BMW, like the human race, has definitely peaked

Chris_D · Post by **Chris_D** » Wed Jul 13, 2022 8:34 pm

BMW's new subscription service for heated seats? Get in the fking bin BMW! What a joke.
What next? Opening and closing windows subscription for just 200 quid a year? Bargain!

This one is just RIPE for the hackers and coders to take advantage of...

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-62142208

Roberltd2 · Post by **Roberltd2** » Wed Jul 13, 2022 8:59 pm

I thought April 1st had come late (or early)

ronk · Post by **ronk** » Wed Jul 13, 2022 9:04 pm

Could it be to reduce the new car cost for company car owners tax liability and move the cost onto their monthly expenses ?

Vonlipvig · Post by **Vonlipvig** » Wed Jul 13, 2022 9:52 pm

Although it seems bloody odd, DLC for cars, it can make sense. Think that they can standardise all the features on the build line, reduce costs etc and have it as a software unlock. Yes there will be a huge market for hacking the software but would the savings offset that risk

Old-Duckman · Post by **Old-Duckman** » Wed Jul 13, 2022 10:16 pm

Well I read the article. To some extent it makes sense. If you order the car originally and pay for the option (one of many that will be handled this way) it stays for the life of the car.

They point out that it would be advantageous to those who purchase a used car that may not have the options but can be added when the new owner decides they want it and they can start off with a monthly "try it" purchase or can pay a one time fee to have the option permanently.

Agree that many aftermarket hacks will likely be available, however I would imagine that BMW software designers will take this into account and write something in the software that would mess something else up should the code not be disabled correctly.

buzyg · Post by **buzyg** » Wed Jul 13, 2022 10:23 pm

That is just takin the pee.

Colin_E · Post by **Colin_E** » Wed Jul 13, 2022 10:24 pm

Perhaps use of indicators will become a sub based option?

Unlikely to get much of a take up though.

Chris_D · Post by **Chris_D** » Wed Jul 13, 2022 10:26 pm

Old-Duckman wrote: ↑Wed Jul 13, 2022 10:16 pm
They point out that it would be advantageous to those who purchase a used car that may not have the options but can be added when the new owner decides they want it and they can start off with a monthly "try it" purchase or can pay a one time fee to have the option permanently.

If the un-optioned modules/tech is still functional that is. I also wonder what the additional weight of all that un-optioned crap is.

I stand by my previous claim that BMW's are just bloated plasticky sh!theaps these days and the plastics they use is all shity recycled brittle crap. I was at my local stealer (Ekris, Utrecht) to buy some odds and sods for the zed recently and had a nosey at the i4. It was hideous both inside and out. I deliberately prodded some of the interior plastics and as expected the flex and creaking was ridiculous. The smart arse sales guy helpfully pointed out to me that the panels I were touching did not contain any control mechanisms. 'Oh that's good to know' I retorted, '...really good to know, thanks!'.

B21 · Post by **B21** » Wed Jul 13, 2022 10:27 pm

This is nothing new…IBM was doing this on mainframes in the 1970s…the E89s with N20 engines amongst many others are examples of ‘slugged’ ‘brain damaged’ products …you could argue BMW is actually being more helpful than forcing you to buy a completely new product to get extra features..hopefully it will save buying another car that somebody skimped on…

pvr · Post by **pvr** » Wed Jul 13, 2022 10:40 pm

I can see the sense in it when not specced at order time. I only activated car play on mine during a Black Friday deal as at order time I didn’t want a monthly subscription.

At least they seem to offer a one off cost at order time though which is fair enough.

ronk · Post by **ronk** » Wed Jul 13, 2022 10:48 pm

Roof opening and closing on the key fob option I wonder?

Scubaregs · Post by **Scubaregs** » Thu Jul 14, 2022 11:50 am

Don't see the problem with it, allows original purchaser to spec what they want on a budget and future owners can choose what they want to add with no physical alterations to the car. Also allows those buying used to consider cars not up to the spec they wanted if they can add those options themselves.

Argyll Andy · Post by **Argyll Andy** » Thu Jul 14, 2022 12:08 pm

I don’t see any issue with this at all. Quite the opposite in fact, think it’s a clever/helpful option

On this forum one of the most repeated things to newbies, including myself at the start, was heated seats a must in a roadster in the U.K., particularly Scotland. I listened to this, then immediately discounted multiple nice cars because they didn’t have this feature, with this I could have bought any of those cars and factored a £100-£200 one off payment to get the heated seats if not spec’d by original purchaser.

N4LLY · Post by **N4LLY** » Thu Jul 14, 2022 12:19 pm

Argyll Andy wrote: ↑Thu Jul 14, 2022 12:08 pm I don’t see any issue with this at all. Quite the opposite in fact, think it’s a clever/helpful option

On this forum one of the most repeated things to newbies, including myself at the start, was heated seats a must in a roadster in the U.K., particularly Scotland. I listened to this, then immediately discounted multiple nice cars because they didn’t have this feature, with this I could have bought any of those cars and factored a £100-£200 one off payment to get the heated seats if not spec’d by original purchaser.

Totally agree

john-e89 · Post by **john-e89** » Thu Jul 14, 2022 1:07 pm

Yep seems a very good idea to me too, you don't have to use it but as said it opens up a lot more cars to buyers in the 2nd hand market to add spec, excellent option.

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