I started watching a different version of that (different user uploaded it) and it was terrible. The view was cut off so sometimes people would be talking and you couldn't see their faces. I'll try this version you posted tonight. Thanks!

I am using a new technique of checking out the VINs before mine to see how many cars are ahead of me in queue while I wait for my Mini. By looking at the VINs going backwards from mine I see that there are 15 F55s ahead of me.

 

I know the vid you are talking about... saw it, absolute rubbish... just remember to go to HD on the ones i posted or the resolution is terrible, but in HD they look great

 

Will do, thanks!

One would think that with one car rolling off of the line every 65 seconds, 15 cars ahead of me would be nothing, but some days they don't seem to produce any manual Cooper S F55s and other days they produce a few. The most I've seen in a day by going through the VINs is 9 but the average for the month of may is about 2.

In the documentary they say the cars go through the line in a random order depending on what is ordered but it looks to me like they try to group the production by car, or at least have some days where they get a whole bunch of F55s out of the way.

You can see a summary of what I've been doing in this spreadsheet: https://www.icloud.com/numbers/000Rn...er_F55_Tracker

 

Wow, you are way ahead of me when it comes to tracking my MINI...

 

Hehe yeah I learned that trick on another forum.

 

My MA contacted me today to tell me that Nigel is on his cruise across the pond and expected to arrive at the Port of Baltimore on Monday, June 6th...

 

The MINI Owner's Lounge still says "awaiting transport" but now I know better! :-/

 

Congrats! There are still 10 cars ahead of mine on the build queue. :/

 

Its amazing that you can track it to that level!

 

Great news on being loaded already. Some people have to wait 2 weeks for a ship! Mine was finished on the 18th, got to the port on the 19th, and loaded and departed by the 26th, which is very good. We are on a W&W vessel called the Toreador. Was able to track it via my Vin. Go to http://www.2wglobal.com/www/wep/index.jsp

Track and Trace. Then put your VIN in the Cargo ID field and all the info shows up.

 

Awesome! How'd you find out that it was on the ship? Do you just check the VIN on that site every few days or will the automated phone system give you that info?

 

Just called Mini and my car entered the body shop today - 18 days after placing my order and exactly 2 weeks after getting my production order number.

 

If your car is shipped via a W&W vessel, then once you have your vin, and it is assigned to a ship, it shows up. You have to check every day to find out though. Never on the automated system. Mine still says "in transit".

 

Very useful, thanks.

 

These are awesome! Thanks so much for sharing.

 

Yes, you are correct, my Nigel is onboard the Toreador and expected in Baltimore on June 6th... Maybe our MINIs are hanging out together on their cruise :thumbs:

And it looks like they will be visiting Spain tomorrow. Lets hope our MINIs don't have too much fun in Spain and forget to get back onboard in time :-P

 

I just looked at some of the VINs which were completed in the last few days, and it seems that even VINs which were marked as complete on bimmer.work as recently as the 3rd were already loaded onto a vessel, so that means the delay right now from end of production to being loaded on a ship is just 4 days. I hope it's that short when mine is ready, which will likely be some time in the next 2-3 days.

 

Now tracking says Toreador is scheduled to arrive Sun, June 5.

 

YAY!

I was just reviewing my order and everything that I included and back-referencing all the options and packages and what they include and my 2-door has practically everything added/upgraded except for that feature that turns the steering wheel into a parking spot... I didn't realize just how 'all in' I went until now...

My current vehicle is a 2007 Toyota Yaris 2-door hatchback with a 4 speed auto and power-nothing... I did add cruise control aftermarket but otherwise my car has one speedometer, a gas gauge and thats practically it... Going from my super-basic Yaris to my new MINI will be like going from an Amish horse-and-buggy to the Space Shuttle flight deck... I have read the owner's manual twice now and even with all of that knowledge I'm guessing it will take weeks of fiddling and playing around with the infotainment systems before I find everything... And my financing was approved today so now I really am 'all-in'!

 

Some more interesting information I found. I analyzed all of the similar VINs I found for the month of May and it turns out that the weekday breakdown of cars produced is as follows:

Mondays: 7%
Tuesdays: 13%
Wednesdays: 26%
Thursdays: 25%
Fridays: 26%
Saturdays: 3%
Sundays: 0%

This is based on looking at all the Cooper S Manual 5-door VINS I could find for the month of May. For example, 25% of the May cars were completed on a Thursday. Very few MINIs are completed on weekends and none on Sundays, so those of us waiting will have to wait a bit more! At least Monday is not a holiday in the UK (is it?).

 

Wow... I'm just happy to know my MINI is on its way... But that is some serious quantitatve data analysis there!

 

My MINI was off-loaded yesterday in Port Hueneme and I bid a fond adieu to the satellite tracking of the WW cargo vessel. Now that she's no longer on a boat I can obsessively track, it feels like a black void of track-less-ness.

Does anyone know if the VDC even works on the weekends?

And, while I'm very happy to have Memorial Day off, I want those particular folks at the VDC to work...

 

Holy bejeebers, marine traffic.com has just about every ship in the world on real-time tracking... The Toreador is off the northern coast of Spain... Next stop Baltimore on June 5th... just amazing the Internet is.

 

Based on some of the reports I have read in this thread in months and years past I suspect that more than a few NAM members have camped outside the VDCs in camouflage and then stalked their MINIs from the ship to the truck to the dealership like Seal Team Six on a recon mission... You could try that approach for the next week or so...

 

Hey... That's not a bad idea.


I did see this morning the Owner's Lounge has my status updated to "At VDC". That seems like a pretty quick update for the OL considering it just got there Friday afternoon.


Still... So. Tired. Of. Waiting.