Lotus99

Nice! I'll tell you what I did to protect the bumper. The one that I saw in a BMW catalog (might have been a Euro one) was just for the top portion IIRC, and not a lot of coverage. So I decided to go with getting Clearbra put on instead so her paws wouldn't scratch the paint.

There's a place online that sells it precut, but it also was mostly along the top again.

And then I found a local mobile guy, who for $100, came and just hand cut it to cover the whole top side, as well as a few inches down the vertical side of the bumper.



And then, I decided I didn't like her muddy paws on the sill between the bumper and inside the hatch, so I got the lady from Poochstyle to make me a two foot flap in matching fabric, that I can unfold after opening the tailgate and flip over the bumper, before the dog jumps back in the car or out. If you go this route, I can dig up its dimensions probably for you. I leave its edge tucked in under the floor compartment so it doesn't slip out when the dog steps on it.

EDIT - Here are the pics. If you've not gotten yours made, I'm sure she can just make the bumper flap for you and attach it in the first place to the original mat via Velcro or something, rather than an after thought like in my case (I didn't think I'd need it with my Clearbra) and have to tuck it into the compartment to keep it secure.

Yeah, I got the idea from an Accessories brochure.
.

Lotus99

PS Oh, the other awesome thing I did, which took some work, but was totally worth it, is I went thru Ebay and sourced an OEM dog guard that goes above the seats (and IIRC, you can even fold the seats down with it in place if you want), since you can't seem to order them from a dealer here for some reason.

If you want info on that, let me know.

boerboel

Ok thanks for that Lotus. I did order the one with the bumper flap and the front seat extender, as i usually roll around with the back seats down and the dog has the whole run of the back of the car. In my E39 i had the dog netting in place, but with this poochstyle thing, i don't think it will work, even if i cut it to fit the notches of the cargo blind. My other idea is to engineer a cutout for the rear seat vents, as my dog is always hot, she's a 160 lb mastiff. Tint is coming later this week, and should help cool off the interior, its very hot when the sun gets going. I will probably get the tint shop to 3m the rear bumper top and side a few inches, it is already taking a beating.

Lotus99

Good stuff. With a German Shepherd and the amount of shedding she does, I had to put my foot down as to where she can roam, so I got the dog guard. Plus, it's technically safer, if you're not going to harness her while driving around.

But when my wife takes her out in her car (a Mazda 5), it's quite funny - you return to the car, and she's sitting there in the driver's seat!

I've toyed with getting tint done. Do you have Comfort Access? Years ago, I had read of some people having issues with it, after getting tint done, and ours is flaky enough as it is, so I didn't want to gamble on the tint brand and model.

boerboel

No Comfort access. its going to Auto-link for a tint next week, i just need the highest heat reduction i can get. Overall i'm happy, getting compliments on it already.

oclvframe

Not to hijack the pooch pad thread but I have comfort access and I also have all my windows tinted with no issues. I used Formula One's Pinnacle series tint: Pinnacle Series - FormulaOne High Performance Automotive Film it is full ceramic with no metallic content. The driver/passenger windows are 35% and the rears are 15% to keep within Ga tint laws. Car looks awesome and the heat reduction is outstanding.

-r

Lotus99

@ oclvframe - Thx for that.

RooneyTunes

Haha, I keep the hair contained by only allowing the dogs in kennels. Rear seat down, a 36" kennel for my GSD male and a 30" kennel for my female. They fit side by side which is awesome and so both dogs can be let out through the lift gate. Also nice when you stop you can just open up the back glass and some windows and the dogs are still contained and getting air during hot days.

Lotus99

With the rear seat down, I guess you can leave a kennel in there. But with the seats up, there's not enough depth for a non-custom kennel that would fit a medium sized dog, due to the sloping glass. Our GSD female is 70 pounds. Since I've got the BMW dog guard above the seats, at least the hair just stays in the trunk.

On the topic of air flow, I bought a Ventlock Tailgate Lock which sounded like a great idea, but ended up ruining the locking mechanism of the car, so beware. It technically fits, but as I found out later, our hatch's soft close mechanism, unlike a simple manual one, would try to do its thing, and screwed up its motor because I had installed the Ventlock.

Leerburg | Ventlock Tailgate Lock

RooneyTunes

I have a 36" crate off ebay that fits in the trunk with the seats up just fine. My much larger male fits in there nicely. It's not something I'd do for long periods of time, but in the car, and at training, works great. I had the same set up in my MINI, with the rear seats removed of course, which was quite fun to pop open a 36" crate in the back of that car. This one, just slides in and out when needed which is awesome.

This is my next purchase for the car... Variocage U.S. - Mim Variocage Dog Crate, Variocage Car Crash Safety Crate

A friend of mine got one and I keep forgetting to see if it will fit into an e61, but I think it should slide in just fine.