[bloozemanAZ]

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When I bought my wife's X5 and paid the $200 (or whatever it was but think that was the cost) for CarPlay integration it was for the life of the vehicle. Then they got a smart idea to make it subscription based in 2018 but then sanity prevailed and reversed that.

Found this interesting as a subscription for heated seats is ludicrous. Not our market so hopefully this experiment turns out to be a stupid as the last with CarPlay.

https://www.motor1.com/news/597376/b...-subscription/

[snareman]

That's insane. I suppose at least I could cancel the subscription in the summer months to save some money. Hopefully its at least an easy iDrive setting buried somewhere in the menus. Or maybe you can Hey BMW it. "Hey BMW. Renew my seat heating subscription. "

[hinckley]

Surely, that's an article from the Onion.

https://www.theonion.com/

[unfoundnemo]

I mean, I'm sure it makes more sense from a production standpoint to just ship all cars with all options... might as well ship everything with an S68 moving forward and license each cylinder, turbo/PSI, and amp separately... nobody will find a way to crack into it and let it all loose... it's fine.

[Seaford]

VW have been running a subscription model for pretty much everything in some markets for some time now.

Coming your way soon…….

[xmanpro]

I was in a bmw focus group and subscriptions was the topic of discussion. Members of our panel told them this was an off putting idea. Hopefully they don't try to pull this shit on us here in the US long term. Would hate to have to pay for exhaust notes etc.

[Ghostrider641]

This won’t fly in the USA. It’ll be one of the quickest death programs ever….

I get paying for streaming services, artists have to make money, but to subscribe for mechanical/electrical pleasantries? Insane…

[bloozemanAZ]

Originally Posted by Ghostrider641

This won’t fly in the USA. It’ll be one of the quickest death programs ever….

I get paying for streaming services, artists have to make money, but to subscribe for mechanical/electrical pleasantries? Insane…

Agreed. Granted core Connected Drive services are a 4 year subscription that come along with the purchase and have no issues with if choosing to continue the convenience they bring to the table plus more with paying for a subscription when it expires. Have been doing that for the past 2 years on my wife's X5 post the 4-year expiration.

However, if BMW wants to charge me to heat my seats or run my air-conditioning you know where that is going to lead. 🖕 In our relationship they need me more than I need them given all the other options in the automotive world I can pick from.

[Dr Thrillride]

Hear hear blooze. Quick exit fir me as well if that happens.

[hinckley]

BMW's aborted attempt to offer CarPlay as a subscription service came with a rationale - a ridiculous rationale, but a rationale nevertheless. They said that CarPlay required continuous development to maintain compatibility with regular iOS updates. That obviously didn't work. But what's the rationale for a heated seats subscription? Now that's really ridiculous.

[Justao]

If the hardware is there probably it will be possible to unlock the features by some coding as they did with CarPlay

[xmanpro]

If they do this in the US I'm sure it will be locked down as much as the ecu.

[bloozemanAZ]

Originally Posted by xmanpro

If they do this in the US I'm sure it will be locked down as much as the ecu.

Yes but unlike the ECU if totally controlled by coding for iD7 then all those folks out there with too much time on their hands will figure out how to hack it. I say that as in my IT world I deal with all those folks in both a positive (contribute to the community to make things better) and the negative, e.g.., Trojans, ransomware, etc.

[bloozemanAZ]

Well, apparently BMW got the expected shit show of feedback on the heated seats option for the Korea market. Some quotes in this article from BMW NA basically saying in our market it will only be digital subscriptions, e.g., Drive Recorder. Order a vehicle with heated seats and they'll function for the lifetime of the car.

https://www.bmwblog.com/2022/07/14/b...subscriptions/

[bloozemanAZ]

Originally Posted by hinckley

BMW's aborted attempt to offer CarPlay as a subscription service came with a rationale - a ridiculous rationale, but a rationale nevertheless. They said that CarPlay required continuous development to maintain compatibility with regular iOS updates. That obviously didn't work. But what's the rationale for a heated seats subscription? Now that's really ridiculous.

Yes, their initial rationale on the CarPlay was ridiculous. Everything in the digital world requires continuous development period. Time for the to get their "big boy pants on" and step up or get pushed aside. It's not like they don't have a significant R&D budget in the first place but that requires digital investment as well more so than 10 years ago.