BMW 3 series VIN number

winston2000winston2000 Member Posts: 4
edited September 2014 in BMW
I bought a car over a week ago. I was told the car was in production when bought but now the car is listed "in Transit " and therefore the dealer doesn't know where it is in the inventory system. He also doesn't know the VIN number either. I was hoping to track the car during production and travel to the Us from Germany but can"t do without the VIN number . Has anyone else had this type of problem ? Thanks
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  • kyfdxkyfdx Moderator Posts: 269,877
    Did you order this car, specifically?

    Because BMWs get a VIN number when production starts... if he doesn't have a VIN, maybe he is just hoping for a car like the one you want? If you actually ordered it, it has a VIN...

    regards,
    kyfdx

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  • winston2000winston2000 Member Posts: 4
    I was told this car was ordered per my equipment request. It would therefore take 6-8 weeks to produce in Germany . I was told the next day the car was now listed as completed and in transit and should be here in four weeks. The VIN number was not available since it was somewhere in the system. I was told I would get the VIN this week but starting to have some problems with this entire issue. Are you suggesting someone is having fun with me at my expense ? Are you sure the VIN should be available when ordered at the dealership as noted.
  • kyfdxkyfdx Moderator Posts: 269,877
    Not at time of order, but once the car goes into production, it has a VIN number... It doesn't matter where it is in the system, as it has your dealer's name on it.. If you salesperson can't give you the VIN, then he is either ignorant or lazy...

    All sorts of prospective BMW owners track their cars through transport, and can even tell you the name of the ship they are on...

    I was told the next day the car was now listed as completed and in transit and should be here in four weeks.

    How would they know that without the VIN number?

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  • winston2000winston2000 Member Posts: 4
    Thank you very much for your response . I will handle with the dealer tomorrow
  • busirisbusiris Member Posts: 3,490
    Just for the record, I have had the VIN for EVERY BMW I have ever ordered within 48 hours of placing the order.

    Usually, the dealership simply converts a pre-exisiting, allocated, non-sold car to your order and modifies the specs accordingly, so they move it into the system pretty quickly.

    FWIW...
  • winston2000winston2000 Member Posts: 4
    Thank you. I now have the VIN / Production number . A non-sold car was converted to my order and I am now following the production process at the BMWUSA site.

    Thanks to all
  • kyfdxkyfdx Moderator Posts: 269,877
    Good deal!

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  • rhmassrhmass Member Posts: 263
    I ordered three BMWs with equipments I had specified. Each time, I was able to track the movement of the car from pre-production to the entire transport process including the ports the cars arrived in the US. However your order appeared to be matching one of those coming dealer's way with equipment you wanted, so it was not exactly ordered by you. It should arrive as promised, except hopefully the car is not only closely matching what you want as options. It is possible dealer may pull something like "Sorry they missed this or added that option to your ordered car by mistake"! This certainly has happened even with a car ordered at the outset by the customer, but rarely..
  • busirisbusiris Member Posts: 3,490
    However your order appeared to be matching one of those coming dealer's way with equipment you wanted, so it was not exactly ordered by you. It should arrive as promised, except hopefully the car is not only closely matching what you want as options. It is possible dealer may pull something like "Sorry they missed this or added that option to your ordered car by mistake"!

    I disagree.

    BMW allocates vehicles to each dealer far in advance of manufacture, and the dealer "pre-configures" each vehicle as if it is going on his lot. As special orders are placed, these same vehicles are re-configured to exactly match the order from the customer (as long as the vehicle hasn't entered production already).

    That is how the dealer can give a correct VIN to the special order customer within 24-48 hours, as they already have the list of VIN's allocated to the dealer.

    Now, if a car arrives with different specifications than ordered, either the dealer ordered it incorrectly or is intentionally attempting to pass-off a car as a special order when in fact it was already in the "no-change" position in pre-production.
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