[grub]

Can anyone tell me exactly how to track my order? I have read all the threads/posts that I can find and the FAQs (which seem to be more US specific). I am sure it can be done as I have heard of friends of friends who have tracked their orders to Australia.

However, I haven't been provided with a VIN number by the dealer and the dealer seemed to have no idea how to go about the tracking process.

When can you get your VIN number, do you have to get it from your dealer, or can you apply to get it from another party if the dealer is unwilling/unable to provide the information, what is the current website address to track your order, what information do you have to enter and how is this information entered?

I paid my deposit on17/3/07 but the order didn't become final (ie the specs could not longer be changed) until 5/4/07. The expected date of delivery is mid July 2007. Thanks

[poki]

Hey grub, welcome.

You will definitely need your VIN to track your car.

AFAIK, the only way to get your VIN is from your dealer. From memory, the VIN is allocated just before your car goes into production. They may not be able to give you your VIN yet but they could give you a production number (which is all but useless anyway). However - unless things have changed since I ordered, the VIN and the production number come through the same computer system. (ergo - if you can get one, you can get the other later).

Maybe talk to someone who has a clue in your dealership? They may have a policy of not telling you too - that way you are not waiting at the dealer when your car comes off the truck - if it happens to have gotten damaged during shipping they won't have a cranky customer to deal with. Good luck

[grub]

Thanks for this. I have emailed the dealer asking for a VIN and am now waiting patiently...

[bigturtle]

Grub, presumably you've bought it from one of the Brisbane delaers? (given you location). Ours came from Motorline at Daisy Hill, and they were able and happy to supply the VIN number as soon as they had it.

[bugiz]

The only way you can track it is through the shipping company.. Wallenius. (google it)
There's no point getting the VIN this early as, your car probably hasn't been booked in for shipping. Thus can't track it as of yet.

[minigolf]

Wallenius Wilhelmsen: Enter Cargo ID(s) and then click on Track

When you get your VIN, put it into the Cargo ID field ... voila.

[grub]

Got my VIN today from the dealer!!

But alas, there is no tracking info available yet... It shouldn't be too much longer before I can track the process though, because it looks like the trip between Southampton and Brisbane is around 5 weeks.

Also, the website details appear to have changed a little bit. The current site address is:

Cargo Tracking

[MickyD]

did you get the full VIN or just the 7 digit production code?

[grub]

The code I got was just 7 digits. Is this the wrong code?

[MickyD]

full VIN is 17 digits (ending with the 7 you have), not sure that you can track the car with just the prod code.

[minigolf]

The production code is different to the last seven characters of the VIN anyway isn't it? I also thought that the first 12 characters were the same (save for perhaps the digit which indicates the year of manufacture) and that the only unique characters were the last seven?

[grub]

I did a bit of internet research, which suggested that the production code is numeric whereas the last 7 digits of the VIN is in alphanumeric form.

So, I think I only got the last 7 digits of the VIN which is like the unique vehicle serial number.

I also saw a few website docs around which tell you how to decode your VIN (eg Decoding your MINI's VIN. ) so I had a go at constructing the rest of my VIN. I used the website references plus had a look at the structure of a few 2007 VINs which seemed to vary a bit from the systems previously documented - ie they now seem to use more zeros - in digit places 8 and 10 - ??? Basically, the system appears to be:

Digit place
1 - country of manufacture - W for Germany (even though it is England?)
2 - make - M for MINI
3 - W - I am not really sure what this stands for
4 & 5 - model and body type eg RF for cooper convertible or RC for cooper hard top
6 - 1 for diesel or 3 for gasoline
7 - 1 for LH drive, 2 for RH drive and 3 for US market
8 - as noted above, this seems to be a 0 (zero) in Australia for 2007 but previously has been a 4 for car <2004 or 5 for some 2005 models
9 - a checking digit from 0-9 or X - I just tried them all out to seem which one worked in the cargo id.
10 - again, this seems to be a 0 (zero) this year but previously seemed to reflect the year of build.
11-17 - 7 digit "serial" number (alphanumeric) for your car

Anyway, this seemed to work

[minigolf]

The first 12 characters of my VIN (April 04 build) are: WMWRE32070xxxxxxx

The first character indicates the country of origin of the manufacturer, not the assembly plant.

For another nifty feature you may not be aware of, stick the last 7 characters from your VIN into this website, and voila, instant parts catalogue!

[scully]

The dealer can give you the full vin number which you will need to track it. If you've got a nice dealer they can also give you updates on the progress of your car before it reaches the shipping website. They get updates from the factory which tell them the expected build date, actual build date, compliance date and a couple of others. When BMW update their system, the salesperson is able to look your car up and tell you those dates when they've happened.

Having said that some salespeople haven't got a clue how to use their computers and they'll tell you they can't. Just tell them to ring Distribution at BMW and they'll be able to tell them.

Also, the time between your car docking in the country and reaching the dealer shouldn't take more than about a week (unless everyone is amazingly busy, or slack).

[daisygirl]

When we ordered our MINI two years ago the dealer didnt understand why we wanted the VIN and couldnt comprehend that he wanted to track it.

It was actually a very interesting exercise and on the morning of arrival we were down at the dock peering through the fence hoping to catch a glimpse of our MINI. Unfortunately it was one of the last to unload so didnt get to see anything but we went back the next day and a lovely kind security guard took some photos for us to prove that it actually had arrived and all wrapped up in the special white plastic.

Once ship docked on a Friday and we had possession by the next Thursday.

Have fun tracking your new MINI and hopefully we will see you on a clubMINI run one way.

[grub]

If I have got my VIN right, there is a 5 week (!) delay between arrival and the dealer's estimated delivery date...

Also, does anyone know which Brisbane dock the MINIs come into - is it Fishermans Island (RoRo vessels) or Hamilton (PCTC vessels)?

I have also been trying to track the actual current location of the ship - in addition to the shipping information from Wallenius Wilhelmsen. I have the call sign for the vessel and tried looking at the marine obs data on the Oceanweather, Inc website but can't locate the ship's call sign - the graphics aren't all that clear though. I also found another website (vesseltracker.com - AIS Schiffspositionen live Tracking und elektronischer Schiffsmeldedienst) which has a GoogleEarth vessel dataset but it really only seems to have good data for the Germany- France region. Does anyone know of any other websites that have current vessel location data?

[21Blue]

all new cars into Brisbane now arrive at Fishermans Island. Some of them use to be at Hamilton, (see my album for pics). Tracking a MINI is part of the fun in ownership. Hope your MINI arrives safely...

[grub]

Thanks for this info 21Blue.

I agree that tracking is fun - would be more fun if I could find it in between port stops better though.. It feels like it is taking forever to get here. Grub

[grub]

Just been looking at your gallery 21Blue and saw there are some great computer screen shot showing the port and shipping tracking websites, if anyone wants to see exactly what they look like.

When you start wanting to track your order, the whole thing is a complete mystery and this would be quite helpful..

[minigolf]

Heaps and heaps of information on this topic will be if the search button is used.