Kritz

Hopefully, Porsche doesn't get any ideas.

https://www.theverge.com/2022/7/12/2...-seats-feature

RudyP

Welcome to microtransaction hell...

Good thing BMW has completely lost their way and their cars are super ugly so I have no desire to buy their cars any more!

Tupper

On a side note, much of my assets come from owning urban real estate (apartment buildings) in Chicago located near transit, marketed to carless people.

If car ownership is going to be this much of an expensive pain in the a## in the future, then my investments are going to continue to be very fruitful.

What a bunch of nickel and dime crap

othertbone

Being from South Florida, I hope they don't start charging for A/C, there would be riots

Bluehighways

Apparently this nonsense is only taking place in South Korea.
https://arstechnica.com/cars/2022/07...us-cars/?amp=1

Kritz

BMW Community needs to shut this down ASAP!

detansinn

Porsche is already doing this with Function on Demand. It’s available for the Taycan now and will be presumably coming to the 992.2 911 given that it adopts the Taycan PCM.

https://media.porsche.com/mediakit/t...-on-demand-fod

Zero Motorcycles also offers micro transactions where you can unlock horsepower and range with your credit card.

This is not awesome.

drcollie

All of this seemed to begin with software companies, remember when you used to buy Adobe Acrobat and Microsoft Office? Now you pay a monthly subscription fee which a much higher revenue stream for those companies than someone who buys the software every few years. I think the predecessor to this model may have been the cell phone companies, where everything is a monthly fee and almost no one buys outright on a new phone.

The younger generation is more than happy to hand over their auto-credit card for a monthly debit to it - for years on end - for the sake of convenience.

There is no way I am paying a monthly subscription to use an automotive feature. Not happening. If need be, I'll just go more analog on my cars. Hello, Singer?

AlterZgo

This will make more money for BMW overall. But it could be beneficial to consumers who pay attention and turn on/off options as needed. Many of these subscription services make the most money when people forget to turn off stuff that's no longer needed - like continuing to subscribe to streaming or music services you no longer use.

I think this could also potentially be a good thing for customers if the warranty is extended beyond the 3 yr/36K mile standard warranty. For example, if you buy a 5 yr old out of warranty car, and the seat heaters don't work, I would think the mfg would want to fix it for free so you will continue to pay the monthly subscription fee. Many companies like cable companies do this. They offer free upgrades to the cable model and wireless routers where the overall monthly fee over a 2 - 3 yr period costs way less than buying your own equipment and you can continually upgrade to the latest equipment with the most current standards.

Personally, I like the ability to turn stuff on-off as I like. For instance, I only watch certain shows on HBO so I will only subscribe to HBOMax when those shows are on. Same would apply to seat heaters. If I could save $500 and not buy that option, but pay $18/mo for the 2 months I may need it here in AZ, that would be way cheaper over a 5 yr period than paying $500 up front. If I want to keep the car forever, I would pay the $500 up front for the option.

CodyBigdog

Having subscriptions on features (eg., heated seats, heated steering wheel, etc), that most car buyers, on most brands have taken for granted for a number of years is just stupid, and will no doubt backfire as it relates to sales figures. Granted, in mild climate states like Maryland, I probably only use this feature a few months out of the year…but I feel once a feature like this has been becomes a “standard” feature in most luxury vehicles, to now start charging people on a monthly basis, doesn’t sit well with me. I say …if they must….roll it out on more advanced, or newer options.

I love my BMW, but no way will I get another one if this is the direction they are headed? Same applies to Porsche.

Power to the consumer.

aggie57

While this seems 'new' if we think about how most people actually 'buy' cars now it's really not a huge shift. Most people don't buy cars, they rent them on a contract that lasts several years over which time they're locked into the car they choose at the start and often with stiff penalties if they change early or exceed the agreed usage of the vehicle.

All this does is unbundle some of those features and let operators contract for them monthly or yearly, at a cost. Yes, it increases revenue for car companies but it also increases churn so there is increased pressure on sales to get new business and new customers. Read more marketing and direct campaigning.

CodyBigdog

I think this sets a bad trend. What next, subscriptions on one’s power seats? How about subscriptions for remote locking/unlocking of one’s car doors? Want to open your sunroof…you need a subscription?

IMO, this is a slippery slope. 👎

Patton250

The new G80 the number one selling M3 of all time. By far actually. Somebody must not think it’s ugly.

Kritz

So, will BMW manufacture all seats with heated components and then turn it on once a subcription is paid? Seems like a major cost to fit all seats with heated hardware and hope the consumer pays for a subscription - "nickel and diming" the consumers.

AlterZgo

For many features, it's easier to install it on every car to reduce the variance as producing a variety of models is much more costly than making every car have the same features and then turning it on/off accordingly. For example, the GTS and S models now have the same turbochargers. The GTS just runs an ECU with higher turbo boost.