Removing Doors

[Gwest]

Hi Guys: first post so I hope I’m not gonna upset anyone with my first crazy question! I’m thinking of getting a I3 and using its as a Neighborhood golf cart. I have had a Bunch of Polaris Gem cars and one of the Best parts is the open air feeling with having no doors. With the I3 having no B pillar it would have the same open air feeling as a Gem car (photo below) my question is what sort of Mechanical Drama (warning lights & Error codes do you think I’m gonna have if I was to remove the doors? Do they have side Air Bags in the doors?
https://aws1.discourse-cdn.com/standard14/uploads/electricforum/original/2X/5/51017bc4ab7e2aad074580291c071cdeecf5ae17.jpeg

 

[frictioncircle]

Welcome to the forum, Gwest!

I have to say that I love this question!

Not sure how long you've been following the i3 but back when it was a concept car in the early 2010s it had see-through doors!

The i3 doesn't have airbags in the doors. They're in the steering wheel hub (driver head frontal), above the glove compartment lid (front pax frontal), below the instrument panel and glove box (driver and front pax knees) and in the A-pillars through the roof rails (all pax side impact).

If you remove all doors, at the least I'd expect to have constant "front door-open warning" messages. The car may also disable all airbags as it has no idea of the doors' state.

edit: You'll also get errors that the back doors are not closed. I get these errors when I don't forcefully close them.

 

[Gwest]

Ok well that’s good news. I’m guessing you could trick the door sensor they are normally a magnet or somthing. I’m guessing the seat belt.
Driver and passenger are also in the door. So that would also need to be resolved.
Both of those warnings I do think are a big deal to overcome

 

[frictioncircle]

There are no airbags in the doors:

https://www.autoblog.com/buy/2018-BMW-i3/safety-features/

 

[rtanov]

No airbags but the front seatbelts are integrated in the rear doors, so that will caused a problem with the safety system. Might be able to remove the front doors only but that is going to look weird.

 

[eNate]

Good point about the seatbelts (shoulder belt anchors).

I wonder about the structural integrity of the roof without the doors to act as B pillars, but ultimately it's got to be stronger than any golf cart.

Oh, and speakers! You'll need to find a new place so you can play your tunes.

But ultimately, is the i3 really suited for this? It's a big, heavy vehicle, and not the cheapest thing to maintain if something goes wrong.