Rawn

One guy said his car was in the paint shop.
How did he know that?
Is there a web site for tracking the build progress?
Thanks in advance,

Ron
Montreal

Iceman

Welcome aboard, Rawn !

alohalc

welcome aboard, rawn !

EBMCS03

I think only for USA you can.

We have a 800 number to call or can check on owners circle at www.bmwusa.com

purth01

I think only for USA you can.

We have a 800 number to call or can check on owners circle at www.bmwusa.com
[/quote]
If in the US, you can call 800-831-1117 and with the production number get more updated info then the website, also the Customer Care rep has more accurate and detailed info then the recording.

das

Just thought I'd add this here, as I've posted it elsewhere...

First, the dealer has the most up-to-date information about the car throughout its entire production process, which they can access in their online ordering system. I got some of the information from there. But most salesmen get irritated if you call them twice a day to check on the production status.

What I used most was the BMWNA Customer Relations line, 800-831-1117. They have an automated voice response system that is usually fairly up-to-date, and correspond with the various production status codes. Of course, the automated system doesn't mind if you call it every five minutes.

You can also talk directly to an agent at BMWNA Customer Relations. They have access to essentially the same status information as the dealer does, but ONLY until the vehicle reaches the port of exit. Beyond that, they can't track it any more. Sure, BMWNA as an organization has the capability to do so, but they don't give the Customer Relations callcenter people access to any tools to do so; after it reaches the port of exit, your dealer and Owner's Circle (which itself is several days behind and not very detailed) are the only places to get status updates from BMW. So after it arrives at the port in Germany, the dealer is your best source.

However, there are also some non-BMW sources that can help. If your car boards a Wallenius Wilhemsen ship, you can track it via its VIN number at:

http://schedule.2wglobal.com/AppTracking/s...?trackType=Auto

This will show you when your car gets on the ship, and by clicking on the Voyage Number, you can see all the ports of call and dates. You can also see when your vehicle is unloaded from the ship.

If your car isn't on a Wallenius Wilhelmsen ship, there are still other ways to track it. Once your car gets on a ship, your dealer can tell you the name of the ship. You can then look it up by name on the following Coast Guard site to get its callsign:

http://cgmix.uscg.mil/PSIX/PSIX2/VesselSearch.asp

Once you have its callsign, you can track its progress using:

http://sailwx.info/shiptrack/

Here's an example for FREEDOM, a ship currently en route:

http://www.sailwx.info/shiptrack/shipposit...ml?call=WDB5483 (You can zoom out to get a bigger picture, and see its previous tracking information.)

Also, even though you can't track it with carriers other than Wallenius Wilhelmsen, other shippers still at least provide voyage data for the ship itself, in the form of dates of arrival at ports of call and so on. BMW uses 3 shippers:

Wallenius Wilhelmsen
K Line
NYK Line

Each of them has a Schedules link where you can look up ship schedules.

Many ports also have web pages operated by the port administration. Some of these sites show incoming vessel schedules, and up-to-the minute information about what vessels are docked, when unloading started and ended, and when the vessel left.

After your car arrives at the port, really the only source of information about the vehicles status the rest of the way is your dealer. The can tell you when your car arrives at the VPC, when it is finished at the VPC, when it is released to the carrier, and when it leaves the VPC (and an ETA at the dealer).

All of this, of course, is quite unnecessary. But tracking it along its way at least gives you something to do during the long wait.

amigo525

in my case 800-831-1117 was not that effecient at all. It was before the car got into the vessel. After that it was not so effecient. About 1 week ago My salerep phoned me to tell me my car was in the preparation center. I phone the 1800 and it told me my car was "awaiting for transport' I know every case is different...but in my case that 1800 was very in-effecient..my 2 cents.

ksleher

First of all, great info here. i have had a great deal of success tracking using the info from here. A couple of more links and info to track your car better....

If your car is already at the port of exit (Bremerhaven) and waiting for a vessel and you like to know the ships that will be sailing in the near future. You can find that at the Port of Bremerhaven website. This shows the list of all ships......

Go to http://www.bremen-ports.de/623_2
Click on "Sailings" in the left menu
Click on "Furthur Information" link under "Conventional departures"
Under the "Region" dropdown, select "NORDAMERIKA-OSTKUESTE" (for east coast)
Click "Find".

This link is for all vessels sailing from Bremerhaven to the east coast of North America. (for west coast, select the west coast option in the drop down list).

http://www.bremen-ports.de/index.php?id=69...IKA+-+OSTKUESTE

Once you know the name of the ship that your baby is going to be in, and you would like to track the ship across the pond. In addition to the links in the previous posts, a good resource is http://www.vesseltracker.com/en/Googleearth.html . You need have google earth installed to use this.

The info here is delayed by about 24 hrs (free version). If you like to sit in front of the computer and watch the ship, then you do have the option of getting real time ship info for a price. Check the website for details.

hope that helps

Rudy

For vessels that are arriving at the port of Charleston, SC (the port closest to the Spartanburg VPC), you can see the vessel schedule by clicking here:

http://www.scspa.com/vessel_schedule.asp

I believe that the ships that unload our cars dock at the "Union Pier" terminal (abbreviated "UP" on the schedules):
http://www.scspa.com/term_and_infra/charle...ionterminal.asp

Happy tracking!

fastboyuk

Does anyone know if there's a way for UK buyers to track their vehicle's order status, short of calling their dealer?