BMW Toying with Hardware-As-A-Service Subscription Model

Diji1 on 08/07/2020 - 15:59

BMW announced it has plans to start charging a subscription fee to use various hardware features in its vehicles.

For example it may ship all seats with heating but only allow the heating to be turned on if the customer is paying a subscription to use the heating.

In some markets it has already started with cruise control and high beam light management.

https://arstechnica.com/cars/2020/07/heated-seats-as-a-servi…

If customers support this model presumably it will spread to other marques.

It reminds me of the video game sector ten years ago when microtransactions were just starting. Most people just kept on supporting, ignoring naysayers about how bad it would get, until it got to a level that was bad beyond their wildest imagination.

I wonder if we'll start seeing fees to remove arbitary annoyances in the automobile sector in five years.

Automotive

Related Stores

bmw.com.au
bmw.com.au

Comments

  • Hybroid on 08/07/2020 - 16:02
    +11

    Can't wait for vehicle jailbreaking. Will be fun.

    • [Deactivated] on 08/07/2020 - 16:04
      -1

      Already out.

  • DashCam AKA Rolts on 08/07/2020 - 16:09
    +1

    Surely if the seat is wired, you could add a switch, fuse and wiring loop to make it operational. It would be hard to claim that it invalidates warranty for drive chain etc.

    • abb on 08/07/2020 - 16:30
      +10

      Error: unauthorized seat heating detected.
      Vehicle disabled.
      Police have been dispatched to your location.
      Please lie face down on the ground with your hands clasped behind your head.

      • tsunamisurfer on 08/07/2020 - 17:58
        +2

        That should warrant at least a 3 star wanted level.

        • tonyjzx on 11/07/2020 - 20:34

          Please drink verification can to continue.

    • bdl on 08/07/2020 - 17:50
      +1

      Then we have a Mechwarrior 2 "Shutdown Sequence Initiated" situation due to overheat :)

  • Vampyr on 08/07/2020 - 16:12
    +7

    You muppets will support this and it will become the norm.

    Short term pain, long term gain.

    Fight the good fight.

  • DashCam AKA Rolts on 08/07/2020 - 16:27
    +30

    I thought BMW had already tried this for years, with indicators, and it had been totally snubbed by their customers.

  • brendanm on 08/07/2020 - 16:35

    Sweet, free upgrades. Normally not hard to activate stuff like this.

  • jimbobaus on 08/07/2020 - 16:37

    They already charge a yearly fee if you want Apple Car Play or Android Auto.
    This wont work in Aus so unlikely the subscription model will come here.

  • JimB on 08/07/2020 - 16:52

    I have no issue with it as long as they reduce the capital cost, which is unlikely.

    I remember when BMW charged to use Apple Car Play.

  • Nugs on 08/07/2020 - 17:15
    +1

    Who do we vote for to stop it?
    .

    • plmko on 08/07/2020 - 20:02
      +3

      You vote with your wallet….

      • spackbace on 10/07/2020 - 02:12

        Unless your name is Diji1

  • Bid Sniper on 08/07/2020 - 17:15

    Benz did this and it failed

    https://www.theverge.com/2020/6/29/21306823/mercedes-benz-co…

    • brendanm on 08/07/2020 - 21:12

      That's not the same thing. Also who would want to pay $3k a month to drive vanilla Mercs around, can't even get the AMG stuff.

      • tonyjzx on 11/07/2020 - 20:36

        to be fair to Mercedes there was at LEAST another two car companies, one from Germany, one from Japan who tried the same thing.

        There are a few other traditional companies, not Tesla, who already have literally paid DLC to added options that are already there…

        Oh you want additional climate control over standard aircon? We can flash that into your car for $1,000…

  • crashloaded on 08/07/2020 - 19:28
    +1

    Just use a hot water bottle.

  • Seraphin7 on 08/07/2020 - 20:13
    +4

    The irony/hilarity in this concept is that it proves that all these optional extras/upgrade packs cost the manufacturer SFA to put in the car and only serve to pump up the margin astronomically once you move above the base model.

  • Cheeper on 08/07/2020 - 20:33

    Just like the map update rip off.

  • pegaxs on 08/07/2020 - 23:35
    +3

    Or you can buy loot boxes, where you pay a 25% fee and just hit the “roll the dice” button to see what you get today… is it lights?, is it aircon? Oh no! It’s blinkers… that you don’t use… doesn’t matter, roll again and see what you get…

    This tech is one step away from having adverting blaring inside the car and you have to subscribe to shut it off or pay to skip…

  • [Deactivated] on 09/07/2020 - 18:18

    I believe this has already existed (without the subscription aspect) in the industry.

    Unfortunately I can't remember what car or component, but I remember watching a video on how to fix something in my car, and there was some component to do with the audio system that was an option, but only the button was missing on the lower trims. All vehicles had it, but you only got the button if you paid more!

    • Euphemistic on 10/07/2020 - 08:12
      +1

      It is a lot easier for car manufacturers to install the same wiring harness then just different buttons and trim at the end or omit sensors during the build. Saves them money that they can get back extra from buyers when the must have the higher spec model for extra feature or charging hundreds for dollars worth of ‘upgrades’

      Higher spec models of my car have a temperature display on the dash. I could have bought the manufacturer sensor for it for near $200 but cluey enthusiasts found out a $20 part would do it. The $20 part would probably cost the manufacturer $1. I bought one and it took about 20 seconds to plug it in, another minute to reset the computer and I have a temperature display.

    • robberbutton on 10/07/2020 - 16:04
      +1

      I know in my car (2012 328i), it included the physical hardware to allow bluetooth audio streaming, but was disabled unless you originally purchased one of the package options. Easily fixed with an OBD2 adapter and some software though.

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