NYK Hercules Leader

[SanFranSoxFan]

Hows it going GAS? have you found our ship yet?

[GAS428]

We got out to the ship and saw a ship load of cars, Unfortunately we did not see any of ours. Because it was literally a ship load of cars that they were 1/4 unloaded at 1:00PM today to be completed by 2:00 AM tomorrow.

I will share with you our experience regardless since it was a cool experience, and the pictures we took.

8:00 Last night Tony called from San Francisco wanting to see the unloading. Minimal amount of Bad influence was required to get him to haul out here at 2:00 AM and got hear in Santa Clarita by 6:30 this morning.

After taking care of a previously schedule around we made it out to the BMW Distribution Center where we cleared up a dealer inspired misconception.

The BDC is actively adding upgrade parts to new BMWs at lower cost for the parts and installation than the dealers. And in the spirit of BMW brand and way of doing business, dealers are required to inform their customers of this service for upgrading their cars once they come off the ships.

At 1:00 We made it back to the port where the port master lead us to the loading dock and the parking lot with the ship load of cars.

Tony and I agreed that it was an impressive logistical achievement to unload the vast amount of cars and get them to all of us in the great condition we all expect.

The way they unload the cars is they have a fleet of passenger vans that are filled with drivers that drive onto the ship. The drivers then get into the cars to be moved and drive them to designated locations in the parking lot. All tracked by bar code scanners for tracking.

We looked to find our cars but what we saw was a majority of M4s and one blue M3.

All the pictures are attached below.

Tony and I thought it was a cool thing to see first hand and better than just sitting around typing on BMW Blogs.........Just by a bit.

Please enjoy the pictures.

I have spent the past hour trying to compress the picture. Once I get it I will post them

[perf0rmance]

Originally Posted by GAS428

We got out to the ship and saw a ship load of cars, Unfortunately we did not see any of ours. Because it was literally a ship load of cars that they were 1/4 unloaded at 1:00PM today to be completed by 2:00 AM tomorrow.

I will share with you our experience regardless since it was a cool experience, and the pictures we took.

8:00 Last night Tony called from San Francisco wanting to see the unloading. Minimal amount of Bad influence was required to get him to haul out here at 2:00 AM and got hear in Santa Clarita by 6:30 this morning.

After taking care of a previously schedule around we made it out to the BMW Distribution Center where we cleared up a dealer inspired misconception.

The BDC is actively adding upgrade parts to new BMWs at lower cost for the parts and installation than the dealers. And in the spirit of BMW brand and way of doing business, dealers are required to inform their customers of this service for upgrading their cars once they come off the ships.

At 1:00 We made it back to the port where the port master lead us to the loading dock and the parking lot with the ship load of cars.

Tony and I agreed that it was an impressive logistical achievement to unload the vast amount of cars and get them to all of us in the great condition we all expect.

The way they unload the cars is they have a fleet of passenger vans that are filled with drivers that drive onto the ship. The drivers then get into the cars to be moved and drive them to designated locations in the parking lot. All tracked by bar code scanners for tracking.

We looked to find our cars but what we saw was a majority of M4s and one blue M3.

All the pictures are attached below.

Tony and I thought it was a cool thing to see first hand and better than just sitting around typing on BMW Blogs.........Just by a bit.

Please enjoy the pictures.

I have spent the past hour trying to compress the picture. Once I get it I will post them

I commend you for your efforts and tenacity.

I can't wait for the pictures, even though it's not any of my car! Just to say there are pictures of vehicles that have been with my car for over a month as they navigated the Atlantic is pretty awesome in itself.

[jayyp]

Originally Posted by GAS428

We got out to the ship and saw a ship load of cars, Unfortunately we did not see any of ours. Because it was literally a ship load of cars that they were 1/4 unloaded at 1:00PM today to be completed by 2:00 AM tomorrow.

I will share with you our experience regardless since it was a cool experience, and the pictures we took.

8:00 Last night Tony called from San Francisco wanting to see the unloading. Minimal amount of Bad influence was required to get him to haul out here at 2:00 AM and got hear in Santa Clarita by 6:30 this morning.

After taking care of a previously schedule around we made it out to the BMW Distribution Center where we cleared up a dealer inspired misconception.

The BDC is actively adding upgrade parts to new BMWs at lower cost for the parts and installation than the dealers. And in the spirit of BMW brand and way of doing business, dealers are required to inform their customers of this service for upgrading their cars once they come off the ships.

At 1:00 We made it back to the port where the port master lead us to the loading dock and the parking lot with the ship load of cars.

Tony and I agreed that it was an impressive logistical achievement to unload the vast amount of cars and get them to all of us in the great condition we all expect.

The way they unload the cars is they have a fleet of passenger vans that are filled with drivers that drive onto the ship. The drivers then get into the cars to be moved and drive them to designated locations in the parking lot. All tracked by bar code scanners for tracking.

We looked to find our cars but what we saw was a majority of M4s and one blue M3.

All the pictures are attached below.

Tony and I thought it was a cool thing to see first hand and better than just sitting around typing on BMW Blogs.........Just by a bit.

Please enjoy the pictures.

I have spent the past hour trying to compress the picture. Once I get it I will post them

I don't see any pictures

[jayyp]

Looks like our cars should all be unloaded since our boat has left Hueneme!

[Green///Hell]

Subscribed for pictures, sounds really awesome you were able to see the cars on site!

[GAS428]

OK Figured out how to compress the pictures enough to post.

Enjoy

[jayyp]

Originally Posted by GAS428

OK Figured out how to compress the pictures enough to post.

Enjoy

Nice! Thanks

[SanFranSoxFan]

Am I reading this correctly, that someone from S.F. drove down there to hang out at the port with you? If so....thats awesome. I would love to do something spontaneous like that but it would require my wife and kid be out of town or something. I wish I could have joined you, I love stuff like this, even if its not related to BMWs, but just how stuff works, the logistics of things you never think about.

[GAS428]

Originally Posted by SanFranSoxFan

Am I reading this correctly, that someone from S.F. drove down there to hang out at the port with you? If so....thats awesome. I would love to do something spontaneous like that but it would require my wife and kid be out of town or something. I wish I could have joined you, I love stuff like this, even if its not related to BMWs, but just how stuff works, the logistics of things you never think about.

Yes Tony did join me for the ship greeting from San Francisco. He is a great guy and has the luxury of being spontaneous, at least for this time.

I want to apologize for some of the babble I wrote last night.

I knew you guy were waiting to hear news, I was dead tired, and today after getting prescribed intravenous and oral antibiotics I realized I was not firing on all cylinders and my turbo was all gummed up. I'm on the road to getting better and improved writing.

[GAS428]

Originally Posted by SanFranSoxFan

Am I reading this correctly, that someone from S.F. drove down there to hang out at the port with you? If so....thats awesome. I would love to do something spontaneous like that but it would require my wife and kid be out of town or something. I wish I could have joined you, I love stuff like this, even if its not related to BMWs, but just how stuff works, the logistics of things you never think about.

I give my wife freedom to chase her dreams and she does me the same. We both hold our responsibilities to each other because we want to. It works for us.

[SanFranSoxFan]

So what happens now? Is it a black hole of information until we get the call from the dealer that the car has arrived?

I wonder what level of detail we can get from the 800 number or from our CA. It would be nice to know when we clear customs, when we exit Delivery center and we are on a truck, etc.

[GAS428]

Originally Posted by SanFranSoxFan

So what happens now? Is it a black hole of information until we get the call from the dealer that the car has arrived?

I wonder what level of detail we can get from the 800 number or from our CA. It would be nice to know when we clear customs, when we exit Delivery center and we are on a truck, etc.

Cars will be driven to the BMW Distribution Center on Monday with assigned Priority Ratings. Cars Made to special Order (Customers Waiting) has a top priority rating for processing.

Our cars will be processed in 1 to 3 day if you have no modifications at the BDC. Could add a day or two if added options are performed. then they get sent to the locations you arranged to pick them up at.

I am going to guess the will load the Ms onto a truck for San Francisco. do not think they will rail them unless the load them with the other BMWs on rail

[jayyp]

Originally Posted by GAS428

Cars will be driven to the BMW Distribution Center on Monday with assigned Priority Ratings. Cars Made to special Order (Customers Waiting) has a top priority rating for processing.

Our cars will be processed in 1 to 3 day if you have no modifications at the BDC. Could add a day or two if added options are performed. then they get sent to the locations you arranged to pick them up at.

I am going to guess the will load the Ms onto a truck for San Francisco. do not think they will rail them unless the load them with the other BMWs on rail

Did they say anything about ED cars?

[tommydieselm3]

Great pics

[SanFranSoxFan]

Just curious, I am maybe 3-7 days from the car being ready for pickup. At what point do I go in and finalize the paperwork and lease terms with the dealer? When I put the deposit down I was given MSRP, base MF. But that was back in July, At the time he mentioned if the rates improved when the car arrived, I would get those. I may also get the $1000 holiday cash. Now do I complete this transaction the day I go to pick the car up or should I do it before?
I'm not looking to haggle at all, but in the unlikely event that they try to pull some bullshit, what leverage do I have? They got my car sitting right there and they know I will do anything to drive it home after 6 months of waiting.

[jayyp]

Originally Posted by SanFranSoxFan

Just curious, I am maybe 3-7 days from the car being ready for pickup. At what point do I go in and finalize the paperwork and lease terms with the dealer? When I put the deposit down I was given MSRP, base MF. But that was back in July, At the time he mentioned if the rates improved when the car arrived, I would get those. I may also get the $1000 holiday cash. Now do I complete this transaction the day I go to pick the car up or should I do it before?
I'm not looking to haggle at all, but in the unlikely event that they try to pull some bullshit, what leverage do I have? They got my car sitting right there and they know I will do anything to drive it home after 6 months of waiting.

How do you know your car is 3-7 days away from pickup? I have no idea about the status of my car .. Per your question, I am not sure, but I would guess you would complete the transaction the day you pick up the car.

[michael102cn]

Originally Posted by jayyp

How do you know your car is 3-7 days away from pickup? I have no idea about the status of my car .. Per your question, I am not sure, but I would guess you would complete the transaction the day you pick up the car.

check the status over the phone, the car is on the port and waiting for a shipping vessel, so i think maybe the car is waiting for a truck. If you guys have the same status as mine?

[jayyp]

Originally Posted by michael102cn

check the status over the phone, the car is on the port and waiting for a shipping vessel, so i think maybe the car is waiting for a truck. If you guys have the same status as mine?

It says my vehicle is in transit when I try checking the status over the phone.

[perf0rmance]

I called earlier and the automated message stated my vehicle was waiting for transport. I connected to a live rep and they told me my vehicle was actually released to a trucking company already and that it left today. Four days is the estimated travel time for it to reach my dealer.

[michael102cn]

my car will be in long beach bmw on next Mon. after calling 800. How about other guys?

[jayyp]

Originally Posted by michael102cn

my car will be in long beach bmw on next Mon. after calling 800. How about other guys?

Really?? Lucky you! My car is still waiting to clear customs and it's supposed to go to LB as well