Do you have an i3 on order and awaiting delivery?

[jgetz]

I just took delivery of my BEV this afternoon...after waiting for almost 8 months. Though I've only been able to drive it for about 20 miles, I can say it was worth the wait. I just took it for a very quick spin and I look like Jack Nicholson playing The Joker in Batman. I can't get the smile off my face. Anyway, one thing I learned along the way is you can drive yourself nuts trying to track your car. My wife would laugh at me, because I actually starting dreaming about the car...on a regular basis. If you can, try not to think too much about it. It'll help save your sanity :lol:

 

[scottlawrencelawson]

I ordered a fully loaded laural gray Tera BEV in southern california on Jan. 11, placed a deposit on the same day.
Car started production and I obtained production number in April. However, BMW changed the specs of the car.
now it is laural gray Mega BEV with only tech package. Dealer informed me I would have to start over if I wanted the fully loaded car I ordered. I decided to keep the BMW modified car to stay in cue for order.

the car finished production in early June, but was held up for transport to shipping dock.

finally on July 6, car was transported onto cargo ship, Metis Leader. It will arrive at Panama canal on July 21 and Port Hueneme on Aug. 1. Expect car to be at dealer by Aug. 8 for purchase.

it has been a long wait, but it should be worth it.

Mine is on the same ship. I was just told by my dealer today: "Just got confirmation that the I3’s are on hold at the port for this new software update. So at this point I don’t have an exact time frame on the release to us. They want these cars to be perfect which is typical for BMW. I will let you know as soon as I get another update." did you hear something similar?

 

[jtoast]

I placed my order on June 2nd 2014
Car went into production on June 28th
Car finished production on July 4th
Car sailed to the US on the Columbia Highway on July 17th
Columbia Highway docked August 1st, in Brunswick GA and offloaded vehicle.
Entered VPC on August 4th
Completed VPC and released to carrier on August 5th
Currently estimated to arrive at dealership on Monday, August 11.

If that happens, total time from order to delivery will be 70 days or exactly 10 weeks.

 

[AviatorMan]

My BEV hit the Port Hueneme dock on the July 25th and has not moved, as far as I can tell. The phone robot says it's waiting for a ship and the website slider says that it is 'enroute to the US'. Very frustrating.

 

[Zzzoom3]

My BEV hit the Port Hueneme dock on the July 25th and has not moved, as far as I can tell. The phone robot says it's waiting for a ship and the website slider says that it is 'enroute to the US'. Very frustrating.

WOW! Yours must have arrived on the Carmen huh? The Elektra is due at Hueneme on 7/8. It will be interesting to see if we hear more reports of held up deliveries.

This is very unusual. It usually takes 3-4 days at worst to get thru the VDC. Occasionally U.S. Customs will pull a car for inspection. If you are the unlucky owner, that can cause a large delay. This would be unusual for a "new" car. It's typically the "European Delivery" cars that get that honor.

Or maybe they have been instructed to hold i3s for some reason such as charger replacements. It would be far better to hold deliveries than to have a public relations mess due to equipment failures and the subsequent bad press.

 

[AviatorMan]

My BEV hit the Port Hueneme dock on the July 25th and has not moved, as far as I can tell. The phone robot says it's waiting for a ship and the website slider says that it is 'enroute to the US'. Very frustrating.

WOW! Yours must have arrived on the Carmen huh? The Elektra is due at Hueneme on 7/8. It will be interesting to see if we hear more reports of held up deliveries.

This is very unusual. It usually takes 3-4 days at worst to get thru the VDC. Occasionally U.S. Customs will pull a car for inspection. If you are the unlucky owner, that can cause a large delay. This would be unusual for a "new" car. It's typically the "European Delivery" cars that get that honor.

Or maybe they have been instructed to hold i3s for some reason such as charger replacements. It would be far better to hold deliveries than to have a public relations mess due to equipment failures and the subsequent bad press.

Is the VDC system at all accesable? Is there any way to find out the situation? The dealer doesn't seem to be able to find anything out.

Yes, it was the Carmen, and I know of one other person who's car on that ship seems to have been released.

 

[Zzzoom3]

Is the VDC system at all accesable? Is there any way to find out the situation? The dealer doesn't seem to be able to find anything out.

Yes, it was the Carmen, and I know of one other person who's car on that ship seems to have been released.

I could show up and ask but otherwise no. They are an extension of the factory and as such do not interact directly with the consumer by design. Summer is one of the busiest times for vehicle deliveries but it is strange for your car to still be there. You said the BMW website still shows your car "Enroute to the U.S.". Are you sure your car was on the Carmen?

 

[AviatorMan]

Is the VDC system at all accesable? Is there any way to find out the situation? The dealer doesn't seem to be able to find anything out.

Yes, it was the Carmen, and I know of one other person who's car on that ship seems to have been released.

I could show up and ask but otherwise no. They are an extension of the factory and as such do not interact directly with the consumer by design. Summer is one of the busiest times for vehicle deliveries but it is strange for your car to still be there. You said the BMW website still shows your car "Enroute to the U.S.". Are you sure your car was on the Carmen?

It came up on the ship owners manifest as being on the Carmen.

 

[Zzzoom3]

Is the VDC system at all accesable? Is there any way to find out the situation? The dealer doesn't seem to be able to find anything out.

Yes, it was the Carmen, and I know of one other person who's car on that ship seems to have been released.

I could show up and ask but otherwise no. They are an extension of the factory and as such do not interact directly with the consumer by design. Summer is one of the busiest times for vehicle deliveries but it is strange for your car to still be there. You said the BMW website still shows your car "Enroute to the U.S.". Are you sure your car was on the Carmen?

It came up on the ship owners manifest as being on the Carmen.

Give BMW iConcierge a call tomorrow morning (855-236-1025). Ask them for status. If they tell you the car was on the Carmen, tell them it has been 12 days since she was in port at Hueneme. They should be able to investigate.

 

[Marki3]

I just heard the same from my dealer yesterday. Arrived on Carmen at Port Hueneme on July 25th. Was expecting delivery yesterday only to be told it was still in LA at the VPC for a software update. No time frame yet on when it is going to leave LA. I finalized my order in Feb so it has been a long wait.

If you hear any news please update the forum, since my sales guy seems to get no updates.

 

[drb]

I know how anxious you must be knowing how close by your i3 is. I felt the same anxiety. But getting the update at the Port is far better than taking delivery of the car only to find that you needed to take it back to the dealership for the update--for many, a three day visit to the service department.

 

[AviatorMan]

I know how anxious you must be knowing how close by your i3 is. I felt the same anxiety. But getting the update at the Port is far better than taking delivery of the car only to find that you needed to take it back to the dealership for the update--for many, a three day visit to the service department.

I ordered my i3 6 or 8 months ago, and when told that the fancy 'launch edition' would come a lot sooner I waited, being in no real hurry and preferring what I ordered. In the end, people who went that route at exactly the same time have cars right next to mine, so that worked out OK. Then I got excited when the ship docked, but today I calmed down again and it is no big deal, it comes when it comes. It's a car.

 

[jadnashuanh]

If you have the s/w update done at the dealership, they schedule 4-hours. So, depending on how many vehicles are there, and how many techs can work on them at the same time, if there are a lot of cars, it could take awhile.

 

[dennis]

Ok... Turned down a Ionic Silver BEV Electronaut Edition almost fully loaded, missing the Parking Assist that was going to replace my Active E at Long Beach BMW (California) and it's up for grabs... I had tried to get my sister and her husband to pick it up and be their first EV, but it was too pricey for them.

Additionally, there seems to be a lot of them at the dealership ready to buy:

IMG_6194 by dennis_p, on Flickr

That's five outside AND what was going to be mine, and another that was ordered for an Electronaut that was not as they requested (came in as non-Electronaut Edition.)

Ask for Robert Behr. He's a good guy, even if his supervisor is a putz.

 

[Marki3]

Annoying to have put money down in Nov 2103 and finalized my order in February only to still be waiting while dealers in Southern Cal have unsold cars on the lot! What is up with that supply and demand chain?

Ok... Turned down a Ionic Silver BEV Electronaut Edition almost fully loaded, missing the Parking Assist that was going to replace my Active E at Long Beach BMW (California) and it's up for grabs... I had tried to get my sister and her husband to pick it up and be their first EV, but it was too pricey for them.

Additionally, there seems to be a lot of them at the dealership ready to buy:

IMG_6194 by dennis_p, on Flickr

That's five outside AND what was going to be mine, and another that was ordered for an Electronaut that was not as they requested (came in as non-Electronaut Edition.)

Ask for Robert Behr. He's a good guy, even if his supervisor is a putz.

 

[Zzzoom3]

Annoying to have put money down in Nov 2103 and finalized my order in February only to still be waiting while dealers in Southern Cal have unsold cars on the lot! What is up with that supply and demand chain?

Agree completely! You would think that production would have been prioritized to the people who all "pre-ordered". Unfortunately, it appears this is NOT how BMW NA managed the orders. They appear to have done it like any other order from dealers with each dealer allocated so many cars in a production cycle. So when you get yours is completely dependent on that dealers allocation. Ultimately, the dealer is who is ordering and buying the vehicle from BMW not you :shock:

 

[dennis]

Annoying to have put money down in Nov 2103 and finalized my order in February only to still be waiting while dealers in Southern Cal have unsold cars on the lot! What is up with that supply and demand chain?

Agree completely! You would think that production would have been prioritized to the people who all "pre-ordered". Unfortunately, it appears this is NOT how BMW NA managed the orders. They appear to have done it like any other order from dealers with each dealer allocated so many cars in a production cycle. So when you get yours is completely dependent on that dealers allocation. Ultimately, the dealer is who is ordering and buying the vehicle from BMW not you :shock:

At least you're in California, so you have the benefit of driving down (or getting your dealer to do a trade) to the Long Beach location. All of these cars look like their the "launch" edition, the MSRPs were all fully loaded. Though not sure, I spent the time to check out the one I had built for me.

 

[Zzzoom3]

I spent the time to check out the one I had built for me.

Did it cost you anything to back out?

 

[JPCruising]

Here are a few images I took of my new i3 I picked up on 7/29

 

[AviatorMan]

I know how anxious you must be knowing how close by your i3 is. I felt the same anxiety. But getting the update at the Port is far better than taking delivery of the car only to find that you needed to take it back to the dealership for the update--for many, a three day visit to the service department.

Seems like a lot of i3's being held at the port for whatever reason were released today and the dealers are calling and setting up acceptance appointments.