Dumbest thing you've done to your car???

[Nifty]

My girlfriend and I went to the Drive for Team USA event about 3 weeks to drive a brand new 2013 328i. I've got a 135i on order, but I wanted to see what the N20 four cylinder turbo was all about just out of curiosity.

There's a booth outside with a few BMW employees who are checking people in and out, directing people to their cars, answering questions, etc. Having already done some homework about the new engine and features, I'm joking around with them and asking more 'enthusiast' questions, so perhaps they were happy to have someone there who really appreciated the cars.

The car that I was going to drive comes back and the girlfriend and I hop in and get ready to go. An employee comes over, asks me if I have any questions about the operation of the vehicle, I assure her I don't, and they send me on my way. Expect I didn't get too far...I put the car in drive to pull through the space and give it a bit of gas to idle forward. All the sudden my girlfriend just says NO NO N-! I was confused as to why she was saying that, but then it dawned on me...I CAN'T pull through this space, there is a parking block in front of me. But it was too late...up on the block I went, first the front lip and then the tire. Luckily I was able to stop before the tires went all the way over, but there were some horrible grinding noises on the way there.

I immediately put the car in reverse and come back down, at which point I was treated to a few more un-natural sounds. I glance out the window to the booth with the BMW employees...they had seen the whole thing. They weren't upset at all, but boy, they were sure doing a bad job of holding back their laughter (I can't blame them). As my girlfriend is trying to slouch out of sight due to embarrassment, I rolled down the window, said "Sorry about that" and went on my way. When I returned from my drive not a word was said about the incident, but I'll never live it down...

So, not my car, but that's definitely the dumbest / most embarrassing thing I've managed to do.

tldr: Made a point of being an enthusiast, drove a brand new 2013 328i up on a parking block, BMW employees laughed at me.

[tritonx]

Today I placed my E36 in front of a cyclist who wasn't looking where he was going... sigh. At least it's just metal bent, he hit the front fender the door wasn't touched. He had a drink in his hand while driving his bike, he got it all over the hood... Bicycle need to obey the rules of traffic too... , another one almost ran into my truck earlier this month.

[jkoral]

In my E36/5, backing up driveway into garage (in a rush), I got too close to the house and hit the old telephone box that is attached and sticks out from the house. Didn't notice or hear it until I got out and shut the door and saw the scratch along the side of the car and the dent at the edge of the door. The scratch was mostly paint transfer, but the dent remained until sold the car (probably could have been fixed by a paintless dent repair).

You would think I would learn, but a few years later I hit the side of the garage entrance in my E46 Touring (also while I was rushing), scratching up the bumper pretty good in my attempt to tuck the car as close to the wall (and as far away from my kids bikes, etc) as possible.

Super anal in parking lots, both cars were ding free and the worst damage on both cars was caused by me.

Finally learned my lesson with the E82, so I only back into the garage slowly, double checking mirrors and taking my time.

[ken1137]

Originally Posted by alvitdk

Grow a pair.....

Just kidding of course

[dorkdog]

Originally Posted by TheSt|G

Fortunately it's a Prius, so no loss there.

I drove it and was rocking back and forth like a kid on a bike trying to get up a hill.

[dorkdog]

Originally Posted by Nugget

When I finished my first test drive I couldn't figure out how to get the key out!!

On my way back to the dealer with the X5 loaner, I absentmindedly pressed some button and it ended up in park. The light changed and I sat there, panicking, trying to figure out how to make it go. There was a message on the screen about 'press unlock button' but I saw a few buttons and none said 'unlock'.

I sat there for 30-45 seconds getting honked at like crazy, trying to get this $60K to move.

[Golden3ye]

oh oh oh i got one that takes the cake. let the dealer talk me into the 500$ wheel and tire insurance.

[Cozy]

I'm a perfectionist when it comes to having a clean car but last week I just couldn't be bothered to shampoo it as it hadn't been moved. I sprayed the car off with water and proceeded to dry it, all was fine until the drivers side rear quater which must have had dirt on it, got smeared all round in a circular motion and scratched the f*ck out of it. I've since machine polished it back to 'as new' but in future if I can't clean it properly then I won't bother.

[bigEC]

Originally Posted by Golden3ye

oh oh oh i got one that takes the cake. let the dealer talk me into the 500$ wheel and tire insurance.

This... those fuckers

but onto my story:

backing out of my friends driveway i decide its a good time to look anywhere except for behind me and back my 135i into a bush on the side of the driveway. Plenty of wonderful scratches on my driver side rear fender now, yay!

[tuco44]

Originally Posted by Golden3ye

oh oh oh i got one that takes the cake. let the dealer talk me into the 500$ wheel and tire insurance.

As long as the Wheel & Tire insurance is BMW-backed, the premium is not excessive, and live somewhere there are less than ideal roads; the insurance is sometimes not that foolish of a purchase. I know parties who have actually claimed under it, and it can work well if you are unfortunate enough to wreck a wheel or even a RFT.

Not the dumbest thing IMO.

[Section147]

Originally Posted by tuco44

Not the dumbest thing IMO.

Agreed...especially at that price. My dealer wanted $1200!

[Venom]

I now know that my key fob is waterproof/water resistant

[135Pats]

Originally Posted by Section147

Agreed...especially at that price. My dealer wanted $1200!

Same here, 500 is actually a decent deal.

[Fox128i]

Originally Posted by 135Pats

Same here, 500 is actually a decent deal.

Agreed. Mine asked for $1200.00 but I got them down to $500.00. I'm sure they made up the difference somewhere else in the deal though.

Time to check my paperwork.

[sjp3003]

The day after installing a full set of BMW pedals a P-car initiated a game of cat and mouse on my drive home after work. I floored the throttle pedal and lo and behold it stayed flat against the stop and did not come up! Fortunately I have a MN6 so I feathered the clutch and ambled over to the side of the road, with the engine making a racket at WOT and the smell of burnt clutch wafting from my new 135. That damn burnt clutch smell stayed with the car for 2 days.

BTW at first I thought a protruding screw from the new pedal had dug into the stop, but after inspecting it it did not seem to be the case and it has not happened since (might have been the floor mat that somehow wedged the pedal down).

[froop]

I'm a physio so I'm always bending over a plinth treating patients. My convertible is parked right outside the front entrance on the other side of the wall.

Too many times have I walked outside only to find that my roof is either half or completely open due to pressure on the key inside my pocket.

Luckily it's only rained maybe once when that's happened and that time the roof was only half open. Still got all the side of the seats and door wet.

For some reason, no one ever tells me it's open like that. Could've been open for hours.

I don't work in the best part of town either...

[mEekos]

Is this a BMW? Or is it fake?

[DNDC]

When I first got my car I sat in it for a good 10min at the petrol station trying to find the petrol panel release.
Only when I called my friend who has a 135i as well did I realise that its a push panel (FACEPALM)

[BMW86]

Originally Posted by DNDC

When I first got my car I sat in it for a good 10min at the petrol station trying to find the petrol panel release.
Only when I called my friend who has a 135i as well did I realise that its a push panel (FACEPALM)

Welcome to Euro cars man! The petrol panel automatically locks when the car is locked too.

[DNDC]

Hahahah yeah man felt like the biggest knob.