People suck!!!
 

We have owned our car exactly four days and today someone slammed their door into the side and put a nice dent into the car. Fortunately no paint came off so the dent doctor people should be able to fix it. I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!!!! I purposely parked away from everyone. When we got back to the car they had already droven away. ARGHHH!!!!

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Happens to me too! Mine was around x mas time. Mine was from a bumper! The pulled either in or out of the spot next to me and put a long 2 ft crease in the bottom of my door! I feel your pain.

Just a helpful hint. I always look for nicer cars to park beside. Hopeing the care about their car too.

Sorry to hear that. Some people lack character.

Funny thing is I started a thread with the exact same title when someone hit our X in a parking lot and left without saying anything.

it may have been kids who wouldn't even think twice. I always park away also... or find a non-SUV to park next to because the chances of kids in those is far less these days.

The one ding I have was from the pediatrician's office parking lot. And I made the mistake of parking next to another SUV which I took notice of before I even went in.

I've taken to parking a little bit crooked. Not over the line, just on a bit of a diagonal in my spot. It seems to keep people a bit further way, the terrible drivers don't get to park over the line on my side, and gives a touch more clearance for the doors to open. My theory could be flawed, but it makes parking a little more entertaining.

The x5 side panels do not dent easily. They would have to open their door pretty hard to dent it, almost on purpose I think. Most people don't swing their door open hard enough to dent it, but it could be a kid who just opens it real hard.

The BMW panel metal in general is much less vulnerable to dents than say Honda/Toyota/etc.

Even in my garage I've seen my wife (on accident) a couple times open her door and hit the x5 side panel - never had any visible dent or ding on it and I checked it thoroughly...

When I've been more aware of door dents I seem to attract them. When I don't think about them as much I don't. Then when I've completely forgotten about them I get a nice surprise that restarts the cycle lol. Can't be avoided. You can park really far away where no one is parked... you'll come back to find someone parked immediately next to you.

I try to find a newer sporty car to park next to. Or just nice cars. Those owners seem to be more aware than others. I prefer not to park next to SUVs because I always imagine a clumsy soccer mom or little kid just smacking the door open.

Its crazy this topic ever has to be brought up, people just don't care much if its not theirs. No respect, no care, whatever. Sad but true. I appreciate those that do.

To be honest I really hate it when people do this and I think it may even contribute to others wanting to ding the nice cars on purpose. These people will probably still park next us if we do this and lead them to think "look at this rich a-hole who can't park straight so I think I'll park next to him and screw up his doors".

I think you're imagining something much more extreme than what I described. I said a little bit crooked and inside my lines. I used to park dead center and absolutely straight, but the vast majority of people tend to be crooked and/or off-center anyway. It's a very, very rare occasion when I see someone straightening out their parking job; most people just zip in and leave their car in whatever odd position it landed in.

Maybe people are just much better at parking where you live, but if you lived where I do, you'd be mad at pretty much everybody all the time based on what you wrote.

I'm bound to get dings on my cars. That's why I get the unlimited 5 year ding program from the dealership. Some people may think its a waste of money, but considering it costs roughly $100-$125 for each ding, the break even is roughly 4-5 visits. I got it on both of my cars. And as for me, i've used it 5x already in less than 2 years (and I own a Mini Cooper S). The ding guy knows me by name now.