I have a 2003 S (R53 I think?), lately I have been getting frustrated with the door action when parking in semi tight spots in a parking lot: the doors are gigantic, and the points at which the door wants to rest are useless...either too narrow to get out (even with my small frame~145 lbs) or so far that it hits the car next to me. This requires me to put it in the narrow position and sort of squeeze out (think ace ventura 2 rhino scene lol) which doesnt look very good and is very awkward if holding something like a breifcase etc. sorry to rant just trying to paint a picture. anyway I figure a possible solution would be to implement some sort of vertical/gullwing door kit.

I did some research into vertical door kits for mini's, but a specific mini bolt on kit is around 1600$$ which i think is ridiculous. There are generic bolt-on kits available as well for around $250-600 but I am afraid they wont work very well or last very long, and some require a body shop to weld the mechanism to the frame (extra scary and expensive). I am a college student so i dont have too much money to throw around....

any insight into this issue would be greatly appreciated!!

 

Lambo doors are you get what you pay for the universal kits are garbage and will fail in no time...

The Diablo Factory and Verticle Door Kits are great quality ... They will outperform and are easier to install/remove since they don't require welding

I personally hate both and have installed 50+ kits , 95% were brought to the shop to be removed and the other 5% are show cars

 

What was the reason most of them had it removed??

 

Truthfully they are a pain in the butt ... they are great for show cars but daily drivers they get old fast ...
reasons for removals :
strut failure they blow and you can't get the door open ($100s to replace)
can't use in parking garages (no height clearance)
poor sealing/closure (wind noise ect)
most were "I hate these things"