Hello! I was told my Mini needs some seals replaced, and I'm considering taking up the challenge myself. Even if I don't, I think a service manual is a very valuable tool to have on hand.

I think I probably know the answer, but wanted to find out from folks who have owned/used them - which is best?

1.) Haynes
2.) Bentley

Thanks!

 

Haynes manuals are more "Shade-Tree" mechanic level. The Bentley is more "OEM" mechanic level. I have a Bentley.

 

No question about it --- Bentley's the one!

 

I haven't seen the Haynes manual, but if these guys are saying Bentley is better, then Haynes must be utter crap because as a Bentley owner myself, I will say that it is decent, yes, but could be way way better. It is great for torque specs though! Honestly, between YT videos and (if they exist for your job) Pelican Parts walkthroughs a best, with Bentley only being used as a supplement. Just my experience anyhow. But between the 2, yeah, I'd say Bentley is best.

 

I agree. I bought the Bentley manual to use during the rebuild after blowing the motor on the new R56 that I had bought earlier this year and I have not been impressed. They miss a lot of clearly required steps (such as removing the bumper beam bolts when putting the car into service mode), and the torque specs are only listed near their related jobs with no single comprehensive list to reference when not following any of the specific procedures. Also there are quite a few torque specs where they don't have the translation to ft/lbs from n/m. There are also a lot of technical jobs that they don't cover at all. I haven't seen the Haynes manual, but I've found the Pelican write-ups and a torque specs list to be more helpful than the Bentley despite how much it's praised on here.

 

Also, not to mention the pictures are terrible. Absolutely not worth what you have to pay for one.

 

Mini Classic owners like me have survived on the HAYNES for many years ....... and I have for my early MINI, classic Mini and Maita.

The HAYNES is now available digitally (suprise suprise suprise!) https://haynes.com/en-us/mini/cooper-s/2002-2013

 

I have the Bentley as Bentley was always the bible for MGs and I have an MGBGT as well.

That being said, I actually rely more often on the Great tech articles from Pelican Parts.
https://www.pelicanparts.com/techart...r_R56_Tech.htm

The Bentley is VERY helpful for torque specifications, wiring diagrams and electronics info as well as learning about MINI R56 systems. It really has been indispensable under various circumstances.

 

ISTA. You can find it via a google search. It contains the workshop manuals for all MINIs and BMWs along with dealer-level diagnostic software, and troubleshooting. If you are not a BMW tool to diagnose your malfunctions, you are stabbing in the dark. More importantly, because it is from BMW, it will have the correct torque values.

 

This.

I remember reading (here?) at least one case in which the Bentley manual listed wrong torque values. Possibly because they did not take into consideration different evolutions of engines/parts but instead just listed the value for a specific variant. Considering the added functionality (especially in combination with a cheap OBD2 adapter cable), the effort of getting it to run is well worth it.

 

Bentley printed the manual using current torque specs at the time of printing. Since then, at least one spec has been updated --- pg 117-10, Damper Hub to Crankshaft, stage 2 was changed from 100 deg to 180 deg. Unfortunately, I haven't seen any attempt to notify manual buyers of this update. It's a critical spec, which if not followed can cause engine failure. Maybe it's been corrected in later printings / editions?

 

Update on Bentley.

I'm about to replace the water pump and thermostat on my 2009 R56 base and the Bentley instructions on the subjects are woefully inadequate.