[shahils12]

Update from CA:

"Still no word about potential damage to cars on the Courage that is due here. I was told that the damaged cars had been un-tethered and were no longer secured. Hopefully those were only the Eastern Region Cars! I am thinking that all the Southern Region cars which unload at South Carolina Port must have all been secured. I will let you know if anything of consequence materializes. Apparently all the 1 Series and M3 Launch cars were on the Courage as well so it looks like some of the BMW franchises will not be getting their launch cars."

Also called W&W, and they will not disclose any information about the damage to the vessel. The lady I spoke with started to get really defensive and rude after I told her I knew the vessel had tipped and damaged some of the cars.

When asked to check on the status of my e93 (whether it was still on the vessel on its way to SC, or was offloaded at NJ, they refused to comment, and she started yelling: CALL YOUR BMW DEALERSHIP

how ridiculous...

[raleedy]

Originally Posted by shahils12

Update from CA:

"Still no word about potential damage to cars on the Courage that is due here. I was told that the damaged cars had been un-tethered and were no longer secured. Hopefully those were only the Eastern Region Cars! I am thinking that all the Southern Region cars which unload at South Carolina Port must have all been secured. I will let you know if anything of consequence materializes. Apparently all the 1 Series and M3 Launch cars were on the Courage as well so it looks like some of the BMW franchises will not be getting their launch cars."

Also called W&W, and they will not disclose any information about the damage to the vessel. The lady I spoke with started to get really defensive and rude after I told her I knew the vessel had tipped and damaged some of the cars.

When asked to check on the status of my e93 (whether it was still on the vessel on its way to SC, or was offloaded at NJ, they refused to comment, and she started yelling: CALL YOUR BMW DEALERSHIP

how ridiculous...

If you put your VIN into W&W's auto cargo tracking web page, it will in principle tell you if that car was discharged in NJ, or at least if that was where it was supposed to be discharged.

[raleedy]

I'm skeptical about the "storm damage" report from a CA. (Not that a CA ever gets anything wrong, mind you.) The official reports say otherwise, and I'm more inclined to believe them, even though I have a hard time visualizing the boat "tipping" in port.

[Klepper1]

Originally Posted by raleedy

...The official reports say otherwise, and I'm more inclined to believe them...

Have there been any official reports?

[Klepper1]

Update from CA:

"It is looking like tomorrow before we get the list from the port. I
will keep you posted. (Your car still shows to be on the ship, it is my
understanding that they unloaded the damaged vehicles in Jersey to
inventory the damage and sent the ship on its way.) Our BMW rep also
tells us that we should not have anything to worry about; she does not
think any of our vehicles were affected."

[bronco]

Originally Posted by raleedy

I'm skeptical about the "storm damage" report from a CA. (Not that a CA ever gets anything wrong, mind you.) The official reports say otherwise, and I'm more inclined to believe them, even though I have a hard time visualizing the boat "tipping" in port.

Try to imagine what would have happened if that size boat tipped...The damages to other boats of the same and smaller size in the port would have been all over the news...

[kbkb335i]

Originally Posted by Klepper1

Update from CA:

"... it is my understanding that they unloaded the damaged vehicles in Jersey to inventory the damage and sent the ship on its way..."

I wish that was the case but then why the four days delay in Baltimore?
NEW YORK, NY U.S.A. 10/01/2008 12/01/2008
BALTIMORE, MD U.S.A. 13/01/2008 17/01/2008
CHARLESTON,SC U.S.A. 19/01/2008 20/01/2008

I think originally the boat had to depart on the next day.

[bronco]

Originally Posted by kbkb335i

I wish that was the case but then why the four days delay in Baltimore?
NEW YORK, NY U.S.A. 10/01/2008 12/01/2008
BALTIMORE, MD U.S.A. 13/01/2008 17/01/2008
CHARLESTON,SC U.S.A. 19/01/2008 20/01/2008

I think originally the boat had to depart on the next day.

Yeah +1, AND WHY THE H3LL IT TAKES THAT BOAT 2 DAYS TO GET FROM MD TO SC????

[raleedy]

Originally Posted by Klepper1

Have there been any official reports?

BMW North America Confirms 470 Cars Damaged in Shipping

New M3s and 1 Series among the wreckage

Jan 15, 2008

Bryan Joslin


A cargo ship carrying new BMWs, Mercedes, and Volkswagens arrived in the Port of New Jersey on Friday with more than 470 damaged cars in one of its cargo holds. The cargo ship Courage, operated by Wallenius Lines, encountered rough seas in the Atlantic before arriving at port. Vehicles in one of the ship’s cargo holds were ripped from their lashings during the storm, hurtling cars into one another. In total, about 470 BMWs were damaged, roughly 120 of which are a total loss.

BMW North America spokesman Tom Plucinsky confirmed the incident, which was first reported on the eve of the start of the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. Plucinsky indicated that while there were BMWs in several holds of the ship, the damage appears to be limited to just the one. Nevertheless, BMW plans to inspect every one of their vehicles that was on the Courage, looking for damage at chassis tie-down locations and conducting a four-wheel alignment check on each one before releasing them to dealers.

The exact breakdown of the damaged vehicles is still being sorted out, but a significant number of the cars in the affected cargo hold were M3s intended for use as dealer demonstrator vehicles ahead of the full launch of the M3. A fair number of new 1 Series coupes, also intended for dealer use, were damaged as well. The remaining cars consist of customer orders and European delivery vehicles.

BMW says customers concerned about ending up with a damaged car can rest assured that any and all damage will fully disclosed before being sold to dealers. Following its long-standing policy, the damaged vehicles will be handled appropriately based on the degree of damage incurred. For instance, any vehicle whose repair costs approach or exceed its inventory value will be crushed in whole at the port.

Vehicles with damage greater than three percent of their value will be repaired and used as employee vehicles for a period of time before being sold at dealer auctions with full disclosure of the damage and repairs. After being sold at auction, the cars will carry the balance of the original factory warranty.

Cars with less than three percent damage will be repaired, after which the dealer, or the customer in the case of a special order vehicle, will be notified of the damage and repair and then given the option of accepting or refusing the car. Any repaired car that is rejected by either a dealer or a customer will be sent to a dealer auction and the vehicle will be replaced with an identical one at the earliest possible time. All repaired vehicles will carry the full factory warranty.

Those customers who were waiting for their European Delivery vehicle to arrive will have the same options and everyone else. Essentially, they can take a similar vehicle from dealer stock, or they can order an identical replacement new from the factory.

The damaged inventory is an unfortunate setback given the timing. New M3s, 128i and 135i coupes are scheduled to go on sale in just a few weeks, and the loss of at least 120 cars will certainly cause problems with their launch. The remaining 350 or so damaged cars will take weeks to repair, further hampering the introduction of these popular models. Even the process of inspecting and aligning the remainder of the shipment will hold up the delivery of several hundred cars at a time when supply is already low.

This is from http://www.mwerks.com/artman/publish...cle_1296.shtml

[Klepper1]

Originally Posted by raleedy

I'm skeptical about the "storm damage" report from a CA. (Not that a CA ever gets anything wrong, mind you.) The official reports say otherwise, and I'm more inclined to believe them, even though I have a hard time visualizing the boat "tipping" in port.

Sounds like the official report confirms what my CA said, that the damage occured during the storm.

[08TXbimmer]

Originally Posted by Klepper1

Update from CA:

"It is looking like tomorrow before we get the list from the port. I
will keep you posted. (Your car still shows to be on the ship, it is my
understanding that they unloaded the damaged vehicles in Jersey to
inventory the damage and sent the ship on its way.) Our BMW rep also
tells us that we should not have anything to worry about; she does not
think any of our vehicles were affected."

I was told by my CA that the undamaged cars were going to get shipped to South Carolina via rail. Does anybody REALLY know what's going on? I starting to think the captain is the only person! The press release was pretty good though, answered a ton of our questions and concerns.

[Klepper1]

Originally Posted by 08TXbimmer

I was told by my CA that the undamaged cars were going to get shipped to South Carolina via rail. Does anybody REALLY know what's going on? I starting to think the captain is the only person! The press release was pretty good though, answered a ton of our questions and concerns.

That is interesting. Although I am not sure why they would take undamaged cars off in New Jersey (that were supposed to go by ship to Charelston) and then ship them by rail. Maybe just to check them over? Not sure I buy that. You are right though, I don't think anyone really knows. Regardless of what we know or don't know, it's not going to change the facts. Either our car was damaged or they weren't. We should know soon enough.

[raleedy]

Since it turns out that this was a storm-related incident at sea, I'm just going to assume that the insides of these holds were something of a mess. BMW did say in the release above that it was going to check all the cars for damage and misalignment (sounds to me like the ones that stayed tied down may have been stressed). So it's entirely possible they're doing all that in New Jersey. I expect more information will become available soon.

[bronco]

Good morning peeps!

Good news, Bad news...? Do you have some news?

[Klepper1]

Good morning. Nothing new from my end. My CA also told me yesterday that he is away today, so I don't think I will have any new info today.

I did check the W&W website this morning, and the Courage still shows arriving in Charelston on the 19th. I checked my VIN there as well. I was wondering if it would show up in the history if it was unloaded in New Jersey, but it still looks the same as it always did.

[raleedy]

Anyone reading this thread with a car that was supposed to go to NY? If so, what status shows on 2Wglobalcom?

[bronco]

I am really bothered by the fact that all those cars were rocked so hard when the accident happened...

Can you imagine the amounf of pressure that strap placed on the axle had to encounter in order to break??? That means that with all that rocking arround, even if our cars were not "damaged", they could very well have a "hidden" problem down the road...All that stress on the axles is not good even if they performe a check and wheel alignment...it cant be!

[bronco]

Hmmm another source:

"Now, another Wallenius cargo ship carrying new BMWs, Mercedes, and Volkswagens arrived in the Port of New Jersey on Friday with more than 470 damaged cars in one of its cargo holds. The cargo ship Courage, operated by Wallenius Lines, encountered rough seas in the Atlantic before arriving at port. Vehicles in one of the ship’s cargo holds were ripped from their lashings during the storm."

[bronco]

read here: http://www.motivemag.com/pub/news/BM...Shipping.shtml

[Klepper1]

"Cars with less than three percent damage will be repaired, after which the dealer, or the customer in the case of a special order vehicle, will be notified of the damage and repair and then given the option of accepting or refusing the car. Any repaired car that is rejected by either a dealer or a customer will be sent to a dealer auction and the vehicle will be replaced with an identical one at the earliest possible time. All repaired vehicles will carry the full factory warranty."

Sounds like we will be notified of any damage, and can then decide what to do.

[bronco]

it sure sounds like it, but I want to know what the h3ll I am supposed to drive until they build and send over another vehicle....I sold my Accord 3 weeks ago...

[shahils12]

I don't know how credible that website is. They can say what they will, at the end of the day, it's between you, your dealership, and BMW.

I feel like the article is WAY too optimistic. I highly doubt dealers would disclose ALL the damages. For example, if I don't pick my car up, i don't think it's going to go right to the auctions. It will probably be sold to anotehr customer who's unaware of this situation. Why would dealers or BMW loose profit by just going to the auctions if a prospective buyer who ordered his car no longer wants it???

dosen't make sense to me....