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BMW Awaiting Carrier Assignment – What Does This Mean?

You may have been wondering what the BMW awaiting carrier assignment means?

Perhaps you have ordered a brand new BMW. While there may be various options at car showrooms, you may be disinterested in what is available and want to have your very own BMW build on the company’s website.

Hence, it is important to understand what the timelines mean. This way you know exactly what to expect when you order and track your new vehicle.

This is what we will discuss today and some key points to understand about it. Let’s jump right into it.

BMW Awaiting Carrier Assignment

You may have decided to build your BMW vehicle on the website. Now, if you want to learn more about what to expect, you may need to search for the Product Ordering Guide or the POG. This is BMW’s official guide from the factory. 

The price list may appear the same and you can check the cost of every car option. So it is good to determine what BMW vehicle you want before you go to your dealer.

Now, an allocation allows you to specify the BMW according to what you like. It is a slot for your dealership to place an order for your vehicle. Every dealer has different allocations, depending on how much the company sells. It could be 2 slots for the M3 for each month, or it could be more.

When a deal has been made for your vehicle, you then need to submit your order and use the allocations provided. But do keep in mind that it takes some waiting time depending on the open slot available to the dealer. 

After placing your order, you will be provided with a production number.  Then, you are entered in the company’s build queue. During the peak of pandemic, this process took about 8 weeks when the vehicle is coming from Germany or up to 4 weeks when from South Carolina.

Do keep in mind that if you do not yet have a production number, you will also not have an allocation. So, it is important to make sure that your dealer gives you both – a production number and an allocation. Otherwise, it can be a real problem.

The moment you have the vehicle in schedule for the production, you should get your car’s actual VIN number, which is provided on the website.

When you are ready to track your order and know more about the status, you can either call the Genius hotline or go to BMWUSA.com. But in most cases, the website tends to lag some hours behind. So, we highly recommend that you contact the hotline for more updated information.

For those who have visited the BMW plant tour down in South Carolina, they have observed that the car can take under 24 hours to be fully assembled once the paint has dried. In fact, you can even see the car being built as you walk through the BMW plant. From being in the paint booth up to the ready for transport status, it usually takes only 24 hours. The process is quite fast – yet it takes time to be updated on the website.

If you have opted for a vehicle with an individual color, it will be painted in a different booth. Hence, the process can take a bit longer – it all depends on the color you choose. In some cases, the color may be approved quickly by BMW but others can take longer or even denied. 

This is why if you prefer your order to be delivered quicker, then you may want to forgo an individual order. Otherwise, you will have to take a little longer.

Next up, we go to the shipping. There are many factors that come to play here, mainly depending on where your vehicle is built.

If your vehicle is made in the United States, then it leaves the South Carolina factory via truck or train. On the website, you can see the “in transit” status. However, once you contact the hotline, they will be able to provide the mode of transportation and the company shipping it. Thus, you can track your order online.

But in the case of a vehicle built in Germany, this means it will need to cross the ocean to get to your location. You can also call BMW and ask about the name of the ship then check your order through marinetracker.com. Among the ports include Charleston, Bremerhaven, Southampton, New Jersey, Halifax, Brunswick, Baltimore, Zeebrugge, and Galveston.

The car may take 7 to 10 days if you are on the east coast and may be more than 2 weeks if on the west coast.

After getting off the train or boat, your car will then go to the Vehicle Processing Center. This will involve an inspection of your car and check for any damage. If there are issues during transit, your vehicle will be repaired. There is a mechanic, restoration shop and paint department in the VPC.

And lastly, we go to the delivery process. After arriving at the dealer, they will prep the vehicle by taking the protective wrapping off. They will also prepare the iDrive system based on your specific region.

In the case of an awaiting carrier assignment, this basically means that the company decides on the carrier that will carry your vehicle from the factory and then to the port. Once the vehicle arrives at the port, a ship is assigned to it. 

The next step after awaiting carrier assignment is dispatched from the factory, and then at the port and in transit. The process depends on how fast the company is able to fill the carrier with vehicles being delivered to your area. Others can go for a few days to several weeks.

Read More: Understanding The Maximum Drivetrain Output Not Available BMW Issue

Final Thoughts

Ordering a new BMW vehicle may require some waiting game before it is delivered to you. This is why it is important to know what happens throughout the process and contact the hotline if you wish to obtain up-to-date information about your order’s status.

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Getting my BMW X5 45e - WA state delivery timelines

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• Jan 26th – placed the order
• Jan 27th – received production number to add to my garage online.
• Late Jan – BMW NA Genius when called said build was scheduled for Week 10 (week of March 8th in my own calculations). Online tracking was stuck at 'order received' when I made this call.
• Early Feb – Order went into 'Scheduled for production'.
• Last week (week 9) - Order went into 'Production begins' (step 3)
• Exterior body assembly
• Paint booth
• Entering assembly line
• Quality check
• Final assembly
• Ready for transport
• Awaiting carrier assignment
• March 15th – Picked up by carrier (some of the dates here through March 19th are a bit vague in my mind as I didn’t note them down)
• March 18th – At port
• March 19th – In transit (via train) [52 days from order]
• April 5th – Dealer notified that April 10th may be the arrival date. (~3 weeks to Seattle from leaving going to 'in transit')
• April 9th – At port (different port close to dealership, but it looked like it went back a stage on the tracker)
• April 12th – In transit (via truck) (AM); At dealership (PM) [76 days from order]

76 days...wow. Good looking car!  

More than half the wait was for the scheduled production date to roll up. Speaks to the demand for this model. From production start to arrival was just past a month, which by itself is reasonable considering it's going straight across the country.  

Except maybe for fleet, diplomatic, or military sales, all vehicles sold by BMW in the USA start out with your dealer. There are no factory owned showrooms that I'm aware of in the USA. People have reported getting their vehicles in much shorter times, and many, much longer times. It all really depends on what production slots your dealer has and is willing to assign to the buyer. He doesn't automatically get a slot because he makes a sale...he is selling either from stock or from a build slot he was assigned or can trade or buy, from another dealer. Up until production begins (all of the bits being ordered to produce the vehicle), the dealer can change an existing order to one for your specifications. That also changes the priority higher than one being built for his sales lot. Shipping can be spotty, but seems to be better now than it was a few months ago. Mine sat awaiting carrier pickup for nearly 10-days back in September 2020. If I'd been willing to travel, I could have driven it home myself in one long day (probably two to be more comfortable).  

Did your dealer offer any incentives? Did you pay over MSRP?  

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How do I track the status of my new BMW vehicle order online?

Once production begins, you can track your new BMW via the My BMW portal.   If you’re a first-time BMW owner:

• Visit  MyGarage.bmwusa.com
• Click “Register now”
• Enter your information to set up an account and check the box to accept the Terms and Conditions.
• Check your email to complete the registration.
• Once you open the email, select “My Garage”

If you’re a current BMW owner, use the same log in credentials you use for your BMW ConnectedDrive account.   If you are unsure of your BMW ConnectedDrive credentials, contact BMW Assist at 888-333-6118 to obtain your email and password.

• Enter your BMW ID (email address) and Password of the primary account holder
• Click “Login”

Add your BMW for tracking.

• Click “Track My BMW” header
• Click “Track your new BMW”
• Or, click “Vehicle still in production?  Enter your Production Number instead” to enter the production number.
• Click “Next”
• Click “Add Vehicle”
• Once you add the vehicle, you can click “My Vehicles” on the My Garage menu, then “Track Status” to view a  production timeline. 

You will be able to track through the 16 events below.

• Order received – Your order has been received, and we’re making space in the production schedule.
• Scheduled for production – The factory has scheduled production of your unique BMW.
• Production begins – Today’s the day:  your BMW has entered the production queue.
• Exterior body assembly begins – Your BMW is taking shape.  Exterior body construction has begun.
• In the paint booth – Your BMW is ready to show its true colors in the paint shop.
• Entering assembly line – On to the assembly line, where your BMW really starts to come together.
• Assembly in progress – Your BMW is being assembled.
• Quality check – We’re doing our last checks to make sure your BMW is just right.
• Final assembly – Putting on the finishing touches that make every BMW special.
• Ready for transport – Your BMW is being prepared for transport.
• Awaiting carrier assignment – A carrier has been assigned to take care of your BMW.
• Dispatched from factory – Your new BMW has left the factory, and is on its way to you.
• At the port – Your BMW has arrived at the port.
• In transit – Your BMW is in transit.  It won’t be long now.
• At the dealership – It’s so close – your BMW has arrived at your BMW Center.
• Vehicle delivered – Your BMW is home.

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How long from "ASSIGNED CARRIER" to delivery to you?

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Mine spent last week in Paint then QA checks, and is now in "AWAITING CARRIER ASSIGNMENT A carrier has been assigned to take care of your BMW." How long would that take average to get to California - and is this really having to be made in Germany and then shipped from there? Im assuming everyones experience is widely different due to carrier logistics these past years being fecked..  

There’s a well established thread on the matter on this forum. Took 2 months for me from awaiting carrier, but I stayed at that status for about 3 weeks. There are folks on this forum (and folks waiting for a car from the same dealership as me) who have waited much longer.  

I optimistically think the logjams are breaking. Mine went from out of production to assigned carrier to at the port in the span of four days. Awaiting to see whether it gets on a ship this week or not.  

WRT to “THE well established thread”, my point was that the thread contains many folks in the same situation. When I was in the same situation, I obtained some solace from shared misery… no calumny was meant on your searching skills…  

Mine was built 7/25 and awaited carrier assignment for just over 6 weeks, 2 weeks awaiting on a vessel and as of today on its way to Baltimore. I had one well informed genius say 4-6 weeks is average awaiting carrier and 6-8wks isn't uncommmon.  

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