Re: Parking lot troubles

["John Ward" <jtward@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi, I wanted to thank everyone for their responses to my initial post
regarding parking. I've heard a lot of answers and everyone has their own
opinion on the matter. I can respect that. I never expected to recieve so
many responses! I decided to make on unanimous post because otherwise I
would be here replying to mail all night. :-) It is a testimonial on how
well this digest really works. Some of you were sympathetic to my cause
while others felt I was being a "BMW elitist" for parking at the far end of
the lot and taking 2 spaces. I have come to the same conclusion that many of
you have that it is not a good idea to take two spaces most of the time. I
generally do stick to the ends of rows and park as close to the edge as I
can get away with to minimize the possibility of dings. The sad reality is
that a lot of people in this world are jealous or just plain don't care
about other people's possessions. A lot of people don't care if their car
has dings and I happen to feel otherwise. Mine has no dents in it and I plan
on keeping it that way. I was lucky that nothing happened to my car and
consider this a lesson learned. That doesn't make me an "elitist". To the
contrary, I am a second year college student, 20 years old and my BMW ('92
E36 325i sedan) is 7 years old and has almost 123k on it. Yes, it is
possible to keep even an old, high mileage BMW looking nice if you try! I've
had some people think it was actually new.... Most people are ignorant to
the fact that I didn't pay $40,000 for my car! I've gotten a lot of comments
like that at school and work from people driving new Honda Civics that paid
more for their car than I did. It is one of the best kept secrets I don't
plan on telling them about. :-) One last note about ding protection.... I
feel the rub strips on the doors are inadequate in a lot of circumstances. I
wish BMW would adopt the "cladding" used on the lower moldings of some
Mercedes in recent years. (since about 1990 or so) I believe it does a
superior job protecting against dings, rocks, tar, rust protection, and
damage to the lower doors. I also like the way it looks but that is just my
opinion. I wish everyone the best of luck with your BMW and a long, ding
free, prosperous life. <g>

Regards,

John

1990 750iL
1992 325iA
BMW CCA #150800

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