aargh - Can't park straight!

M

mrklaw

Member
Its taking some time to get used to my blooming coupe!

Firstly I park about 20ft from the rear wall in car parks as I can't get used to the rear being so close to me (I'm a bit the same with the wife's focus). I have parking sensors but they're intermittent so I don't trust them

Then, I can't park straight in the bays. I'm so used to parking in my office car park next to a concrete pillar that I tend to use my drivers side wing mirror to line up. But the big hips on the coupe confuse me and I end up parking at an angle.

Turning circle is also off, so I take a bit of to-ing and fro-ing, and still end up wonky!

Any tips? Or just persevere?
 
Just practise in empty parking bays mate. A little bit of training will go a long way. Learn how small a gap your car can turn in, say 3 turns left gives full lock, so 2 turns gives 2/3rds etc, depending on the space you need to turn into. Then get out and check.
You can also use different parts of the car as reference points, when reversing, I use the door handle reflection, line of sight, in the side mirror to tell me how far back i can go. Once it lines up with the kerb Im reversing upto I know Im almost as far back as I can be. I have parking sensors, but would rather rely on visual aids. I don't think I'll ever totally trust technology...
As for parking forwards in... I can't really see the end of the bonnet, so I use the reflections in other cars to see the front end.
 
First make sure you have purchased a paint 'touch up kit' from BMW.....then practice makes perfect! :thumbsup:
 
peddy said:
I lower my side mirrors so i can see the kerb better.
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X3

Wish they would tilt autmatically on reverse like my mums E90.

On the convertible rear is distence dead easy - even easier with the roof down - but the front its more tricky - but as my auto lights seem to be on all the time i judge the front by the reflections of my headlights.

And those wide rear arches look awesome in the mirrors - but are pain to use when bay parking - also when trying to slott through narrow spaces - as they extend out almost as far as the wind mirrors!
 
Cant live without my reverse sensors now. My mates E46 had the tilting mirrors aswell, why dont they put this on all BMW's
 
Trying to get used to a huge bonnet again, multi-story car parks are a nightmare!
 
It's petrol pumps that used to get me when I first got the zed.

Stop just past the pump in the usual place for my other car - get out - then realise the filler cap is a country mile from the pump face!
 
I've not got the PDC fitted so I open the drivers door and hang out of it whilst reversing, it's not the easist method but it works for me.
 
sars said:
Trying to get used to a huge bonnet again, multi-story car parks are a nightmare!
Click to expand...

I was really worried the first time I went into a multistorey with my Z. Only had it two days, and it was one of those car parks with a spiral entrance with huge concrete kerbs. And me having no idea where the front of the car. Got away with it though.

I do miss the auto-tilt wing mirrors, but even tilting manually I can't see the rear tyres to really fine tune getting close to the kerb.

I think its the rear wings that make my misjudge the angle, I'll just need to keep practising
 
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