3D max spline animation to Unity

I have achieved creating a basic animation of a simple coil wire moving from being wrapped around the left side of an iron core to the bottom of an iron core. (see sequence of 3 images):

![alt text][1] ![alt text][2] [1]: /storage/temp/68035-1.jpg [2]: /storage/temp/68038-3.jpg

I did this by animating a spline's verticies in 3D Max, and then just choosing to render the spline as a radial round shape to look like a fat wire. I can also achieve the radial wire shape by lofting a circle shape along the spline.

The problem is that Unity does not recognize the spline, so my animation does not translate into Unity. If I make the rendered round spline into an editable poly in 3D max, the shape is imported into Unity, but I lose the animation.

Does anyone know a way to bring an animated spline into Unity from 3D Max? I've tried workarounds like baking the animation, and it does not work.

Thanks!