Well...
I checked out the link.....And it seems the E38 info to some degree IS available. This is good news. (Didn't spend a lot of time on it as I have many projects that are more "pressing" right now)....
I've got an E32, and have thought about buying an E38 at some point in time. I had read here:
http://bimmer.roadfly.org/bmw/forums/e38/ that the manuals were no longer available.
So far as how complete the info is, this remains to be seen. What I mean is BMW may be leaving things out of the info offered to "non-BMW-dealers", only publishing info that the Federal Government forces them to make available, in an attempt to "protect" their "BMW-Authorized-Dealers".
Personally I feel that BMW should offer the service CD-ROMs to ANY BMW owner FREE of charge upon request.
1: Most BMW owners do NOT do their own service work.
2: For those that do... the info would enable more BMW's to be still titled for road use 20-25 years from now.... This would be GOOD for BMW.... (Cheap advertising.)
3: This would also be good for BMW owners AND BMW as the more cars on the road translates to decreased costs of replacement parts.
4: Having the CD-ROMs could "help" if the car broke down, and the owner chose NOT to take the car to the dealer for service... (I.E. This would help the shop making the repairs /help the owner in lower repair costs /help BMW in the long run as more cars titled for road use in the long run is good "cheap" advertising.)
5: BMW should provide the CD-ROMs FREE upon request because..... you already "paid" for them when you bought the car. And "pay" each time you buy parts /get service work done..
6: CD-ROMs are cheap to manufacture.. Cost about what .25 cents to make?
BMW ETK (1 cd)
BMW TIS (1 cd)
BMW ETM (2 cd's)
So we're talking about 4 cd-roms.... at a cost of say .50 each to make.... another $3-4 for shipping... Total cost to BMW $6.00 -$ 7.00.
Round it off to say $10 off what they made off the car when it was sold... They will make this up in the sale of parts... and sale of new BMW's.
I would say this is pretty cheap advertising.
One last thing.... The above info being provided to "everyone" would be helpful to BMW itself (and BMW owners) because it would force BMW dealers to act like they DO have competition in the Service arena...
What I mean is BMW dealers would have to stop "raping" each customer.... (As the customer could have the service work done anywhere.)
This would be good for BMW in the long run.... Happy customers= Repeat sales.
PS: I used to work at an independent shop for many years... I was the one that got the jobs the "dealer" couldn't fix. I don't wear BMW underwear /and don't drink my coffee out of a BMW coffee cup.