For you Charleston bound MINI's, the Port of Charleston has a site that tells which ships are docked and which are due in the next 30 days. Here is the link: http://www.port-of-charleston.com/vessel_schedule.asp

That's my contribution. Now; does anybody know anything about the BMW/MINI distribution system such that once your MINI is off the boat you could track it via train/motor carrier to the dealer? I know you can call the dealer for some info but I like independance and knowing what the dealer's answer should be before you ask the question.

 

Now that the tracking cycle is complete (as far as possible), and pursuant to the many requests throughout this thread for the same, may we PLEASE have this made a sticky? First Gear is usually the first destination of the "recently ordered" and the "Production Week Support Groups" have become the refuge for the obsessive/compulsive, crazed, MINI-in-waiting NAMsters. Timing is everything and at the moment of conception, there is an immediate need for information to answer the question: "Where's My Baby?" Sure, most of us find this thread eventually but only after suffering through some degree of a panic disorder. When I went to update this thread with my last post I found it on p.4 of 1st Gear. Who knows what damage could have occurred when I returned from the dealer after ordering my MINI and I suddenly realized I didn't know the answer to the instantly most important question of my being: "Where's My Baby?" PANIC! "How do I find Him/Her?" Reflexively, I turn to NAM. I know I saw something about tracking orders. Where was that? click,click,click......aieeeeeeee!!!!! :impatient :impatient ..................

All of that could have been prevented with a simple Sticky.......Please?

 

Yay! Thanks!

 

me too

 

I just found out my Mini will be completed in a couple of days (according to the recording on the automated system that you posted). Thanks so much for all the info!

I will be tracking my Mini all the way to the port of Texas from now on. Thanks again!

 

jeffherbst ~

Thanks for all the awesome tips on tracking my Mini. I called the 866 number that you provided right away and found out my MCS is to be completed by Aug. 22 (just a couple of days away!!). I'm so excited! Thanks so much for all the information. I'll be following it all the way to the port of Texas. I can hardly wait...

 

:impatient Oops! Sorry about that... I'm new to this and thought I lost my original post. Please accept my apologies for repeating myself.

 

I totally agree that this thread is awesome. It's saved my life! I've been so anxious and excited about my MINI that I don't know what I would have done without these great resources to track it literally every step of the way. Thanks so much!

 

Well, glad I finally read the entire thread other than the first post, since my MINI has obviously been loaded onto one of those 'mystery' ships... It does kind of suck not knowing the ship or being able to track it, but oh well, at least it's on its way! Thanks again for the thread!

 

Just wondering, how long from the time you order does it usually take to get your Mini in? I'm just looking now, well, for 2 years now, but I'm starting to seriously shop. Just wondering what the "normal" timeframes are on that.

 

From what I've gathered, it can take anywhere from 6-8 weeks if things are on schedule. However, if you order when there is a waitlist of any kind, it can take much longer.

 

My dealer told me about 6-8 weeks and so far it looks like it is pretty much on schedule: Ordered 7/25, my MINI is now awaiting transport and will hopefully be loaded onto a ship today.

 

ok kewl, thanks!

 

This thread is fantastic, and I've followed the directions faithfully. But now that I'm so close to the end, I'm hopelessly confused!! I'm trying to follow my ship, and I think it's too close to the US for me to follow on sailwx now. Totally expected...fine...all good...I go to aisfree.aislive.com. Register. As directed:

My problem is that when I try aislive.com, I can't seem to get any regions other than the east Atlantic (i.e. Europe) and New Zealand. What am I doing wrong?!? Help!

 

Once you log in to aislive.com, you need to click on "Home" in the top right corner. Then a colored map of the world should show up on the next page. Click on North America, then the port that your car will be coming into. That should work!

 

Must have been a system glitch...tried it before and it didn't do anything. But it's working now! (of course, the boat I was looking for is nowhere in sight.) Thanks a ton!!!

 

No prob! Happy to help

 

is there a way to track the trucks once the car leaves the ship.

 

Sadly, no. I was told by my MA that once the car's off the boat, they have no idea when it will be at the dealership until it actually shows up in their lot, as there are a lot of variables on the road. Evidently the week before I picked up Stella, they had a truck break down on the side of the road. They sent a truck to help and THAT truck got a flat tire.

However, from my understanding, it really doesn't take long. My car made it from NY to the dealership (Richmond, VA) in about a day or two.

 

I gotta give "ASK-MINI" a call to see what's up with my mcs. It has been a month already!

 

This all works well and good if you happen to be on a ship operated by W&W, however, I found out I am on the Frisia, a ship operated by K-Line. I have not been able to find a way into the freight tracking program that will give me info based on either the Bill of Lading or VIN. They obviously don't give the public the same level of visibility into their operations as W&W. The best I've been able to do is cross reference the K-line schedule at http://www.kline.com/PCC-RoRo/schedu...ticshuttle.asp with the Port of Charleston schedule at http://www.port-of-charleston.com/vessel_schedule.asp to get a reasonable idea of when my Mini will be on US soil. I hope these links help, and if anyone can figure out how to track the K-Line ships please post your info. I can't get the vessel name or call sign to come up on the sailwx.info site .

Wylie

 

discussions for this are best done for your production week. Find out your week and chat there, it is much more effective. this kinda isnt a good spot to post about where your car is

 

How long did you all have to wait between getting your production number and getting the production date?

 

Post info like this in the main section. this isnt a place to post really, not many respond, this is just an old read-re-read info section. this is a sticky. stickies are bad to get replys in

 

^one week for me.