# FINALLY have a boat - Voyage EA940-UND / UNDINE



## dunny (Oct 10, 2007)

After 2 weeks shipping information finally showed up on the EH Harms site. Looks like my total time is going to push 7-8 weeks rather than the 5-6 weeks I'd hoped for. Guess I won't get to drive it much before crappy ohio winter weather gets here and it sits in the garage :tsk:

I've got no clue why my car was transported from Paris to Bremerhaven.....isn't there a closer port than that? Oh well....looks like 5-6 more weeks of waiting for me.


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## hayden (Jun 6, 2006)

I think you probably just had the misfortune of dropping off a day or so after the truck left CDG.  (I dropped mine off two days before you). My car was also trucked to Bremerhaven.

I'm sure you'll have better luck on the next one... :thumbup:


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## jon330cic (Jul 30, 2005)

Dunny - we dropped off on the 11th in Paris and also just finally got booked on the same ship as you today. Our car was supposed to have been transported to Zeebrugge but was apparently diverted to Bremerhaven for some reason. Definitely looking like 7-8 weeks.


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## dunny (Oct 10, 2007)

hayden said:


> I think you probably just had the misfortune of dropping off a day or so after the truck left CDG.  (I dropped mine off two days before you). My car was also trucked to Bremerhaven.
> 
> I'm sure you'll have better luck on the next one... :thumbup:


Now that you mention that.....when we dropped off there WAS a truck loading up that day but it had a variety of makes/models going on it (not just BMWs) so I was hoping there would be another truck soon.



jon330cic said:


> Dunny - we dropped off on the 11th in Paris and also just finally got booked on the same ship as you today. Our car was supposed to have been transported to Zeebrugge but was apparently diverted to Bremerhaven for some reason. Definitely looking like 7-8 weeks.


I guess we both had bad luck. At least if it will be 8 weeks total than 25% of that time is behind us :thumbup:

For my next ED trip (probably a long time from now  ) I won't be dropping off in Paris. Seems like unless you have perfect timing the car will sit for two weeks until they fill up a truck.


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## ViaPerturbatio (Jul 25, 2009)

Looks like we're all in the same boat (pun intended). We dropped off in Munich the 10th. My car was originally scheduled to leave today on Elektra. I got bumped to Undine with same expected leave/arrival dates as you. This is sad, very sad. :bawling:


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## dunny (Oct 10, 2007)

ViaPerturbatio said:


> Looks like we're all in the same boat (pun intended). We dropped off in Munich the 10th. My car was originally scheduled to leave today on Elektra. I got bumped to Undine with same expected leave/arrival dates as you. This is sad, very sad. :bawling:


Yes - that sucks :bawling: I'm trying not to think about it because when I do I get pissed off that it will be 7-8 weeks total when I see my car again! AND - snow will be falling here in Ohio not too long after that 

http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/shipdetails.aspx?MMSI=265884000


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## bcb (Oct 3, 2009)

That's too bad. I did an ED last month also and am very eager to reunite with my car. Jason, I think we met at the Welt and again later that day at Neuschwanstein.

How was the rest of your trip?

bb


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## weee36 (May 22, 2007)

Jason, I'm also on the UNDINE, now. Like ViaP... I was somehow bumped from the ELEKTRA. Looks like we'll be able to meet-up again at the Performance Center. I'm dying here with the wait. I got winter tires and wheels from the Rack to put on when she comes. I'm just going out to the garage to stare at them.


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## dunny (Oct 10, 2007)

bcb said:


> That's too bad. I did an ED last month also and am very eager to reunite with my car. Jason, I think we met at the Welt and again later that day at Neuschwanstein.
> 
> How was the rest of your trip?
> 
> bb


Hey!

The rest of the trip was great! Everything was smooth and the car was fantastic on the autobahns and at the ring. I really wish I would have made a second lap without all of the luggage and passengers in the car...to really push it....but alas it didn't happen. I'm just thankful for the ENTIRE experience. Everything was a dream and I'm anxious to get back in my car....even if it is only for a few weeks before I park it during winter 



weee36 said:


> Jason, I'm also on the UNDINE, now. Like ViaP... I was somehow bumped from the ELEKTRA. Looks like we'll be able to meet-up again at the Performance Center. I'm dying here with the wait. I got winter tires and wheels from the Rack to put on when she comes. I'm just going out to the garage to stare at them.


Hi Tim,

My friend and I were just talking about the trip this afternoon. I was looking at plane tickets from CVG but they are simply too high for a one way ticket ($250). We are definitely interested in "car pooling" with you to the performance center. Sounds like now that you are on the same boat it will work out for us. I will have to schedule my delivery for a Friday because we plan on driving back through Deals Gap and making a weekend out of it. So I'm thinking it will be either 10/30 (if we are lucky) or 11/13. I can't make the trip on 11/6 (my birthday!) because my friend is out of town that week and weekend. Either way I will be in touch to figure it out.


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## weee36 (May 22, 2007)

Hey, we"ll keep in touch. I'm hoping we're lucky because I'd like to be Hilton Head on the weekend of the 31st for the Concours and my son's birthday. If it's the next weekend, I will go then because I have something I'd like to be in Spartanburg for on 11/7. we'll see.


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## ViaPerturbatio (Jul 25, 2009)

weee36 said:


> I got winter tires and wheels from the Rack to put on when she comes. I'm just going out to the garage to stare at them.


Hilarious. :lmao: I know what you mean. I'll just be getting my car in time to test out the xDrive. What kind of winter tires did you get at the rack (we need something to talk about to distract us from this long wait)?

By the way, sorry dunny (OP) for the double thread. I forgot about your posting on the Undine. Hopefully others will follow your link back to here.


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## weee36 (May 22, 2007)

I got the General Altimax artic on Sport Edition A7's, 17 x 7.5 all around with no TPM. Figured I could put up with the warning light for 3 months or so. Yeah, these aren't the absolute best but they are $42 cheaper per tire than the Blizzak WS60's and still well rated. I don't need to use the 135 all the time so these will be fine.


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## ViaPerturbatio (Jul 25, 2009)

Undine is finally making it's way state-side.


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## dunny (Oct 10, 2007)

It's about time! I've been watching it since the 1st and it has hit up a number of ports before heading our way. Let's hope we all get our cars safely to port and through the dreaded customs process


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## ViaPerturbatio (Jul 25, 2009)

So I get an e-mail from my "new" CA today (my previous one that I was very happy with just decided to leave BMW to start his own pizza business ) and he informs me my vehicle is due to arrive at the VDC with an ETA in SC (he was wrong about SC but that is what he said) of October 16th (based on my information, Undine is scheduled to arrive in NJ October 15th). I believe my CA is hopeful that the Customs process takes no time :tsk: or did I miss something here? 

He proceeds to tell me that it typically takes 10-14 days for re-delivery once it gets to SC.I would like to compare notes with those of you also on Undine as to what your CAs are telling you. I would also like to appeal to our ED experts out there to see if the 10-14 days re-delivery from VDC is accurate.


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## dunny (Oct 10, 2007)

Last time I spoke with my CA told me that she can't do much until the car is at the NJ port. At that point she will schedule PCD based on how quickly it gets through the customs process. I plan on calling her next week to get an update and feedback from her. 

I will say that....to have my car sit at the Paris airport for 2 weeks only to get transferred to a port that is VERY far from Paris and then have it delayed another 2 weeks before it is even on a boat has NOT been a satisfactory way to handle everything. I have heard of others on this site have their car show up in NJ in 20 days and it took nearly 4 weeks for my car to even get on the ship! I have not been happy with this and plan on sending in a formal complaint to the BMW ED department about the entire shipping process. I feel like we are all being penalized by logistical BS - ie, them waiting to fill a boat before sending it over. The Undine is still cruising around from port to port in Europe, and I assume it is picking up more cargo. I thought that 10/1 it would be on its way to NJ instead of the numerous other ports it has visited since 10/1! I understand they want to be efficient but a 4 week wait just to get my car on a boat is NOT acceptable! Now the Undine is just sailing around to random ports and not on a direct path to the US 

EDIT: Actually, I just checked the marinetraffic site and see it is finally making its way over here. So after a week it is officially on the right course  The way I look at it, it just wasted a week of my driving time before winter hits Ohio and I'm forced to drive my 4x4


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## jon330cic (Jul 30, 2005)

Dunny - feel your pain - we had the same Paris experience. As others have said, it is all a crap shoot as to when we drop off vs. when the next truck leaves for the port - as you recall, a full truck left Paris a day or two before we dropped off. And ship scheduling - well, I'm sure BMW ED has little control over this. We're just thrown in the mix with the thousands of other BMWs, MBs, VWs, Audis, Porsches, Volvos, Saabs, Minis, etc., that are being booked on the same ships bound for the US. Trust me, we spent no time waiting for a ship to fill up - we sat waiting to get booked on a ship as full ship after full ship left the port filled with cars that were booked on those voyages before us.

As for the Undine sailing to "random ports," there is nothing random about it. The ship's schedule is well-publicized:

Port Country Arrival Departure

BREMERHAVEN GERMANY 29/09/2009 01/10/2009
GOTHENBURG SWEDEN 03/10/2009 03/10/2009
ZEEBRUGGE BELGIUM 05/10/2009 06/10/2009
SOUTHAMPTON UNITED KINGDOM 07/10/2009 07/10/2009
HALIFAX, NS CANADA 14/10/2009 14/10/2009
NEW YORK, NY U.S.A. 16/10/2009 16/10/2009
BRUNSWICK, GA U.S.A. 19/10/2009 19/10/2009
GALVESTON,TX U.S.A. 23/10/2009 23/10/2009

I'm not going to mess with the formatting, but you get the idea. You can view all of this on the WWL website.

Best to just chill out and wait for it to arrive. I know winter is coming, but who the hell chooses to live in Ohio anyway?  Thankfully, our car will arrive just in time for 6-8 months of perfect convertible driving here in FL!


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## ViaPerturbatio (Jul 25, 2009)

jon330cic said:


> As for the Undine sailing to "random ports," there is nothing random about it. The ship's schedule is well-publicized:
> 
> Port Country Arrival Departure
> 
> ...


Thanks for the schedule John. In Dunny's defense, sometimes the "job" chooses where we live....that is certainly why I live in Michigan :loco: (I am not loco by choice). And yes, yes you may say we always have choices; however, something's got to pay for that 535i xDrive I just purchased.


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## dunny (Oct 10, 2007)

Yeah I've seen the ship schedules. It is frustrating to not "get lucky" like folks I've read about on here with a 3 week turnaround on their car being in the states while my experience is looking like 6 weeks and a total time (from drop off to PCD pickup) of 8-9 weeks  

I guess as long as my 135i arrives without any damage or delays in customs I'll be OK with the experience.

Ohio weather is terrible and there is not a lot to do or see around here, but it is home


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## ViaPerturbatio (Jul 25, 2009)

Interesting link below shows results from a re-delivery survey that gclabbe has been recording:

http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/showthread.php?t=369520&page=4

For dunny, weee36 and myself, it seems the midwestern states generally seem to take 45-46 days (or 6.5 weeks) from drop-off to re-delivery. That would put me at the 25th or 26th of October. I'd be happy to get my car back by then. However, the average U.S. dock to re-delivery time is about 15 days which would put us at October 31st. Trick or treat?

Also interesting is to see a progressive increase in delivery time over the past several years (understanding of course that this is a limited survey and may not be representative of complete actuals but likely shows a fair trend).

*Years*
2005 34.50
2009 46.83
2006 49.00
2007 49.71
2008 51.72

These are not good findings for the ED and Bimmer enthusiast.


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