How are those slab sides when it comes to preventing door dings?

Yesterday I test drove the 335i for myself since I had the day off. Yes, that's right, a 17 year old male behind the wheel of a Montego Blue 335i coupe (sport, auto, nav, paddles) with 5 miles on the odo which was just released as a demo car because I guess the buyer failed financially. As a result, I couldn't bring myself to flog such a beautiful machine that was brand new. Oh and my sales rep did ride with me, but she didn't take down my license.

Besides my miserable luck of running into traffic, it was a decent test drive. I used iDrive with no problems while driving (it's not hard depending on your logic) and appreciated the quick shifts of the automatic. I didnt bother with the paddle shifters (tried them on other cars before, I get bored), but I quickly realized the transmission was quick and different from conventional "slushboxes", albeit it wasn't broken in so there were quite a few harsh shifts. My oil temp gauge read just over the 210F mark, so I judge that as normal.

Bottom line: it's a fantastic vehicle, but it just doesn't speak to me. It's too uninvolving in normal driving, the steering is still a hair lacking in road feel, and it's not as alive as the E46 or even my E83. Now its just fast fast fast (unnecessarily so, except for bragging rights) and attention attention attention. I think I'll pass on this one. Given $50k, I'd be searching for a E46 M3.