[ruthlessbmw]

If I order a 328i this week, I was wondering how when would I receive it. I am based in California.

[LionRampant]

Originally Posted by ruthlessbmw

If I order a 328i this week, I was wondering how when would I receive it. I am based in California.

There are a fair number of variables involved there, unfortunately.

If the configuration you are seeking is fairly common, you might find that a dealer in your area already has one on its way with your desired options. You'd need to ask around and find who has that car inbound to them, then work a deal and get the car attached to your purchase. Based on my limited and completely unscientific survey of my local BMW centers' current inventory, you'd have the best chance at this if you're looking for this configuration:

• White, Silver or Black Paint Color
• Black, Gray or Saddle Leather
• Automatic Transmission
• Premium Package

If fortune smiles upon you and the car you want is unclaimed and already on its way to your area, you'd be looking at a mid-to-late October delivery.

If you are seeking an option outside the mainstream inventory configurations, you'll probably need to special order. The second week of production (week 37) is underway, so it is likely that the earliest you could get a special-order vehicle in is week 38 (next week). That would put your vehicle delivery in early November.

Depending on where you reside in the Golden State, you might check with Will Shaw at Long Beach BMW to see what he can do for you. His thread is here.

Good luck!

--LR

[ruthlessbmw]

thanks for the info LionRampant. Do you know when would dealers get the news 2009 models?

[LionRampant]

The same timeframe...the first 2009 models should be arriving at BMW centers in mid-October.

--LR

[David1]

The owners circle sucks. I have ordered 3 cars in the past 24 months and it has never been correct in showing every option and it 1-2 weeks behind in time. My cars were at the dealer when Owners Circle still showed them at PDC.

[3er858]

Originally Posted by David1

The owners circle sucks. I have ordered 3 cars in the past 24 months and it has never been correct in showing every option and it 1-2 weeks behind in time. My cars were at the dealer when Owners Circle still showed them at PDC.

I've come to the conclusion that owner's circle is absolutely useless! Thank God they don't take the same approach at building cars as they do with their IT...

[bsd107]

My E90 with "impossible" configuration (i.e. with 6NF Smartphone Integration, which supposedly has SOP 10/09) is now in the Body Shop according to 800-BMW humans. 800-BMW automated still says "in production" and OC "Schedule for Production" (with no options listed).

My CA assures me that the car would NOT be built if the configuration couldn't be constructed yet, and my car order still has 6NF Smartphone Integration showing.

[WDW1Fanatic]

Originally Posted by WDW1Fanatic

Yup, completely agree. ...especially when it is a site ...

For anyone following the saga of my E93 that in theory was built last week and is sitting awaiting transport to the port of exit, same status today on the 800# and online. I decided to talk to a real person on the Owner's Circle just now since it's been a week with no status change and interestingly, her system showed I have a 9/10 production date (yesterday?). She was really nice but also totally confused when she checked the automated system I've been using and heard production was complete, but had no explanation why it would theoretically be sitting at the plant still. She suggested the system they use for the automated 800# is more current than what she logs into. Pretty strange. She just said, keep calling back and she'd be happy to check for me. At least for the rest of the day, I'm going to try and convince myself they didn't scan the barcode for some reason and it's already on a ship headed to the West Coast. Nice, positive thinking may help improve the situation. Nothing else seems to work.

[sdslayer]

Originally Posted by WDW1Fanatic

For anyone following the saga of my E93 that in theory was built last week and is sitting awaiting transport to the port of exit, same status today on the 800# and online. I decided to talk to a real person on the Owner's Circle just now since it's been a week with no status change and interestingly, her system showed I have a 9/10 production date (yesterday?). She was really nice but also totally confused when she checked the automated system I've been using and heard production was complete, but had no explanation why it would theoretically be sitting at the plant still. She suggested the system they use for the automated 800# is more current than what she logs into. Pretty strange. She just said, keep calling back and she'd be happy to check for me. At least for the rest of the day, I'm going to try and convince myself they didn't scan the barcode for some reason and it's already on a ship headed to the West Coast. Nice, positive thinking may help improve the situation. Nothing else seems to work.

Guess we just wait it out. My status hasn't changed in almost 7 days. Hopefully, lease rates aren't so horrendous that I end up going with an 08 anyway.

[WDW1Fanatic]

Originally Posted by sdslayer

Guess we just wait it out. My status hasn't changed in almost 7 days. Hopefully, lease rates aren't so horrendous that I end up going with an 08 anyway.

Yes, but that won't stop me from trying. Next ships to Port Hueneme depart 9/13, then 9/19 (previous was 9/5). If you have your VIN like I do, guess who's gonna be trying to see if it shows up after those ships sail on the WW site? At least we'll be dealing with another company's IT at that point. BTW, if that URL does not work, go to the main site and follow through to track autos (at least I think that's where to do it.)

[sdslayer]

Originally Posted by WDW1Fanatic

Yes, but that won't stop me from trying. Next ships to Port Hueneme depart 9/13, then 9/19 (previous was 9/5). If you have your VIN like I do, guess who's gonna be trying to see if it shows up after those ships sail on the WW site? At least we'll be dealing with another company's IT at that point. BTW, if that URL does not work, go to the main site and follow through to track autos (at least I think that's where to do it.)

which ships are these? I know NYK's Hojin pulled into bramerhaven yesterday and is scheduled to get to Hueneme on the 5th of Oct.

[WDW1Fanatic]

Originally Posted by sdslayer

which ships are these? I know NYK's Hojin pulled into bramerhaven yesterday and is scheduled to get to Hueneme on the 5th of Oct.

These are Wallenius Wihemsen ships... Traviata (9/13; arrive 10/6) and Medea (9/19; arrive 10/12). I've read the posts that NYK was used to the west coast, but found these as well to check as it's the carrier those posts say BMW uses to the east coast. Funnier things have happened with this BMW order, so I'm checking both shipping lines until I find my VIN on either of those, or one of the 4 BMW IT systems tell me which ship it's on. Hard for me to imagine it's stuck still at the plant... especially with it having appeared in the paint shop for 2-3 days. That sort of tells me not to count on their systems always saying exactly where it is at any point in time, but once one system says it's further along in the process, I'm believing that it's at least gotten that far along as someone/something had to tell some computer system somewhere to update itself. Once I know it's on a ship, no more BMW systems as I'll be able to know when it hits the PDC.

[Frank2808]

I have a VIN and my car is showing with all the correct options on OC except the addition of 19" wheels, which show up but I did not order. I'm guessing this isn't anything to worry about in OC isn't very accurate??

The #800 says my car is in production with an estimated complete date of 9/17. I hope I can make the ship on 9/19!!

[WDW1Fanatic]

Originally Posted by Frank2808

I have a VIN and my car is showing with all the correct options on OC except the addition of 19" wheels, which show up but I did not order. I'm guessing this isn't anything to worry about in OC isn't very accurate??

The #800 says my car is in production with an estimated complete date of 9/17. I hope I can make the ship on 9/19!!

Right. OC isn't very accurate. My E93 shows it has both 18" AND 19" with the Sports Package. I wouldn't worry with it if your feature numbers are accurate that your CA ca provide you from their system.

[methodtim]

Originally Posted by Frank2808

I have a VIN and my car is showing with all the correct options on OC except the addition of 19" wheels, which show up but I did not order. I'm guessing this isn't anything to worry about in OC isn't very accurate??

The #800 says my car is in production with an estimated complete date of 9/17. I hope I can make the ship on 9/19!!

How do you know there's a ship on the 19th?

[Frank2808]

Originally Posted by WDW1Fanatic

Yes, but that won't stop me from trying. Next ships to Port Hueneme depart 9/13, then 9/19 (previous was 9/5). If you have your VIN like I do, guess who's gonna be trying to see if it shows up after those ships sail on the WW site? At least we'll be dealing with another company's IT at that point. BTW, if that URL does not work, go to the main site and follow through to track autos (at least I think that's where to do it.)

[WDW1Fanatic]

Originally Posted by methodtim

How do you know there's a ship on the 19th?

...on the WW website I found the ships leaving Bremerhaven (our port from Germany that E9x's leave from) to Port Hueneme (the port nearest the west coast PDC, just north of Los Angeles). I found their Elektra left 9/5, Traviata will on 9/13 and Medea on 9/19 between those ports of interest to us. I appreciate the stickies on this forum (several years old) indicate BMW uses NYK to the west coast, but I couldn't find any of their ships with those two ports leaving in the September timeframe. I could be wrong there if I didn't look everywhere on the NYK site, I suppose, but Bremerhaven had no departure dates listed whereas other European ports did.

Who knows what shipping company BMW will be using given our experience over the last several weeks. Since a number of us have been working through lots of supposition with BMW's lack of info, this is just another in my, perhaps our, journey. Lots of coincidence in what I've found, so hey, my VIN number is now going in the WW tracking tool every day until I get something better from BMW where my new ride is (or isn't). ...and yes, I'll keep trying at the BMW options after 4AM PT every day as well (rumor that at least one of their systems updates between 6-7AM ET).

This is almost as good as my old programming days doing maintenance on 20-year old systems that had no documentation and would always break at 1-2AM. What do we call that? ...oh yes, PD/PSI. Personally, have not had to do that for more than 20 years, but it's coming back.

[methodtim]

Thanks for the info, WDW. You rock! I'm sure I'll be doing the same thing whenever I get confirmation that my car in en route (it's currently being transported the dock).

[thekewl1]

I'm guessing they won't depart until they have enough cars to fill the ship. My status just changed last night to being transported to the port of exit.

I think it takes about 1-2 weeks for the ships to the west coast to fill up before they depart. I had to go through this a couple of years ago after I dropped off my E90 during my ED trip. It sat at the port for almost 2 weeks before it departed! If your cars have sat there for almost a week, then maybe we'll all be on the same ship leaving on 9/13.

[mooshy_sushi]

My car is on the open seas now. I'm on HOJIN!!! anyone else on hojin? I'm so STOKEDDDD!!

[sdslayer]

Originally Posted by mooshy_sushi

My car is on the open seas now. I'm on HOJIN!!! anyone else on hojin? I'm so STOKEDDDD!!

Did a dealer tell you, or did you do a VIN search on NYK's website? Hojin still appears to bedocked on vesseltracker.com

I don't know how I wouldn't make it on this ship, considering I was at the port last Sat.

Anyways, congrats.

[mooshy_sushi]

Originally Posted by sdslayer

Did a dealer tell you, or did you do a VIN search on NYK's website? Hojin still appears to bedocked on vesseltracker.com

I don't know how I wouldn't make it on this ship, considering I was at the port last Sat.

Anyways, congrats.

The dealer told me the "car LEFT yesterday 9/10 on vessle Hojin", which I believe (hope) implies the ship is now moving. Even if it hasn't left yet, it's still good to know it's on the ship. Are you on Hojin as well? My CA said it is suppose to dock at Oxnard on the 5th.