Parking your E30 at the supermarket...

Mon Sep 07, 2009 1:40 pm

What do you do for the best? Far away as possible, close as possible, deliberately take up two spaces (like some t*ssers with Porsches) so as not to get a door knocked?

Away from the trolley bays that's for sure.

I don't like leaving mine anywhere, but supermarkets have to be visited now and then.

Mon Sep 07, 2009 1:46 pm

If your getting that precious about paint you need a cheap smoker for day to day use!

Its there to be used, paint can always be repaired.

Mon Sep 07, 2009 2:20 pm

Have to agree with liftoff. I hate the thought of mine being knocked, but it's there to be driven not to sit in a museum

Mon Sep 07, 2009 2:23 pm

Not used the touring much for shopping yet but the few times I did I parked a little bit away from the entrance in an empty area.

Liftoff: I'd hate to come back to find my car with a big long trolley scratch or ding from a door on the bodywork, sure it can be repaired but it can also be avoided

Mon Sep 07, 2009 2:27 pm

I agree with Liftoff as well. My car is there to be used, it's not a museum-piece.
It's currently in the bodyshop getting 19 years of carpark damage repaired (as well as some other issues). If I get another 15 years before it needs doing again, I'll be well pleased.
Having said that, I try to always park as far away from other cars as I can. Not always an option though.

Mon Sep 07, 2009 2:28 pm

I always try to park between two really good condition cars,preferably older BMW's or Mercs,in the hope they'll be as careful as i am.

I NEVER park next to vans or 4x4's!!

Mon Sep 07, 2009 2:29 pm

"prevention is better than cure!!"

- unless you own a bodyshop or have a large wallet!

Mon Sep 07, 2009 3:26 pm

Avoid peak times too.. I'm always amazed how people park their £90,000 Quattroporte's, Cayennes, SL 65 AMG Mercs etc in the most congested area of the car park where a ding is almost guarenteed..

Mon Sep 07, 2009 3:34 pm

rh306 wrote:Avoid peak times too.. I'm always amazed how people park their £90,000 Quattroporte's, Cayennes, SL 65 AMG Mercs etc in the most congested area of the car park where a ding is almost guarenteed..

the difference is most of them dont own there cars there prob company cars, as for parking in london the 1st space you can find

Mon Sep 07, 2009 3:35 pm

i either park in 2 or even 4 spaces, far end of the carpark or try and park next to so chavvy little corsa or simular rather then a batterd people carrier that nobody cares about

even with that you cant help the dings, just make them less likely!

Mon Sep 07, 2009 3:35 pm

I don't park in supermarkets because you're guaranteed to get a dent or scrape.

I parked in a multi-storey car park in the middle of Brighton a few months ago, on the top floor, where there weren't many other cars. Came back to my car and there's a green car parked next to me. Of all the spaces they could have parked in, why next to my car? There must have been 4 cars on the whole floor. I looked at my passenger door, and sure enough, there's green paint on the door. Checked their door shut and there's black paint on it.

If someone puts a dent in my car, I'll put a dent in their car.

Mon Sep 07, 2009 3:53 pm

park next to the pillars in multi storie car parks you got less chance getting your motor knocked

Mon Sep 07, 2009 4:43 pm

i park next to the cleanest looking car i can see.... the you know someone looks after it! then again thats in the e36 m3. in the old 30 i didnt give as much of a toss, infact some total bint in a range rover sport blocked me in one day when i was on lunch, waited 10 minutes after my lunch break was over to see if she would come back. she didnt, so i did a 27 point turn in my parking space and i think i might have accidently kissed her car every single time i reversed. (i assume it was a woman it had a playboy numberplate and kerbed as fuck wheels and pink playboy air freshner)

Mon Sep 07, 2009 4:57 pm

Just use common sense. Don't rely on the condition/age of the car parked next to yours. Most people don't give a crap as they're busy with their lives. I go in the evening when everyone's gone, but that's because I'm a sad bastard and like taking my time and hate busy supermarkets. Best car park I've been to in the UK has got to be the Westfield shopping mall in London; nice big open car park spaces with plenty of room to open your doors. I like it so much whenever I'm in the city I use that car park to dump the car and get on the tube.

Anyway, you should count yourself lucky if you have a drive way/garage. I live in a student area and later this month my street's going to be rammed full of shite falling apart old clios, corsas and fiestas...driven by students who don't have a clue how to park.

Mon Sep 07, 2009 5:18 pm

Avoid 4x4's, family cars (child carriers) and tatty sh1t heaps.

But my 320i is a smoker. I like it a lot, but one little ding is not going to stop the gapping holes in the scuttle panel.

As for my project car... that will never know what 'unattended in a public car park' feels like!

Mon Sep 07, 2009 5:33 pm

I park in the kiddie section as they get extra room between the bays.

Mon Sep 07, 2009 5:37 pm

Shop online!

Mon Sep 07, 2009 5:49 pm

Disabled bays FTW

Mon Sep 07, 2009 6:22 pm

Ive got a staff permit for sainsburys so i park in the Staff parking, about 40 spaces and only around 10 employees use it. i usually take up 2 spaces

Mon Sep 07, 2009 6:25 pm

As close as possible! Practise my parking skills as well!

Mon Sep 07, 2009 7:28 pm

i just take two spaces just about everywhere i go. cant see anyone having a problem if i do it far away from the shop door.

Mon Sep 07, 2009 7:32 pm

My e30 has the strongest panels and thickest paint of any car i've ever had. Bumpers and rubbing strips in all the right places. You'd have to go a long way to put a dent or chip in it.

Mon Sep 07, 2009 8:23 pm

i go shopping on a friday after picking the kids up from school, perfect as then i can use the parent and child spaces and park next to the door!

loads of room!

Mon Sep 07, 2009 8:31 pm

I get the Mrs to do the shopping - easy

Mon Sep 07, 2009 8:34 pm

agent006 wrote:My e30 has the strongest panels and thickest paint of any car i've ever had. Bumpers and rubbing strips in all the right places. You'd have to go a long way to put a dent or chip in it.

trust me some old coffin dodger will bounce his nissan micra door of yours and it will dent

I use the kiddie parking bays they are much wider

Mon Sep 07, 2009 8:50 pm

I always park my lazy arse as close to where I'm going as I can...

Mine you, my bodywork isn't exactly pristine!!!

Mon Sep 07, 2009 8:54 pm

I park diagonally across three disabled bays

Mon Sep 07, 2009 9:54 pm

I always park a distance away to minimise the potential for dings, dents and scratches.

Without fail, and however empty the car park, by the time I return, someone else will have parked right nex to me.

If an extra 30 sec walk means I don't need to pay Dentmaster £50, I'm happy.

Mon Sep 07, 2009 10:07 pm

Stick a child seat in the front, and grab a parents place!

Mon Sep 07, 2009 11:02 pm

i went into a shopping centre a while ago. went to the far end of the car park as far away from everybody else as i could get ( was no cars anywhere near me). was getting out of the car when two girls in a punto parked right beside me; as the driver girl was getting out i heard her door clunk off my car. She was so deep in conversation that she didnt even notice i was standing there fuming. had a look as her and her mate walked off still blabbin on; not a scratch on the door luckily. Had visions of me standing in court trying to explain to a judge me disassembling two girls in an aldi over some small dent that could be fixed for fook all.

Mon Sep 07, 2009 11:04 pm

lol i woulda told her exactly what she did and explained that just because her car was a 'kin heap didnt mean everyone else wanted there doors dented...

Mon Sep 07, 2009 11:05 pm

simple eject mrs from car and stay with it lol

anyone knocks it they get knocked on there arse

my cars are always well used and driven hard but that dont mean anyone else is allowed to damage them

Mon Sep 07, 2009 11:09 pm

i park as far from the other cars as i can .sick of finding my mirrors stuck to side of my car kissing the windows because of some idiot smacking them with their doors!

Mon Sep 07, 2009 11:11 pm

topcat56 wrote:i went into a shopping centre a while ago. went to the far end of the car park as far away from everybody else as i could get ( was no cars anywhere near me). was getting out of the car when two girls in a punto parked right beside me; as the driver girl was getting out i heard her door clunk off my car.

No trial, no jury. Instant death imo.

Mon Sep 07, 2009 11:43 pm

As far as possible from other cars, at non peak times

I made the mistake of parking the 205 in a busy muti story on a sunny Saturday. It was packed so I picked the first space I could find.

I came back an hour later to a massive dent in my front 1/4 panel

. Even now it is angering me!!!