How do you get out of the car in a tight parking spot?

[HPFREAK]

Originally Posted by chylld

This may sound like a stupid question, but my new baby is the first coupe I've owned after a long string of hatchbacks and I'm having trouble managing the long door both getting into and getting out of the car.

When a car is parked right next to me, I can open the door to get in fine but I sometimes have trouble holding the door as I get in to prevent it from swinging open. However this I reckon I can conquer with a little bit of practice.

My main trouble is getting out of the car. Usually I pivot on the seat and swing my door-side leg around, but with the coupe's long door this isn't possible in a tight parking spot without literally bringing my knee up to my nose.

So I was wondering, how do you all do it? Do you swivel towards the door, or do you step backwards out of the car, or do you climb out of the sunroof etc.?

i have some trouble sometime to and I have wide shoulders so I have to put my left leg out first then pivot to the left grab the seat and pull myself out but I always end up almost falling out because I my right shoulder hits the car and I bounce off.lol this is only when i have little room to open the door like your example.

[Robert]

Originally Posted by Mark M

Thankfully I am fortunate enough to have a second car I can use when I know I will be in a 'hazardous parking environment'. However, when in my 1er, I am psychotic about parking. I HATE parking lots. Here are my anal parking guidelines:

1. Always try to find a spot that protects at least one side. Park against a curb, or end of a parking lot row.

2. Never park next to soccer mom SUVs or miniclans.

3. Never park next to Johny redneck in his F150 Superduty Supercrew Superhuge waste of steel gas and other resources.

4. Try to park next to a similarly priced German luxery car and pray the owner also has high regards for his car and will be respectful when opening doors.

5. Use the electric folding mirrors.

6. Try to park out-of-the-way of regular foot traffic. Question...see all these women lately with their gigantic handbags with buckles all over? Well imagine these careless women walking between cars as that buckle just scrapes along your paint???? YIKES! I try to park where foot traffic does not usually pass.

7. The walk around. When I return to my car, I try to discreetly do a quick walk around so as to look for any obvious damage that may have occurred.

I know.....paranoia huh? Well I am not rich, but I own a nice car. I hope to own it a long time....and as such.....if it takes a bit of effort to keep it nice....so be it!!!

If you want to take it to the next level. Step out. Take a photo of the two cars around you with your car in the picture. If there is any damage on your car when you return chances are they hit you and now you can track them down.

[BBBluey]

Put your seat as far back and as high as it'll go, then left leg out first and climb out putting you bellybutton up against the door.

how would most everyone here feel if a fellow 1er dinged your car?
This will jack the thread huh? never mind.

[marvinp]

If it's a really tight spot then I climb out of the sunroof.

[zerbitini]

I realize this doesn't answer the original question... but dings are largely (but unfortunately not completely) avoidable by parking far out in a lot. Although I have yet to understand the "wagon train" mentality that motivates some people to park right up next to your car when you have taken pains to park at the far end of a largely empty parking lot. The best place to park at the Kansas City airport is a small area in the parking garage, underneath a ramp. There are only 8 or 9 spaces in a U shaped area, and it is as FAR as you can get from the terminal. That area is usually filled with 3 or 4 BMW's and a couple of Mercedes and Porsches. Everyone takes great care not to ding anyone else.

[chbj]

Originally Posted by Brad@PSI MOTORS

Kind of makes you wonder why people are the way they are. I also park way away and you are right it never fails that someone will have 20 spaces to park at away from me but decides to park right up next to me. Amazes me every time.

That's easy. They see a nice, well taken care of car parked and think "if I park next to him he will not ding my car. who knows who will park next to me if I take an empty spot"

[HPFREAK]

Originally Posted by marvinp

If it's a really tight spot then I climb out of the sunroof.

LOL Dukes Of hazard style

[nordique14]

Originally Posted by Mega Man

Women...can't live with them, can't live without 'em.

Women...You can't live with them, and you can't get them to dress up in a skimpy little Nazi costume and beat you with a warm squash or something.
-Emo Philips

[bmwsam]

Originally Posted by /// Yr1of D1///

I don't, I park away from all other cars

Me too!!!! I've always done that and have never gotten a ding/nick on the side of my car. When my friends complain that I park far away I simply tell them that they are more than welcome to drive their car next time.

[Absorber]

Originally Posted by Brad@PSI MOTORS

Kind of makes you wonder why people are the way they are. I also park way away and you are right it never fails that someone will have 20 spaces to park at away from me but decides to park right up next to me. Amazes me every time.

Originally Posted by chbj

That's easy. They see a nice, well taken care of car parked and think "if I park next to him he will not ding my car. who knows who will park next to me if I take an empty spot"

I don't think that's it at all. I think it's because some people can't park between two white lines on the ground unless there is something next to them for reference. So they look for another car to park next to.

[turner23]

Jesus!!! All you guys and you fucking checklists make a five minute trip to the store take 45 minutes. Lol

I stay away from spots if either adjacent car is not well centered. Other than that I park with everybody else regardless of make, model, condition, age, sex, color, creed, whatever. 14 months and I finally got dinged once. Yea it sucks, but it's a big metal object that lives and plays outside with things flying by it everyday. It's going to take a few hits in it's life no matter how anal you are.

If you park in the back of the lot you only attract more attention by being all by yourself. Haters target those cars more than anything.

But regardless, a couple cosmetic dings don't detract from the thrill I get from driving.

[MOCKBA]

Agree with 123D-M, I have very narrow garage, so I can get off car only putting window down.

[MOCKBA]

Originally Posted by Absorber

I don't think that's it at all. I think it's because some people can't park between two white lines on the ground unless there is something next to them for reference. So they look for another car to park next to.

It's true. I have difficulties to park between lines, so having a car as a liner is good.

[chylld]

tips on choosing a parking spot is definitely helpful, but most of the time my problem arises from the parking spot in my apartment carpark which is extremely tight so for me this is an unavoidable daily thing.

i'll try some different methods today to see what works for me

[Wakka]

Originally Posted by Mark M

Thankfully I am fortunate enough to have a second car I can use when I know I will be in a 'hazardous parking environment'. However, when in my 1er, I am psychotic about parking. I HATE parking lots. Here are my anal parking guidelines:

1. Always try to find a spot that protects at least one side. Park against a curb, or end of a parking lot row.

2. Never park next to soccer mom SUVs or miniclans.

3. Never park next to Johny redneck in his F150 Superduty Supercrew Superhuge waste of steel gas and other resources.

4. Try to park next to a similarly priced German luxery car and pray the owner also has high regards for his car and will be respectful when opening doors.

5. Use the electric folding mirrors.

6. Try to park out-of-the-way of regular foot traffic. Question...see all these women lately with their gigantic handbags with buckles all over? Well imagine these careless women walking between cars as that buckle just scrapes along your paint???? YIKES! I try to park where foot traffic does not usually pass.

7. The walk around. When I return to my car, I try to discreetly do a quick walk around so as to look for any obvious damage that may have occurred.

I know.....paranoia huh? Well I am not rich, but I own a nice car. I hope to own it a long time....and as such.....if it takes a bit of effort to keep it nice....so be it!!!

I do all of these things, - the electric mirrors, mine are manual, makes it a great reason for me to walk around the car when i get to it. im putting my mirrors back out while checking for any damages.

[Totti]

Just use your finger as a buffer and rest it inbetween such like: Your door - Your fingers - Next car

That's what i've always done without fail.

[Slowboy]

If it is a really tight spot I usually turn in the seat, and put my left leg out with my foot pointing slightly toward the back of the car. Then I put my left hand on the bottom of the door sill all the way to the back with my thumb outside the car. I step out on the left leg, using my right hand to hold the door and my left hand to keep my balance as I stand and slide sideways through the gap. Part of the trick to get this to work is judging how far you put your left foot down outside the car -- too far and you hit your door when you stand; too close and you lose your balance and end up trying to hop without hitting anything. Also, if you position your left hand with the thumb inside the car you can't slide your hand up the inside of the car to help keep your balance.

If the other car has a vinyl trim strip I will usually hold the door firmly against it so that it can't bang if I accidentally bump into my door. If you have a towel to pad it that would also help.

[chylld]

Originally Posted by Slowboy

If it is a really tight spot I usually turn in the seat, and put my left leg out with my foot pointing slightly toward the back of the car. Then I put my left hand on the bottom of the door sill all the way to the back with my thumb outside the car. I step out on the left leg, using my right hand to hold the door and my left hand to keep my balance as I stand and slide sideways through the gap. Part of the trick to get this to work is judging how far you put your left foot down outside the car -- too far and you hit your door when you stand; too close and you lose your balance and end up trying to hop without hitting anything. Also, if you position your left hand with the thumb inside the car you can't slide your hand up the inside of the car to help keep your balance.

I never thought about using the sill... I will give this one a try tonight, it sounds like it will work well. With your right hand, where do you hold the car door? On the top (with the window down), on the grab handle, or on the lip of the storage compartment at the bottom?

[Erik219]

Closely related but not really on topic:
Does anybody have problems parking the 1-coupe straight (i.e. parallel to the parking lines). In all my previous cars, I used to check my outside rear view mirrors to see if I'm parallel with the lines (body parallel to lines), but as the back of the 1-coupe is converging a bit, I find myself always a couple of degrees 'off'.
Maybe I just need to get used to the car (got it for 3 weeks now), but it looks a bit silly every time . You should think people with 'smaller' cars should at least be able to park it straight in a 'huge' spot .

As far as the rest is concerned ... I thought I was alone in my ridiculous quest of "parking spot protective measures" (PSPM ), but apparently, there are more crazy guys like me out there!! Regards to all of you .
E

[JimD]

When I park at work, I look for a particular "invented" parking spot where you can separate yourself from adjacent cars by 3 feet on one side, the only side they can park on. Those types of spaces are rare, however. I think the next best is at the end of a row where your door opens into the adjacent parking spot. That way, if somebody parks next to you but it is just one person in the car, there is no door opening towards your vehicle. I also try to make sure I do not give myself "plenty of room" to get out if I must park between other open parking spaces because that pretty much forces somebody to park close to you and open their car door where it can hit your car. If it is out in the open, I like to park in the center of the spot and if it is likely somebody will park next to me, I try to have a bit less room on the side I will exit (my theory being a lot of the time there is only one person in a car these days).

Jim

[and 1]

Originally Posted by Slowboy

If it is a really tight spot I usually turn in the seat, and put my left leg out with my foot pointing slightly toward the back of the car. Then I put my left hand on the bottom of the door sill all the way to the back with my thumb outside the car. I step out on the left leg, using my right hand to hold the door and my left hand to keep my balance as I stand and slide sideways through the gap. Part of the trick to get this to work is judging how far you put your left foot down outside the car -- too far and you hit your door when you stand; too close and you lose your balance and end up trying to hop without hitting anything. Also, if you position your left hand with the thumb inside the car you can't slide your hand up the inside of the car to help keep your balance.

If the other car has a vinyl trim strip I will usually hold the door firmly against it so that it can't bang if I accidentally bump into my door. If you have a towel to pad it that would also help.

i think i just found the solution to my awkward sideways wobble move

[Slowboy]

Originally Posted by chylld

I never thought about using the sill... I will give this one a try tonight, it sounds like it will work well. With your right hand, where do you hold the car door? On the top (with the window down), on the grab handle, or on the lip of the storage compartment at the bottom?

It depends. If the window is down that is the preferred spot, but isn't possible if it is raining. If it is windy or I'm on a hill I'll use the tray at the bottom so I can hold it firmly. Otherwise I just press down on the armrest. 9 times out of 10 I will hold the door lightly against the other car. I'm less worried about very minor scuffing than I am about chips or dents. If I were parking in a set spot in my garage, I would hang a piece of foam on the wall in the proper spot so that I could hold the car door against it as I got out.

I guess if it is too close I can always lower the top and vault out into the largest opening, then raise the top and windows.