[afadeev]

Folks,

I ordered my second i3 (BEV this time, after 2 years with REX - long story), and wanted to document and track the BMW supply-chain delivery process.

This is mostly a way for me to pass time quicker.
However, the information herein may also help others who are curious about what takes place before you drive your i3 off the dealer's lot, and how one could track their own car's build.

First things first - knew exactly what I wanted for my second i3, and quickly confirmed that such car did not exist in any of the dealers' or BMW NA inventory lots. Specifically, I was after a 94Ah / 33 kWh i3 BEV with Protonic Blue exterior and dark interior. I also wanted HK sound and rear view camera. That's all.

The preference of the exterior color is obvious (to me, to each his own) - the only exciting and non-grey-scale exterior color available on an i3. Strong preference for black interior is based on the experience with my current MY'14 REX's light interior carpeting that got filthy dirty after the first winter. It turns out, that the only way to get black interior is to stay with the default Deka-world $0 package. The only other dark option is brown leather as part of $2.6K Terra world, and while not out of the question, my better half preferred the black seats with blue accents on the bolsters, so that's how Deka became the interior choice.

Strangely, not a single dealer had ordered that combination for their inventory (there were very few Protonic Blue i3's in inventory), so I had to special order my car.

The upside to that is that you get exactly what you want.
The downside, is that you have to wait to get it.

Step 1: I had to find a dealer with an i3 production allocation for time in the near future, who would be willing to give it to my build for a reasonable mark-up. After some shopping around, I found a few local NJ/NY dealers willing to sell me the car for Invoice price + $500-1000 + titling/reg fees. Many others pretended that they didn't know what Invoice prices were, or only wanted to talk monthly payments. I stopped wasting my and their time and focused on the 3 that were willing to negotiate with minimum BS. While I was tempted to go with the lowest bidder, I placed my order with the dealer who had a confirmed week 6 production allocation that they were willing to change to my spec (I also had done business with them before, so that helped). Dealers can update the build sheet for their cars up to a few days before the production begins.

My i3 BEV cost me Invoice + $750 + fees - $10K in various credits, with zero MF mark-up. I placed my order on 1/26, and got the production # the same day.

Step 2: Production # allows one to log into bmwusa.com web site and both confirm the car's build specs, as well as track its progress. BMW's web site is updated with ~2 day delay, so the first time I logged in, my production # still showed a Laurel Grey i3-REX. I did not panic, waited a few days, and a few days later the same production # was updated with my car's options. The status of the order read "Order Documented".

Step 3: The Tuesday of week 6, 2/7, the status got updated to "Production Begins".

Step 4: The Sunday of week 6, 2/12, the status got updated to "Production Ends". BMW Leipzig plant does not work on the weekends. It just took BMW's web site ~2 days to update my car's build status that was likely updated by BMW AG on Friday.

More to follow....

a

[afadeev]

Step 5: tracking car's post-production shipping status.

Some time after the car starts production (status 150) and definitely after it finishes production (status 155) you'll be able to get your VIN number by calling your SA, or the BMW Genius (Mon-Sat) at 1.844.4GENIUS (443-6487) option 3. VIN will be useful later for tracking the car on the boat.

I got that today, and also confirmed that the car is in route to the port (status 182).

This is where you can either sit back and wait 4-6 weeks until the dealer calls you (if you are on the East coast, +2 weeks for West coast), or you can take additional steps to trace your car to a given ship, and track its sailing progress across Atlantic.


Tracking your car's journey from Leipzig to the dealer's lot is bordering on OCD, but is also amusing in its own right.

Here is how to go around doing that.

Once i3's are build in Lepzig, they are shipping to BMW's main shipping egress port of Bremerhaven. All US, Canada, and LatAm bound cars pass through Bremerhaven. It's a ~430 km trip, usually done by train.

Bremerhaven port has a web cam, and you can frequently spot arriving trains loaded with all sorts of cars, not just BMWs, day and night:
https://www.blg-logistics.com/de/kontakt/webcams

Step 6: You need to figure out what ship your car is on. This is when you will need the VIN, and allow for some time for the car to be loaded onto a ship. It takes a few days for East coast bound cars to catch a boat, longer for West coast bound (there are fewer ships heading West). Also, be prepared to wait longer if you happen to hit the port during holidays (e.g.: Xmas or New Year's).

The most common carriers used for BMW are Wallenius & Wilhelmsen, Kline and NYK.
Each one has a tracking web site where you can look up (by VIN) whether your car is on one of their boats, and if yes, on which one specifically. Once you have a boat name, you can look up its itinerary (many stop in England on the way to the US), and track its progress via GPS.

If your car is on a WWL boat (my last one was), and your VIN shows up on their search page (after car reaches status 195), and you will be able to track the ship's sailing progress.
Enter your VIN into the Cargo ID field:
https://www.2wglobal.com/webapps?url...uickSearchPage

As of 2/13, my car is still not showing up. I expect it will take another 2-4 days before it will.
Lets see what happens towards the end of the week.

a

[MFNATIK]

Cool! Mines at the dealer now. It came on the THEBEN but it was part of the fuel line recall so I have to wait. I got a Protonic blue as well ��

[M5KRZI]

after a quick stop at the NJ VPC - my little fella is on its way to the VPC in Georgia! should be taking delivery in a couple weeks

[afadeev]

Step: 6, revisited.

After a 7-day delay, my i3 has finally made it onto a WW ship (Oberon, currently sailing at 12 knots) on 2/20.
BMW's web site's status was updated on 2/22, and today I was able to enter the VIN and pull up the car on WW's web site.

After stops in Sweden (Gotheburg - Volvo plant, 2/21), Belgium (ZeeBrugge, 2/26), UK (Southhampton, 2/28), and Canada (Halifax, 3/7), it is due to dock in Newark on 3/9.

Afterwards, cars destined to be offloaded in GA (Brunswick) and SC (Charleston) will arrive via the same ship 4 and 5 days later, respectively.

Step 7 - tracking the boat.
Now that you know the boat's name (likely reused by many boats, to make sure to track Ro-Ro Oberon) and voyage # (from WW's web site), you can track as it makes its progress across Atlantic ocean.
See screen shots below.

[afadeev]

I forgot to post ship tracking links.

When ship is close to shore, you can use free web site:
http://www.marinetraffic.com

Search by the ship name, and you will be covered for the part of the voyage between Bremerhaven and UK, and then again from Canada down the Easter US shoreline.

For the part of the journey through mid-Atlantic ocean, you need access to satellite tracking data.
Here is one source for that data:
http://www.fleetmon.com/plans

a

[afadeev]

A few updates.

My ship (Oberon, Ro-Ro) has departed the last European port, Southampton/UK, on time, but it's ETAs to Canada and Newark have somehow slipped by +2 days. No sure what's going on, but it is now scheduled to dock in Newark on 3/11 instead of 3/9. No big deal.

Two (2) days after departing from Southampton, it had sailed far enough offshore where its position is no longer reported (for free) on www.marinetraffic.com
From here on out, the only way to track the boat, if you are so inclined, is not pay for, or at least sign up for a free trial ($3,576 yearly otherwise), on www.fleetmon.com.

I did the latter, and here is where AIS satellite system is reporting it is now:

[afadeev]

OK, my car was dropped off at NJ VPC on 3/11, as indicated by W&W shipping line tracking.
BMW NA web site was updated two days later to "finished touches" state.

Per conversation with my SA, the car was loaded on the transport on Monday, 3/13. That very same evening, NE started getting hammered by ~2" of snow, and my transport was stuck at VPC until it was dough out, and finally delivered my i3 to the dealer (20 miles away from VPC) yesterday, on 3/16.

The car is being prepped, and will be ready for pickup tonight.

I drove by the dealership on the way from work, where my soon to be i3 was left to charge overnight, and took the picture of the car.

a

[M5KRZI]

Originally Posted by afadeev

OK, my car was dropped off at NJ VPC on 3/11, as indicated by W&W shipping line tracking.
BMW NA web site was updated two days later to "finished touches" state.

Per conversation with my SA, the car was loaded on the transport on Monday, 3/13. That very same evening, NE started getting hammered by ~2" of snow, and my transport was stuck at VPC until it was dough out, and finally delivered my i3 to the dealer (20 miles away from VPC) yesterday, on 3/16.

The car is being prepped, and will be ready for pickup tonight.

I drove by the dealership on the way from work, where my soon to be i3 was left to charge overnight, and took the picture of the car.

a

congrats - looks great!!! i'll have mine next Saturday!