lebenz,

That's right, I'm way too stupid to understand your point because you are so much more intelligent than me..... Wait a minute!, maybe you are just not adequately articulate to get your point across in writing. No, that surely isn't the problem. I mean when someone is so vastly superior, they MUST be articulate!

Whatever, it's too bad you declined my offer, I was looking forward to reading all your insults.

Have a great day,

Yal- we hear your message...hope it influences the right people.

In counterpoint, though, not all are fortunate to possess an aptitude, capacities, or training to "think" let alone a desire to "think" while participating in this thing called "life".

Further, factor in that there are too many versions of what is referred to as "common-sense" or "logical".....then it really gets interesting.

Prime example: Just yesterday observed a late model lowered Honda Civic super-tailgating (less than 1/4 a car length) a Ford Excursion that had cut him off to avoid a highway onramp lane merge collision. From behind, I estimated speeds in excess of 85mph. Wonder who would be on the short end if the Excursion needed to stomp on the brakes? My thought, "wise move Mr.", but was satisfied to rationalize that its, survival of the fittest....and the only person one can really control is oneself.

-fad

-fad,

Excellent point!

Have a great day,

Thanks Larry.


-fad

-fad, I doubt it.

But sorry for my preaching, I just couldn't resist:)

My Theory......Magnetism
 

I figured it out. Mercedes come from the factory with a positive magnetic charge that attracts metal objects such as, but not limited to; doors, shopping carts, keys (ouch!), as well as other cars (big ouch!).

I had a kid throw a penny at my car from the oncoming lane once. That REALLY pissed me off! There are STILL skid marks (couple months old) from where I pulled a 180 in the middle of the street to chase after him. Sadly, he got away.

Yeah, I know it's a little to late to be telling a story in this thread, as it has now reached a philosophical level, but, I thought I'd share.

I was thinking about this thread as I parked in the grocery store parking lot to pick up some pictures I had taken of my beautiful Benz that had just been developed. I parked far away from any cars, but noticed a loose shopping cart in the row in front of me. After locking my car, as a courtesy to others (but mosty me) I headed over the cart to take it inside and prevent it from attacking the cars in the lot. As I walked away from my car, I felt a slight breeze, and the cart actually turned around completely, and headed straight for my car! This is the magnet theory in action!!:eek: (almost Needless to say, when I came outside, there was an SUV parked next to me too)

I'll soon be a Junior in High School, (probably one of the younger ones in this forum) and every day of the last two months of my sophmore year when I acquired my Mercedes, I parked my car (usually double parked) in the back row of the lot. Frequently the others that bothered to walk as far as I, and parked next to me, were a mid-80's Dodge Dynasty (we called it the dirty Dynasty, hehe), and a slightly rusted White El Camino. The other guys at school with Trans-Ams, or a new BMW, etc. parked as close as possible. It just shows who has pride in their car. The back row should be an honor.

I'm sure everyone has at one time been a victim of a ding. What puzzles me especially is that EVERY car manufacturer in the WORLD also knows the frustrations of this event, and have yet to come up with a bright idea!!! The engineers have only had 70 solid years to work on this, right?

Lets see, what are some ideas you Guys and Gals can come up with?

My first would be simple, make the door material thicker, to the point where a ding would only be created by VERY forceful impacts. I can hear the arguments against this one already, but this would only be in the doors mind you. As well, better more durable mirror finishes to match!

Second, charge up a very large capacitor when ever you leave the car and set the alarm and the next time a door hits my car..... BOOM. :D How many years in jail would that one get?

What was the commercial where the woman surrounds her precious SUV with a wall of shopping carts to protect it??

I'm gonna start doing that. I'll let everyone know how well it works. :) ;)

Ross, My Boy...
 

You need to watch more TV. If you did you would see a recent commercial where Saturn touts their ding resistant doors.

Look for the 10-speed bike that falls over on it's own (when the production assistant is cued to let go of the pedal), and isn't held up by a kickstand...

It's a hoot!:cool:

Scott, I watch plenty of TV and I am aware of the "Saturn solution", however..... plastic doors are not my first pick.

How would Mercedes buyers feel if DC took this approach?

How about making the edges, just the edges, of all car doors out of thick pliable rubber and not one of those stick-on things. It doesn't even have to look gawdy and black, afterall we are painting yellow thread patterns into tires these days.

Or even better make spring hinges worth a damn on some of these doors.

Or even better hydraulically controlled car doors. There is a heavy door at my job that I cannot slam no matter how hard I try and all it has is simple little piston valve on the top. Then if you really want to get technical add a proximity sensor to the door that controls the hydraulic pressure and stops the door when it gets too close to an object.

This will all probably never happen but no harm in dreaming:D:D

the REAL solution.
 

The only real solution here is to KEEP YOUR BENZ SAFELY PARKED AT HOME!!!!!

Everyone needs to get themselves a BEATER to drive to these ghetto parking lots...

You can always get in your Benz IN THE GARAGE and PRETEND to drive it...

IMAGINE how perfect your Benz would stay and how LOW the milage would be on it!

You could STILL DRIVE your Benz to safe places, like Grandma's house (IF she has a driveway).

This is the REAL SOLUTION.....:D

~Christy

Here's a vote for adopting the daily driver vehicle strategy (aka beater's)- - reverses the position altogether by placing us 'on the other side' (with those whom appear not to care or whom appear careless). A MBZ beater?

Here's another vote for protecting beloved showpieces in a secure gallery, museum, vault, or bubble. And when they are taken out,,,may they never leave your guard...for at worst they may be stolen.

This topic is a closed equation where there are no unknowns. Only way to realistically avoid the natural outcome of dings, dents, etc. is to alter the equation (keep doors, fender, bumpers+++ at home,,,,,("no head= no headache")- - or eliminate participation in the equation altogether.

Otherwise, we live with it and deal with the consequences, hot under the collar or not.

-fad

I got dinged and followed the SOB home with my digital camera.











http://209.15.12.10/Trailer/images/janitershouse.jpg

In response to Christy's post from the 7th:
http://www.cse.fau.edu/~ncarter/240d/bumper1.jpg
http://www.cse.fau.edu/~ncarter/240d/bumper2.jpg

These are from the latest IMPCO/Performance Products catalog. Yes, I know it's sacrilege to post them here, but I don't think PartsShop/FastLane carry these.

Also, the W123 body style (and probably others of that era) have a nice rubber & chrome trim strip that runs along the entire length of the side of the car. My 18-year-old 240D has NO dings along the sides, and only one paint chip that was probably caused by something other than a door, as it is only about 18" off the ground. My wife's 1-year-old Beetle has four or five minor dings on the passenger side, no paint damage thankfully.

And, to the previous post: ROFLMAO

- Nathan
'83 240D "Steiner"
'00 New Beetle TDI

What a great idea! So whenever we get out of the car we attach these to the car next to ours? ;)

Kuan

They are magnetic, idiots will steal them to protect their precious Camaro.

Good point about the Camaros!

This brings up a question in my mind. I wonder how often the Camaro drivers must re sharpen the pointed edge of those doors to maintain their dent making capability. I mean they must go blunt after a certain number of successful dings.

Have a great day

Nah! Camaro doors are carbide tipped, so they never need sharpening!

I think the 125 ft/lb hydraulic opener plays a role as well with the hammer forged mini anvil welded to it.

So the real lesson here is to perform a pre-emptive strike and bring a welding device with you and just weld the doors of the vehicles next to you shut. That way they can’t ding yer car, and they aren’t going anywhere soon… ;)

There would be a lot of "General Lee's" around here!

In all honesty GM cars (not sure about ford) have the roller door stop mechanism which causes it's fair share of problems. When that baby is on the back stroke of the roller it fly's open I have had to catch many doors of my own that got away. Without monthly lubrication they get harder to push so as you are pushing harder and roller hit's the downstroke that sucker heads to your door like a aluminum recycler to an abandoned mobile home. Then your door see's the punishment of good ol american know how.

i drive a 3ooE now and i dont think people most people do it on purpose i used to drive a older chevy nova that was pretty clean and i had the same problem with that car so i dont think it has anything to do with fancy cars i just think people are careless

Dings
 

Gentlemen and ladies,

My son and I have a theory. There are an infinite number of people in the world and a finite amount of intelligence, consequentally many appear to have arrived at the front of the line after all the intelligence was already doled out. I guess after reading this thread and having similar experiences, we'll have to alter our theory to include civility, too. Barbarians apparently multiply exponentially.

Ben

A rational solution or atleast a logical explanation.
 

Some businesses that are both inclined to think this way and are trully considerate of their customers paint their lots with large spaces so that even the big coupes of the world can open their doors with abandon and not clobber their neighbors. The overwhelming recent pattern however, like a lot of things in american business, is to maximize profits even when larger "subtle" costs to the customer are involved if they believe that the customer will "take it" without changing their consumer behavior. Lack of service issues at the "big box" chain stores is an example, but the consumers nonetheless keep returning at the expense of the small and usually locally owned service oriented stores.

As a strong believer in free enterprise, I feel the consumer should dictate these trends. The one at issue is the move to small parking spaces which has sort of crept up without any one realizing it over the past several (or more) years. In the world of free enterprise, your vote ($) counts. If the stores/businesses you frequent don't respect you or your property enough to provide reasonably sized spaces don't shop there (and perhaps let them know why). This may not necessarily cause significant immediate changes but it might eventually make architects/planners note the issue in future development and possibly on existing lot resurfacing/restriping. Who knows, our anti-dinging crusade might subtlely change the parking world one day (or at least at a few stores).

The only real solution (or at least one that mitigates your risk) is to park at the end of the lot and hope for the best. My Chevy pickup doesn't fit well into most spaces, so I park out anyway and I do the same with the 300D as well. I've always done it to mitigate the exposure from others and it has worked most of the time.

Besides, I need the exercise.....:)

in parking lots, i avoid parking beside 2-door cars (especially the large American ones), because of their long doors. Or SUVs, because the high doors will ding against the metal part of my door, and not the plastic cladding.

i try to park beside minivans with sliding doors.

sometimes i park to the left of 2-doors or SUVs (i.e., on their driver's side) on the assumption that the driver is more careful about opening the door than the passenger.

a clean neighbor car/SUV is also an indication that the driver cares about his/her car, and is likely to also be careful about his/her door hitting your car.

in the end, it's just probabilities, and i view the dings on my door (as long as they're not too big, and don't expose metal) as scars you pick up in life, and wear like a "mileage badge".

knock on zebrano wood ... ;)

Not long ago, as I was loading my golf tools at a local country club, I saw the ultimate auto disrespect. A very professional looking gentleman in his mid fifties, was preparing to load his gear up. He walked up to his new Lexus and hoisted his big golf bag onto the deck lid!! What a total disrepect for his car, I thought!! But I was wrong, he did respect his car! He opened the trunk of his Mercedes next to it and placed the bag in it!:rolleyes: