is not so unrealistic, in these days is more costly to modify
the production process rather than enabling/disabling the functions via software,
indeed this is true for cheap parts like bluetooth antenna or the mic for voice control
or either the gps for the navi not at all for the pdk no? :-)
working as security engineer i guess they encrypted the code and bound it to the VIN
but i won t be at all surprised if later after the 2 3 yrs warranty someone
will come up with Ehy i enablad the Navi eventhough i never spent a cent for it

 

On a semi-related note, Porsche has done a pretty good job of keeping their software and software programming devices proprietary, but VAG-COM has been an aftermarket solution for years for VW and Audi owners.
I watched an aquaintance hook up his laptop with VAG-COM loaded on it to the OBD port of my recent TT-RS. The menu was pretty user friendly, I had him change some options for central locking and the DRL LED's. Some of the modules were clearly labelled with what they controlled, others were coded and would require some possibly risky experimentation. This guy "tunes" the ECU parameters of his own TDI Jetta engine, figuring he's at least as knowledgable as the commercial tuners in the field.
More recently, someone figured out the coding for the US model VW Golf R who's traction control was non-defeatable. Now anyone with a VAG-COM and the codes can re-program their traction control with stages up to totally off like they come in the ROW.

 

It would be realy fantastic if such where available for our 991. Unfortunately the only tool around is the Durametric which, at this point, does not support any coding options on the 991. I hope they can figure out how to circumvent Porche's encryption.

Rainier