BM Subscription model

this model strikes me as super parasitic

Yes. It's becoming increasingly common as well.

What's the problem?

BMWs have come with subscriptions for various functions for years - forward vehicle proximity sensors, turn indicators, that kind of thing, it's just that very few users bothered paying for them.

Depends if you also have to pay £££ up front for the heated seats option to be installed, or whether they come as standard in the car and you just have to pay to activate them. 400 dollars over the lifetime of the vehicle is possibly a better option then.

Late-stage capitalism should mean that they come permanently switched on to maximum and you have to pay to turn them off. 🙂

What about ICE maps. All the 2L engines on the fords are the same now? and you pay more for a more powerful version which is all in the software?

What’s the problem?

Paying to use a feature that’s already fitted to the car anyway would be a kick in the chops, no?

In the case of cars more powerful engines will often be matched with uprated brakes tyres and suspension. Not a con in every case.

How many people buying a new car keep it for 30 years/ till its warn out. A subscription service means that car has more value for the next owners. There are efficiencies in a standardised product, less variation of parts needs to be produced. Etc.

400 dollars over the lifetime of the vehicle is possibly a better option then.

Lifetime of vehicle or ownership? I think the plan is to charge anyone buying it second hand again.
Can see why they are doing it especially for relatively low cost components. Means they can simplify their supply chain by not having to switch the seats around depending on a specific order.

There are efficiencies in a standardised product, less variation of parts needs to be produced. Etc.

The manufacturers have pushed this custom build way of selling to wring out more £££s just for a different coloured wing mirror etc.

When I were a lad cars used to have about 5 trim levels and that were 'yer lot!

...and mats, flaps and a tank of fuel if you were a good haggler. 🙂

I've no idea how much it currently costs to add heated seats to the spec of a standard new BMW - is it less or more than 400 dollars?

People who would normally buy a new highly-specced car every few years could theoretically come out of this better off. I can see how commercially and practically it makes financial sense to the maker - not only do you get money from the person who would have had them fitted to start with, you potentially pick up revenue from someone who decides they want it later, or a second owner.

Not so great for people who buy older cars because they have all the top features. 🙂

i guess i just like to see pros and cons to all "options".

you pay a bit more for a more expensive map, but your car goes through fuel and tyres and suspension quicker?

You could have heated seats fitted, but the hardware has a cost, so you could leave it out and save some money if its not what you want.

but for the parts to be installed, and they restrict access purely as a "F you", seems really cynical.

I guess it could probably actually costs them less to install one seat in all the cars, than to have to make two seat options and then control the build at the factory , but if thats the case why not just put it in an sell a "better" car to everyone?

$406 to have it permenantly, but if theyre going to run a subscription model, then flip it right back at them. I only want to be paying $18 a month in December and January. They can go whistle when its 40 degrees in July.

And if its a rental feature. who pays for it if the hardware breaks?
I want heated seats, this $18 a month, but the seat is knackered. i would want that fixing at their cost.

wonder if they will start charging for indicators. Cost per flash..

I dont mind paying (and current do pay ) a subscription for something that has an ongoing cost in order to provide the service, for example their real time traffic info, or continuous map updates for the sat nav .

I dont mind paying a bit extra (depending on the base price of the car) as a one off up front cost for extra features like heated seats, or a reversing camera etc when I buy the car brand new. I dont mind that all cars would come with the complete set of hardware and the features are enabled/disabled in software depending on what you pay for when you buy the car.

I object to paying for features if I buy a car second hand that the original owner has already paid for once. I presume this is the additional revenue BMW are attempting to capture with this model?

I think Tesla do this, don't they? They only make one 'version' of a car and the various options (like self-driving, heated seats) can be unlocked if you pay for them. It means they don't need to have a crazy inventory of cars with a million SKUs, they can just produce 7-8 standard colours and be done. You can also (I think) pay for options later if you regret not speccing them initially or if circumstances change.

The difference here is that a subscription is particularly egregious. It's more expensive in the long-run, but BMW knows full well that people will sign up to it A) because they can't actually afford to pay up-front for things, and B) people who buy cars new will generally change it after 2-3 years so the idea of something that will pay itself off after 5-6 years is alien.

I’ve no idea how much it currently costs to add heated seats to the spec of a standard new BMW – is it less or more than 400 dollars?

It's about that. IIRC £260 on my 1 series a few years ago.

I object to paying for features if I buy a car second hand that the original owner has already paid for once. I presume this is the additional revenue BMW are attempting to capture with this model?

That's an interesting theory. If it goes back to sell through the BMW dealer network, the options get reset and you have to pay again? <groan>

It's been going on for ~20 years.

Started with infotainment/navi head units and has now spread across the car.

My first company car had a line of 5 switch blanks across the bottom of the centre stack display, you could literally pop 3 of them off and swap for the logoed up buttons, change 3 lines in the config file and add about £6000 worth of options to the car (the other 2 required hardware changes!).

The heated seat thing has been around 4 or 5 years. Once you've got half a dozen different spec seat covers and then 3 different sets of internal options (heating/cooling/massage for instance) it's actually cheaper and easier to delete part numbers and fit higher spec seats and leave the buttons/functionality out. Or just fit the most common spec seat i.e. level 3 of 5, and customers who opt for level 4 or 5 get better hardware and customers opting for level 1 and 2 get level 3 hardware with feature deactivated.

The other thing that's impacting this is car non-ownership/car share schemes.

If Fred the loaded middle class Londoner wants his car with all the high spec toys, he can hop into a leased car parked up on the side of the road, and all the features he's paid for on his £800 a month lease option switch on because the car recognises Freds user ID.

When John the joiner heads off in his £500 a month lease, he's getting in the same car, but only getting 180bhp and basic stereo sound, spotify won't be activated and he'll not have airconditioned steering wheel or seats...

It's going to get more common.

I object to paying for features if I buy a car second hand that the original owner has already paid for once. I presume this is the additional revenue BMW are attempting to capture with this model?

The info i've seen suggests that it'll be a fairly (ha!) even split between one off purchases attached to the car itself, one off purchases attached to the owner and subscription services.

One off purchases attached to the owner is a difficult one, as it sort of ties you into the brand.
No point getting anything other than a Tesla if your €10k performance upgrade is attached to you and not the Tesla...

I want heated seats for my 2004 Z4 3.0i as I love my car .Most have heated seats but my leather seats dinae
Second hand decent pair folk are asking 1k so the cycling tights underneath the jeans in winter sunshine almost make it look like I'm enjoying the roof down