[tsipple]

Folks, this is just too cool to keep a secret...

By now many of you know that the MINI Owners' Lounge (https://ol.miniusa.com) lets you track your MINI through its various stages, once you have either a production number or a VIN.

However, did you know that you may also be able to figure out what ship is carrying your MINI? And (roughly) where that ship might be? When it loaded your MINI from port? And when it's expected to arrive? What its next port-of-call might be (and when)?

There are a lot of variables here, so this procedure may not work for everyone. But, here's how you do it:

1. Go to http://www.wlna.com
2. Click on Vessel Schedule
3. Click on Americas
4. Click on Cargo Tracking
5. Click on Auto
6. Enter the cargo ID for your MINI. In my case, it was the last 7 characters in the VIN (for example, TE12345).
7. With luck, you should get the port of origin (Southampton for MINIs) and port of destination (New York, for example). You'll also get the vessel name and voyage number. And you'll see when your MINI was loaded aboard the ship. Click on the voyage number.
8. You should then see the itinerary for the ship, including expected (and actual) arrival dates.

According to this web site, my MINI was checked aboard on March 17, 2002. It has not yet been checked off the ship, but the ship was scheduled to arrive today (March 26, 2002), then weigh anchor for Baltimore.

Of course, this assumes that your U.S.-bound MINI is being carried aboard a ship of the Wallenius Line. Also, I found the Wallenius web site to be very fussy. It didn't work well with Netscape, and it didn't really work too well (except after a couple attempts) with Internet Explorer. Your mileage may definitely vary.

Also, if you don't have your MINI's VIN (Vehicle Identification Number), but you do have its production number, you can sign up in the MINI Owners' Lounge with your production number then look in your vehicle's order information to see the VIN.

By the way, your MINI may spend anywhere from two days to one week in the Vehicle Processing Center (VPC) when it arrives in port, according to what I've read. Then your MINI travels by enclosed truck carrier to your dealer.

[davydo]

This is SOOOOO cool... I now know my baby's at sea, soon to arrive in NY on April 4. It's sailing upon the fair "JINGU MARU"

Let's just hope nobody on the ship is listening to Gordon Lightfoot ("the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald"!)

[Apex]

The Hudson Leader left Southampton this morning!
My car is on it!

Any icebergs in the area?

[Yurinaut]

I hope not. My S is on that Ship!!!

Impatiently waiting....
Mike
Dark Silver S, Lapis Blue Gravity, Sorts, Premium packs, White roof and mirror caps.

I noticed the MINIUSA site isn't updated yet to show that it's in transit but, the shipping company says it's on the boat and that works for me!

[jcnick]

This tracking stuff is all to much...

So, does anybody know of a web site which will acutally plot the location of a ship (such as the Tristan) on a map?

OMG... I'm loosing it

[kcmini]

After you received your production number, how long did it take to tell you when your build date would be?

I just set up my account and it tells me I ordered by it does not tell me anything else yet.

BTW, buying a macintosh computer from Apples online store gets you into the same kind of tracking. You find yourself constantly tracking your order. Makes the wait almost unbearable. Apples' tracker is much easier though I might add.

[jcnick]

I found a pretty good little write up on the general BMW order/shipping methods... here is the juicy bits from the FAQ created by Kris Linquist.

The entire FAZ is at: http://e46fanatics.com/faq/faqs.php


Q: What does it mean to order a car? How does it work? What happens at my dealer/at BMW in Germany when I order a car?

A: Almost all cars (see * below) are "custom ordered" cars. All BMW dealers are 'allocated' a certain number of production slots for their cars. The initial allocation for any given month occurs about 5-6 weeks prior to that month's start of production.

Initially, the dealer orders each car with a set of options/color combinations that they think will be popular and sell well. Up to a certain point ('Status 112') in time before the car is made, the specs on the car are still fully changeable (list of status codes here [existing link]). This is where the "ordering process" fits in.

Customer arrives at dealer with a certain set of options/color combos in mind, and there just aren't cars that are close enough to your specs that are available, either on the lot, as dealer trades, or already ordered and coming to the dealer soon, etc. What the dealer does is *change* the options they previously ordered on one of their allocated production slots to the exact specs that the customer wants. Ideally, this would be the next available production slot that is still changeable, and that has not yet been sold to someone else who also ordered a car. At times of very high demand though, (like when the E46 or M3 was first introduced), production slots were sold out for several months into the future.

So now there is a car scheduled for production with exactly the set of options/colors/etc. that you want. The production slot on the dealer's allocation list is uniquely identified by its "production number". WHEN WRITING YOUR DEPOSIT CHECK TO THE DEALER, WRITE THE PRODUCTION NUMBER ON THE CHECK! This now means that there's a production slot (and hence a car) "with your name on it". A good dealer will also enter your name in the 'customer name' field of Vehicle Inquiry Report.

Before the car is built, the dealer will be able to tell you in which week of the calendar year the car will be produced, but not the day of the week. A couple of days before the car is produced, they should be able to tell you the VIN, and once it has been made, they should be able to tell you the exact production date.

After the car has been made, it might have to wait a couple of days at the factory to be put on a train, which takes it to Bremerhaven, where it will be loaded onto a ship (probably Wallenius) to be taken to the US. (or you could choose European Delivery.) The time between your exact production date and when your car is loaded on a Wallenius ship in Bremerhaven ranges from about 7 to 14 days, with the average being around 10 days.

Once your car has been placed on a ship, your dealer should be able to tell you the name of the vessel. You can then see when that vessel will arrive by going to Wallenius's vessel schedule web page (http://www.wlna.com/vescols.htm). Note: Occasionally Wallenius will 'rent' space on other non-Wallenius ships to keep up with demand. Email Wallenius with your VIN# if you can't seem to find your ship and they can give you arrival details.

If you are on the West coast, your car will arrive at Port Hueneme in Oxnard, CA. If you are on the East coast, your car will arrive through either Port Jersey/Newark, NJ or the port of Charleston, SC depending on which region your dealer is in. For a map depicting the regions served by each port, use this link: (http://www.bmwnation.com/members/ausgang/BMWPORTS.jpg)

After it arrives at the dock, it is taken to the VPC (Vehicle Preparation Center). The time it spends at the VPC depends on the flow (volume) of cars arriving. Sometimes, a ship comes in with a light load, and the VPC can crank them out in a day or two.. On the other hand, it can take as long as a week if a couple ships arrive close together. Sometimes the weather at sea can slow a ship and lead to two ships docking on the same day. Most importantly, a "sold order" is marked status code Priority #1, which in plain English means such vehicles get processed first to enable them to get to dealers ASAP. Priority #1 vehicles include "sold order", European Delivery, and Diplomat vehicles.

It will be approximately 40 days from shipping date to delivery date if you are on the West coast and 30 days if you are on the East coast.

* The exception here are the "seed units" of a brand new model, where BMW will send a certain number of cars with configurations they choose to the dealers so that every dealer has one or two of the latest and greatest model to let people test drive them before the new model becomes widely available. The most recent "seed units" were the LSB M3 coupes in March/April 2001, and the next ones will likely be the restyled sedans in late September 2001.

once again... all from http://e46fanatics.com/faq/faqs.php, this person deserves all the credit, my thanks to him/her

[Keith]

Anyone know how up to date the WW site is? My MINI was booked on the Tellus which arrived in Charleston, SC on Sunday and left yesterday. However the cargo status shows the car to be still on the ship. I'm going to be in for a tough time if the bad boy S has already decided to stow away for an extra cruise before it even got home!

[Little Bear]

Quote:

Originally posted by Keith
Anyone know how up to date the WW site is? My MINI was booked on the Tellus which arrived in Charleston, SC on Sunday and left yesterday. However the cargo status shows the car to be still on the ship. I'm going to be in for a tough time if the bad boy S has already decided to stow away for an extra cruise before it even got home!

Considering all the MCSs with "work orders" issued, they're probably going to circle the Atlantic until a parking space opens up.

Hope it's just an oversight.

[foxcasper]

Quote:

Originally posted by Little Bear


Considering all the MCSs with "work orders" issued, they're probably going to circle the Atlantic until a parking space opens up.

Hope it's just an oversight.

Can you enlighten me about the work orders ?

My S is supposed to have arrived sunday in SC also..

Cheers

[MINIMiller]

Quote:

Originally posted by Apex
The Hudson Leader left Southampton this morning!
My car is on it!

Any icebergs in the area?

Please no icebergs, no fog, no foul weather, no U-boats lurking the waters who never heard the war is over

My DS/Black roof, lapis blue, cold weather, auto AC, DSC, and fogs Cooper S is also on board the Hudson Leader

Up until now I could track the progess of my S through production to QC to the train and on to the ship. Now, without GPS systems (anyone find one yet) I am stuck waiting for the ship to arrive in NY and off load my baby. I can't stand the waiting

[MGB Boy]

Quote:

Originally posted by jcnick

If you are on the West coast, your car will arrive at Port Hueneme in Oxnard, CA. If you are on the East coast, your car will arrive through either Port Jersey/Newark, NJ or the port of Charleston, SC depending on which region your dealer is in. For a map depicting the regions served by each port, use this link: (http://www.bmwnation.com/members/ausgang/BMWPORTS.jpg)

Interesting map. I had no idea that Germany is actually located between Wyoming and South Dakota

-Ricardo

[Little Bear]

Quote:

Originally posted by MGB Boy


Interesting map. I had no idea that Germany is actually located between Wyoming and South Dakota

-Ricardo

Also lovingly referred to as "West Dakota". Damm glad they tore that wall down. Now if we could just get a good cup of coffee on the ride into Sturgis.

[jcnick]

Quote:

Originally posted by MGB Boy


Interesting map. I had no idea that Germany is actually located between Wyoming and South Dakota

-Ricardo

LMAO... yea, no kidding. Makes ya wonder why France fell to Germany so many times... You'd think the Nebraskans would have gotten to the French first.

[miniyoda]

Quote:

Originally posted by MINIMiller


Please no icebergs, no fog, no foul weather, no U-boats lurking the waters who never heard the war is over

My DS/Black roof, lapis blue, cold weather, auto AC, DSC, and fogs Cooper S is also on board the Hudson Leader

Up until now I could track the progess of my S through production to QC to the train and on to the ship. Now, without GPS systems (anyone find one yet) I am stuck waiting for the ship to arrive in NY and off load my baby. I can't stand the waiting

Well, I missed out on the Hudson Leader. She was booked for it, but now the W2 site says that I'm booked for the Trinidad, which delays me yet ANOTHER week.

Depressed,

mini yoda

[erazo]

While searching the web to find about the ship carrying my MINI, I discovered that a German U-Boat, U-658, sunk SS Medea off the coast of Cuba!

Ohhhhhh NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Wait a minute. That was in August 1942. Wrong Medea. Never mind.

[sdmidget]

Be Nice!!!

He's "stressed out" enough already!!

[Sejanus]

Quote:

Originally posted by MGB Boy

Interesting map. I had no idea that Germany is actually located between Wyoming and South Dakota

Probably a cunning German scheme to avoid those new steel tarrifs.

Does this mean we all have to start using the Euro?

[MINIMiller]

Quote:

Originally posted by miniyoda


Well, I missed out on the Hudson Leader. She was booked for it, but now the W2 site says that I'm booked for the Trinidad, which delays me yet ANOTHER week.

Depressed,

mini yoda

I'm sorry mini yoda. I was interested to see that up until early on the 4th (Hudson was scheduled to leave on the 3rd) the bookings report showed some 412 mini's but many were still listed as at the terminal but not loaded. Then all of a sudden the report showed only about 300 cars all loaded. Sorry yours did not make it, but based on some reports from the Roadfly forum there is a backlog waiting at the NY/NJ VPC so I may be stuck there for a while. I'm almost considering a road trip up there to see if I can spot my baby being unloaded... No, I'm too afraid of seeing some giant greasy pawed dock worker abusing my mini (apologies to any dock workers - I'm just fooling around )

[Little Bear]

Quote:

Originally posted by MINIMiller


No, I'm too afraid of seeing some giant greasy pawed dock worker abusing my mini (apologies to any dock workers - I'm just fooling around )

Hey! My mother is a dock worker!

It's a painful thing to wait like this, isn't it? The only consolation is knowing you have a car coming.

Before my youngest daughter was born, I imagined so many scary things, but it was all forgotten at the moment of birth. Once I counted all her fingers and toes, I beamed like a Xenon bulb.

My daughter is 13 now. She tests my patience on a daily basis. I try to remember the anticipation and the excitement of those first days when I need to find patience for her.

If my MINI has a steering wheel and four tires, I'll smile. I'll check all the items on the list. I'm sure there will be maintenance issues in the future and the spending may never end...but this is my baby.

Ahhhhhh. The joys of fatherhood....er, I mean ownership.

(Sorry. First new car in a lot of years. Looking forward to the fun!)