Will automatic doors prevent dinging other cars?

[jbrucebmw]

This may sound crazy but I'm thinking of buying my wife an i7 with automatic doors to save my M5 from door dings. Will the automatic doors stop themselves from dinging a car parked close to them?

Background: Our garage is narrow (yes I'm also looking at a new house), my wife has a Tesla Model S and she always parks in near the middle of the garage despite my attempts to encourage her to park on her side. She and the kids are really careless with opening the back doors. They whacked my M5 on the character line right by the door handle so the paintless dent guy could not completely remove it. I could still see it and it drove me crazy. I have PTSD about it. I have other older BMWs in storage but I never want to bring them home for fear of the same fate.

We had a Model X loaner which was a total POS but the automatic falcon doors would not open themselves into my M5. I really don't want to buy her a Model X. Yes, they are fast but the build quality sucks, we've had so many Tesla service problems. She wants an EQS but they don't have auto doors. If the i7 doors can prevent dings that seems like a better alternative.

Does anyone with an i7 know if the auto doors can prevent careless people from dinging your car?

[Laguna Beach]

If used they will but that is a big if. Sounds like they don’t love cars like you do and it’s doubtful they’ll have the patience every time waiting for the auto doors to open and close. Plus the i7 is huge and so are the doors! If you have a small garage it’ll make it very cramped in there. Your M5 is gonna have more scars than you can handle. Buying a bigger house might be cheaper than all the therapy you’re gonna need.

[DroMike]

While the G70s auto-door function is certainly help in the right direction, I'd bet dollars to donuts that careless family members will still override their use from time to time, or at least you shouldn't count on them exclusively utilizing them. Perhaps instead you should purchase and employ some ding protectors. There are many on the market. Years ago, I purchased "DoorShox," a magnetic set of bumpers (you can also get the "Valet" or single bumper) to strategically place where your vehicle might get hit by another car's doors. They're always in my trunk should I have to park close to another car or believe one will park close to me. Below is a link to, and photo from, their website. You could get rid of or replace your family, but this acquisition would be MUCH more inexpensive and tons easier. Good luck!

https://www.doorshox.com/

[Berliner]

This on an M5? I am willing to pay for these just to see you doing that and drive around with it ;D

[skrontz]

While the auto-open function will not ding the adjacent car’s side, it will likely stop short of the full swing and force the user to manually open it further. Then you are back to square one. Short of changing the behavioral patterns or moving garages, I don’t think that there’s an elegant solution.

On a side note, my wife was absolutely furious when I told her your story. Luckily we are both as paranoid about keeping our cars ding-free to a point where we would rather park in a corner spot way the heck away and walk. We both feel for you! 😂

[DroMike]

Originally Posted by Berliner

This on an M5? I am willing to pay for these just to see you doing that and drive around with it ;D

LOL! I presume you're joking. But if you're not, they're not permanent or to be affixed while you're driving your car! They're only put on or removed when your car is stationary or parked somewhere temporarily. Made of rubber with magnetic backing, you put on or remove these light, rectangular protectors in about 30 seconds.

Here's the car I sold before I bought my i7. It's a 2013 and was 10 years old when this photo was taken. Do you SEE any dings?! DoorShox!

[jbrucebmw]

The Tesla Model X doors definitely put up significant resistance if you are opening them by hand and you get it near another car or object. You have to push them hard to overcome the resistance and touch something else. It sounds like the i7 doors may not be like that. Hmm.

[jbrucebmw]

Originally Posted by Laguna Beach

If used they will but that is a big if. Sounds like they don’t love cars like you do and it’s doubtful they’ll have the patience every time waiting for the auto doors to open and close. Plus the i7 is huge and so are the doors! If you have a small garage it’ll make it very cramped in there. Your M5 is gonna have more scars than you can handle. Buying a bigger house might be cheaper than all the therapy you’re gonna need.

Yes, they actively don't like cars and see them as appliances. My wife wants me to have another appliance in the garage next to her car that I don't care about.

The i7 may seem huge but its actually narrower than a Model S or X.

Now the door length is something I have to look into. The Model X obviously has doors that open up so that's not so much of a concern. I really don't want to buy a model X but it does solve the problem.

Finding another house with a wider garage in west LA is challenge right now with the lack of inventory. Our house is otherwise really nice with a low tax basis but its maxed out on the lot making any garage expansion impossible.

Its also a total pet peeve of mine that newer houses have really narrow garages (like 17-18ft wide) because the building regulations only allow 18x18ft to not be counted against your square footage. From the late 60s-90s when garage space was regulation free, 2-car garages were often 20x20 or 22x22. They were built to accommodate the land yatchs of the 70s. Now we're actually back to those land yatch dimensions especially with EVs and wide battery packs across the floors. If cities want more EV adoption they should be regulating for larger garages to fit EVs and chargers.

[jbrucebmw]

Originally Posted by DroMike

While the G70s auto-door function is certainly help in the right direction, I'd bet dollars to donuts that careless family members will still override their use from time to time, or at least you shouldn't count on them exclusively utilizing them. Perhaps instead you should purchase and employ some ding protectors. There are many on the market. Years ago, I purchased "DoorShox," a magnetic set of bumpers (you can also get the "Valet" or single bumper) to strategically place where your vehicle might get hit by another car's doors. They're always in my trunk should I have to park close to another car or believe one will park close to me. Below is a link to, and photo from, their website. You could get rid of or replace your family, but this acquisition would be MUCH more inexpensive and tons easier. Good luck!

https://www.doorshox.com/

I'll check out these ding protection strips. I don't like the idea of putting them on but I guess its better than my current solution of parking the M% so its inches away from the garage wall and always needing it to be clean so I can put a thick car cover on it.

[jbrucebmw]

Originally Posted by skrontz

While the auto-open function will not ding the adjacent car’s side, it will likely stop short of the full swing and force the user to manually open it further. Then you are back to square one. Short of changing the behavioral patterns or moving garages, I don’t think that there’s an elegant solution.

On a side note, my wife was absolutely furious when I told her your story. Luckily we are both as paranoid about keeping our cars ding-free to a point where we would rather park in a corner spot way the heck away and walk. We both feel for you! 😂

Thanks for the sympathy. I have literal night mares about the time the kids were late to school and my wife whacked the M5 with the rear Tesla door and told me it was not important as the edge ground into the paint while they climbed in the car. I park a couple of inches from the garage wall and she parks like feet away into the middle because she feels its hard and inconvenient to park closer on her side.

[AlteBMW]

Originally Posted by jbrucebmw

Thanks for the sympathy. I have literal night mares about the time the kids were late to school and my wife whacked the M5 with the rear Tesla door and told me it was not important as the edge ground into the paint while they climbed in the car. I park a couple of inches from the garage wall and she parks like feet away into the middle because she feels its hard and inconvenient to park closer on her side.

You have bigger problems than dings.

[Qsilver7]

Why not just purchase your wife a family vehicle that fits their mind set…a vehicle with sliding doors that won’t swing out & make dent’s in your car?

I read this thread as suffering of your own making. You know that nothing you’ve said in the past changes their behavior…yet you still seem set on buying another vehicle they use that allows them to continue to make door dings on the vehicle parked next to it.

Again, an “appliance” vehicle with sliding door would end the door dings. Just saying.

[pcgeek]

The other thing the automatic doors get you is that it will hold the position wherever you open the doors to (i.e. there are no detents) so it can be opened close to the other car and hold that position.

That still doesn't help with the "don't care, just fling it" case but it does eliminate the need to pick one of 2 different opening widths to open a door to.

[jbrucebmw]

Originally Posted by Qsilver7

Why not just purchase your wife a family vehicle that fits their mind set…a vehicle with sliding doors that won’t swing out & make dent’s in your car?

I read this thread as suffering of your own making. You know that nothing you’ve said in the past changes their behavior…yet you still seem set on buying another vehicle they use that allows them to continue to make door dings on the vehicle parked next to it.

Again, an “appliance” vehicle with sliding door would end the door dings. Just saying.

She wants to stick with an EV for her appliance. What sliding door EV are you thinking?