[jmonier]

Others have said that you can't trust the 800# once the car gets off the ship and I've just found that it's certainly true.

My 335 Coupe has been on a ship and the 800# correctly reported "in transit". The ship got into Charleston Mon and (presumably) the car was unloaded. This morning (Wed) the 800# reports "awaiting a shipping vessel". I guess it's going to be loaded on another ship for the trip to the Performance Center in Spartanburg.

I'll report on further status as I get it.

[STE92VE]

I think the cars get transported to Spartanburg by rail, the same way they get to Bremerhaven in Germany. If that's the case, then it would make sense the 800# says that you are awaiting transport. You can check on WW to confirm that your car was offloaded from the ship.

[ezatnova]

Originally Posted by jmonier

This morning (Wed) the 800# reports "awaiting a shipping vessel". I guess it's going to be loaded on another ship for the trip to the Performance Center in Spartanburg.

The car isnt' going to sprout wings and fly from the dock to your PC.

[jmonier]

Originally Posted by STE92VE

I think the cars get transported to Spartanburg by rail, the same way they get to Bremerhaven in Germany. If that's the case, then it would make sense the 800# says that you are awaiting transport. You can check on WW to confirm that your car was offloaded from the ship.

I agree but the actual quote was "awaiting shipping vessel" (which was exactly what was reported when the car was on the dock at Bremerhaven). It probably did result because it's awaiting rail transport but it still could be confusing and I wanted people to be aware.

In this case I can't check WW because I was on Franconia which is K-Line. I not complaining since it left Bremerhaven two days behind Liberty but made no stops and thus arrived Charleston 5 days ahead of Liberty.

EDIT: I just noticed that Liberty is now due in on 3/29 so it's only 3 days behind not 5.

[jmonier]

Originally Posted by ezatnova

The car isnt' going to sprout wings and fly from the dock to your PC.

True, but "shipping vessel" means a boat to me and i don't think there is a navigable river between Charleston and Spartanburg. I've never heard a rail car being called a "shipping vessel" before either.

Did you notice the smiley after the last sentence? It was meant to be a joke.

[jmonier]

As of last night (Wed), OC says "at VPC" (and other people on Franconia are the same). 800# still says "awaiting shipping vessel".

[berm3]

I just called 800# and I spoke to BMW representative, and he told me that if the car got to the port of exit, that they no longer track the car. So when you call the 800# the massage will always say "awaiting shipping vessel", even though you car might be already in US.

[jmonier]

Thanks for the info. That's what I suspected. It is kind of strange since OC still tracks it.

[STE92VE]

Originally Posted by berm3

I just called 800# and I spoke to BMW representative, and he told me that if the car got to the port of exit, that they no longer track the car. So when you call the 800# the massage will always say "awaiting shipping vessel", even though you car might be already in US.

That is not entirely true. The 800# will update to "in transit" when your car is on a ship. It just takes a day or two to update. Same thing on Auto Cargo Tracking on the WW website, if that's who's transporting your car. It updates their info 48 hours after ship departs Bremerhaven.

[berm3]

As you can tell from this tread that it's true for some people.