is a discussion on what else should be replaced when a timing belt is replaced- common knowledge is waterpump/serpentine belt, but what about oil seals? Bently will be NO help whatsoever with these questions. If you KNOW you need to replace the waterpump, it will tell you how to do that, but there is no place where you can look to find recommended "combinations".
On another note, I was disappointed that the Bently CD requires registration to access ANY of the content, and each CD is only licensed to a SINGLE computer (uses a unique computer ID in conjunction with the serial number on the CD). I use both a desktop and a portable computer when looking for information to keep my A8 going strong, and this software will force me to decide which computer to load it on. I am a single user, and I would be the only one accessing the program, using only a single computer at a time. This license is for a COMPUTER, not a USER!! This type of licensing s*cks big time (IMHO) and had I known about it prior to paying for it (Bently conveniently omits ANY reference to its licensing scheme in any of its marketing materials) I would have thought twice about the purchase. Comparing the Alldata online database for the A8 (which has HUGE holes in it) for $25 to this CD for $80, I would likely opt for the Alldata solution and ask the knowledgable folks on this forum to fill in the blanks. Sorry if this turned into a rant, but the more I think about it, the madder I get.

PaulW

....not that good, you would think they would set it up like a web browser, instead of "kinda like one". It's not really easy to go back.

I like the printed Bently manuals better.

pw

QCRAZY

None of the Bentleys list time to complete the jobs.....I think it's to variable to list!!

stumbo

I was just about to buy (from UK,so prob loads more for postage) when I saw this.

Don't mind the PDF's as I would print the lot into Lever Arch files anyway.

But their using the bloody per-seat registration !!! I'm thinking twice now, I'll have a look at Alldata.

cheers

skiracer

The times I am referring to are the hours charged by the dealers and other shops to complete a job. If the "book" states that a timing belt on a 1997 A8 takes 5.9 hours, then that is what you are charged, whether it takes them 4 hours or 8 hours to actually complete the job. An interesting fact is that the hours allowed by the car companies to complete a job under warranty are always considerably less than the hours "allowed" for retail customers. As an example, the warranty hours paid for the above timing belt are 4.7! In other words, the dealerships get paid less for completeing warranty work than for the same work performed for a retail customer. Bottom line, these "allowable" hours to complete a job are used by all the dealerships as well as most of the independent shops, and can be of great help when determining if your mechanic is treating you fairly. It is also a good guide as to how long it would take a do-it-yourselfer to complete the job. It could be that these allowable hours are copyrighted by Alldata, and are not available for others to publish. In any case, the Bently CD does not meet my expectations for something it took them 5 years and several postponements to create.

PaulW

Trying to look at the CD ROM again this morning, put it in the CD ROM and it spins and nothing happens automatically. Then I go to the eBahn icon on the desktop, double click that and it brings up the screen for eBahn, but nothing else happens....how do you start the software?

Amazing that nowhere on the CD does it have a file telling you how to run the software....or at least I don't see one.

pw

QCRAZY

If you want the manual that lists labor time then you don't want a Bentley. Bentley's just don't contain this copyrighted information....haven't in any of the previous manuals either. Hopefully someday Perhaps a simple question to the forums would have answered this??

The manual that you want is available from Motor manuals <A href="http://www.motor.com/"><b>Motor</b></a>

The Motor manuals aren't very expensive. You can get the t-belt manual for about $50. They also sell a labor and time manual for (almost) everything. These usually run about $200 depending on how many years you want the manual to go back. Plus a lot more!!

If you really want to know this info this book is a must!!

Also, it's helpful if you know if the Motor manual pertains to your Audi dealership. As you mentioned the dealer uses the Audi specified times for all warranty repairs but the dealers don't use these times for "private" work. For "private" work it is upto the dealer which manual is used. My dealer DOES use the Motor manual; your dealer may not.

The manufacturer (Audi) maintains there own book of time which would be VERY difficult to get a hold of!!

Regards,

QCRAZY

Strange, once registered it should open once the icon is clicked on (and the CD is in)??

ideaman911

I called their phone number which you correctly listed - it is out of service. And their website says the sale price ends in June 01. Please let me know. Thanks.