I’ve seen several eBay listings for workshop manuals on DVD which cover the R56. Have any of you purchased them and, if so, what is your impression? I read feedback from some customers complaining about one of the sellers’ BMW manuals not being worth the money, but no comments pro or con regarding their MINI manual. If any of you have purchased any of these DVDs, I’d appreciate pointing me in the right direction, since there seem to be several versions out there.

Also, I’m interested in the ZipeeShade sun roof sun shade, but am a little confused by their installation video. I was of the opinion that after the (2) shades are installed, normal operation of the roof is possible. Their video shows excess material being tucked-in after installation of what I assume is the rear unit, though maybe both, as that wasn’t clear to me. If that is the case, what happens to the tucked material when the top is popped up at the back and/or closed? Ditto the front, when it's popped up or opened, if it requires material tucking?

Last, I read the umpteen pages of the thread on Sea Foam for removing carbon build-up on intake valves. Several times there is mention made of using an oil catch can to eliminate that oil as a source of carbon production and several people wrote of using one on their R56 turbos. After looking around for suppliers, I found several sources designated for use on the supercharged engines, but not the turbocharged models. Does the turbo not require an OCC or are the manufactures only producing units designed to fit the under hood requirements of the supercharged cars?

JH in NE OH

 

1.) As far as I know there are NO manuals for the R56.A lot of the R50/53 is pretty close, they are not specific to the R56.

2.) You can pop the top, but I don't think I'd fully open it. It works well.

3.) Call Waylon at Way motors. You can and should get an OCC for the R56.

 

Post back some of the links to these manuals you mention. I'm interested as well, but didn't know that they were out there. I figured it was buried somewhere in BMW's workshop disk series, but haven't had the time to download the whole mess and dig for it.

Cheers

 

Here is one listing. I have this one but have not been home enough to even think about looking at it. If I can get to it this coming weekend I will post back here.

http://cgi.ebay.com/BMW-MINI-Service...item4aa87a385d

 

I have the ebay special "shop manual" and it is just a copy of the TIS from early 2007. It contains tons of good information for R55 and R56 but obviously it is out of date for specifics on 2008+ cars. It is nice to have for interior and basic information.

If you want the absolute latest information, subscribe to the minitechinfo.com website and print all of the information you need from the TIS (tech information) and WDS (wiring diagram). It is $30 for 24 hours. Service bulletins are also available on their site, so issues like the windows and timing chain are available.

 

IMHO the zippe shade doesn't stay put. Always seem to shift around and slide into the headliner. I'm just going to try to find someone to put a darker tint on. Of course the darker tint brings it's own potential issues. Surprised MINI doesn't have a solid screen available. I would rather have a traditional (smaller) sun roof and have a hard sliding cover on the inside. MINI, are you listening?

TREX

 

Be careful of the cheap shop manuals on disk from ebay. I bought one cheap and didn't read the discription: it won't work on my x64 computer!

 

You need to install or run it under XP compatibility mode. Someone here posted about it but I can't find the thread. Do a Google search for "BMW TIS Windows 7".

Back to the OP's question... since nobody has published an R56 shop manual yet, you have no other option besides the BMW TIS manual on DVD. Considering the low cost (I got mine for $10 shipped) and lack of other options, I think it's a no brainer. The user interface is awkward and often hard to find what you need (listed in an unexpected category) but the information it has is very complete.

Search eBay for "BMW TIS" and get the 12/2007 version. It is the newest version and covers up to the R55 Clubman. There is nothing newer because BMW switched to an online system and stopped publishing the manual on DVD. The ones sold on eBay are probably all the same pirated copy and it shouldn't matter much which one you buy.