Awaiting the arrival of my new i3s REx and yesterday the status on myBMW updated from "At the port" to "In transit." Since the next one is "At the dealership," I guess I'm stuck not knowing when 'in transit' means on a boat, or at the port here in the US, or on a truck. Just glad to see the status change! It seemed like it was at the port forever!
I'm on a boat! (maybe?)
- Thread starter SkepTeach
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OLDBMWGUY
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I ordered mine on JUNE 10 and it was delivered in Honolulu on AUG 29 2019.
I had a similar experience with my order in JUNE with my I3. Scheduling the "build", final assembly, shipping to the port and loading on the ship in Germany all took less than 2 weeks.
But..........
"In Transit" covered the period from "loaded on the ship" all the way to "offloaded" at the BMW Vehicle Processing Center close to the final destination. However, being retired and with free time, I searched the web for ships in port at that time (W &W are the largest shipping lines for BMW vehicles), looked up their schedules and narrowed down the choices as to which ship could be carrying your vehicle and would be docking at a ports close to your location. (East or West Coast being the first biggest decision points). Some folks say you can use the VIN # to track them, but I found that not to be true at all with any of the shipping lines or in-USA shipping companies. My ship stopped at 5 ports on the way through the Panama Canal to OXNARD, CA.
BMW Genius (1-844-4GENIUS (443-6487) was of some limited assistance in ascertaining what is going on but not too much. For them to assist, you do need the VIN #. My dealership had no information at all.
In my case (Hawaii), my I3 was first off loaded from the ship at OXNARD , CA. BMW Vehicle Processing Center (VPC) and then it left the VPC (after one day), from that point on BMW transfers responsibility to another carrier whether being delivered somewhere in the Western US or to Hawaii. My I3 sat around somewhere in LA for two weeks before being loaded onto a ship for further transfer to Honolulu.
Once it left OXNARD VPC, I was never able to find out what company was handling it from then on, what ship was it on to Hawaii, or any further info. Then of course, three weeks later I get a call from the dealership saying the car was here for delivery, come on down to pick it up.
My car spent almost as more time getting 2500 miles from LA to Honolulu as it spent getting roughly 6000 miles from Germany to OXNARD, CA.
So BMW estimate for 6-8 weeks for East Coast and 8-10 weeks for West Coast seems to be pretty accurate.
Worth the "wait" though.........
I had a similar experience with my order in JUNE with my I3. Scheduling the "build", final assembly, shipping to the port and loading on the ship in Germany all took less than 2 weeks.
But..........
"In Transit" covered the period from "loaded on the ship" all the way to "offloaded" at the BMW Vehicle Processing Center close to the final destination. However, being retired and with free time, I searched the web for ships in port at that time (W &W are the largest shipping lines for BMW vehicles), looked up their schedules and narrowed down the choices as to which ship could be carrying your vehicle and would be docking at a ports close to your location. (East or West Coast being the first biggest decision points). Some folks say you can use the VIN # to track them, but I found that not to be true at all with any of the shipping lines or in-USA shipping companies. My ship stopped at 5 ports on the way through the Panama Canal to OXNARD, CA.
BMW Genius (1-844-4GENIUS (443-6487) was of some limited assistance in ascertaining what is going on but not too much. For them to assist, you do need the VIN #. My dealership had no information at all.
In my case (Hawaii), my I3 was first off loaded from the ship at OXNARD , CA. BMW Vehicle Processing Center (VPC) and then it left the VPC (after one day), from that point on BMW transfers responsibility to another carrier whether being delivered somewhere in the Western US or to Hawaii. My I3 sat around somewhere in LA for two weeks before being loaded onto a ship for further transfer to Honolulu.
Once it left OXNARD VPC, I was never able to find out what company was handling it from then on, what ship was it on to Hawaii, or any further info. Then of course, three weeks later I get a call from the dealership saying the car was here for delivery, come on down to pick it up.
My car spent almost as more time getting 2500 miles from LA to Honolulu as it spent getting roughly 6000 miles from Germany to OXNARD, CA.
So BMW estimate for 6-8 weeks for East Coast and 8-10 weeks for West Coast seems to be pretty accurate.
Worth the "wait" though.........
Wow, well considering what a trip yours required, maybe ordering mine on September 20 will mean an early November delivery for me since mine will doc on the East Coast and make a 1 day trip to my dealer 
I guess I'm just anxious to say goodbye to my current Chevy Volt and hello to the i3. No offense at all to the Volt, as it has been fine these past three years - only a few trips to the dealer required for mysterious oopsies, it has of late randomly started going completely dead sometimes for unknown reasons, CarPlay has decided now to only work properly every two or three tries, and it is possibly the least engaging vehicle I've had - I'm just ready to be back in a fun DD.
The good news is that picking it up in the fall in NW Arkansas will mean for a gorgeous first drive.
I guess I'm just anxious to say goodbye to my current Chevy Volt and hello to the i3. No offense at all to the Volt, as it has been fine these past three years - only a few trips to the dealer required for mysterious oopsies, it has of late randomly started going completely dead sometimes for unknown reasons, CarPlay has decided now to only work properly every two or three tries, and it is possibly the least engaging vehicle I've had - I'm just ready to be back in a fun DD.
The good news is that picking it up in the fall in NW Arkansas will mean for a gorgeous first drive.
Looks like the Orion Highway docked in Jacksonville, FL yesterday! Now here's hoping she makes a quick exit from the port and gets to my dealer soon. The B2B warranty on the Volt expires later this month and I *really* don't want to risk something going wrong with that car in the interim. It has started doing a fun new fault where the entire vehicle will sometimes go completely dead with zero response from the fob, door buttons, start button, etc. It has happened twice, and both times the issue resolved itself within a few minutes. But still, that's a bit disconcerting!
