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Businesses Transportation

BMW Starts Selling Heated Seat Subscriptions for $18 a Month (theverge.com) 374

Posted by msmash from the how-about-that dept.
BMW is now selling subscriptions for heated seats in a number of countries -- the latest example of the company's adoption of microtransactions for high-end car features. From a report: A monthly subscription to heat your BMW's front seats costs roughly $18, with options to subscribe for a year ($180), three years ($300), or pay for "unlimited" access for $415. It's not clear exactly when BMW started offering this feature as a subscription, or in which countries, but a number of outlets this week reported spotted its launch in South Korea. BMW has slowly been putting features behind subscriptions since 2020, and heated seats subs are now available in BMW's digital stores in countries including the UK, Germany, New Zealand, and South Africa. It doesn't, however, seem to be an option in the US -- yet.
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BMW Starts Selling Heated Seat Subscriptions for $18 a Month More

BMW Starts Selling Heated Seat Subscriptions for $18 a Month

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  • Screw you BMW (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Mab_Mass ( 903149 ) on Tuesday July 12, 2022 @11:21AM (#62696750) Journal

    I wasn't in the market for a BMW, and now I know to avoid them. If I buy the hardware of heated seats, I want to run them any damn time I want.

    • Re:Screw you BMW (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Ziest ( 143204 ) on Tuesday July 12, 2022 @11:27AM (#62696762) Homepage

      Yet another reason to never buy a BMW. This is such bullshit.

      • Re:Screw you BMW (Score:5, Interesting)

        by smooth wombat ( 796938 ) on Tuesday July 12, 2022 @11:42AM (#62696826) Journal
        Yet another reason to never buy a BMW. This is such bullshit.

        Yup. Came here to say the same thing. At this point the people I generally see driving BMWs are either some young person who thinks it's a status symbol, or a drug dealer with their tinted windows.

        I do remember BMWs back in the day when the 3 series was the shits (and the M3 of course), but like Mercedes, BMW has gone a path no one knows where. There isn't much to like about them any more since at this point everything is controlled by software. The amount of driver interaction is now limited to turning the wheel. Big fucking deal.

        Remember when BMW used to claim they were the ultimate driving machine [youtube.com]? Pepperidge Farm remembers. Even their top end cars had manual transmissions so the driver could enjoy the drive and have complete control over their vehicle. Not any longer. Now everything is dictated in typical Germanic fashion. "You vill do vhat ve tell you. And you vill like it!"

        • To be fair, even formula 1 cars use paddle shifters, nowadays

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by dbialac ( 320955 )
            I get along fine with paddle shifters. I won't buy a car that isn't stick or doesn't have them. Meanwhile, I can't stand a full automatic that doesn't at least have them. I recently turned down a better vehicle because it didn't have them.

            • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

              by lsllll ( 830002 )
              I hated the SMG on my M5, so I replaced the gearbox with a manual. The steering wheel still has the paddles, so it sometimes confuses people when they see those and the stick shift! I switched to manual not because I think I can shift better than the SMG. After all I don't even track my car. But the SMG just got boring. With a manual conversion, the car became fun to drive again.

          • Re:Screw you BMW (Score:5, Interesting)

            by cayenne8 ( 626475 ) on Tuesday July 12, 2022 @12:29PM (#62697096) Homepage Journal

            To be fair, even formula 1 cars use paddle shifters, nowadays

            No, these days, you're not really buying the manual transmission (stick) for ultimate performance.

            You're buying it for the visceral experience.

            I've never owned a car that wasn't a 2-seater, stick shift manual transmission car in my life.

            Ok, "technically" the '86 911 Turbo (930) was a 4 seater, but you couldn't fit more than a bag of groceries back there, so I don't count them as real seats.

            I don't want a family car, a sedan...I want to own and drive cars that are fun, sporty and look interesting.

            And, if you're driving and shifting, you are likely NOT staring at your phone while driving and trying to text....you have to pay attention to what you're doing.

            As a side benefit, you're LESS likely to get carjacked as that those fucking idiot thieves generally don't know how to drive a manual transmission.

            Paddle shifters just aren't the same...I've tried and the experience isn't there.

            I find it extremely difficult to up or down shift with paddle shifters while also turning the steering wheel...you're hands just get caught up in all that mess...

            I'm guessing my first non-manual transmission car will be an EV.

            I just hope by then, they have a "reasonably" priced 2-seater offering, in the price range of a Vette maybe....

        • BMW is still making some vehicles with a stick. Last I looked they even had at least one model that was only available with a stick in the USA. Although ISTR hearing that there was enough outcry in Europe that they brought it back there, too. Last year BMW still had four models offered with a manual transmission. I believe this is more than any other manufacturer.

          If you want a car that just does what you tell it, then it doesn't matter what brand you want, you still have to go back to the nineties or beyond

          • Re:Screw you BMW (Score:4, Informative)

            by tlhIngan ( 30335 ) <slashdot.worf@net> on Tuesday July 12, 2022 @03:14PM (#62697710)

            BMW is still making some vehicles with a stick. Last I looked they even had at least one model that was only available with a stick in the USA. Although ISTR hearing that there was enough outcry in Europe that they brought it back there, too. Last year BMW still had four models offered with a manual transmission. I believe this is more than any other manufacturer.

            The problem with a manual transmission is well, you only get 5 or 6 gears, and reverse. That's not efficient for an ICE vehicle - but it's impractical to have the 8-10 gears a modern automatic or autostick can provide - there's just too much H pattern to go through.

            Even semi-trucks have automatic transmissions and they're a very popular option. And these had often 10 to 18 gears, but required special training to operate - and despite this, there are 3 or 4 different transmissions with different ways to shift, and learning one doesn't help you with the other transmissions. You often have to specify the transmission when you buy a new tractor because of this.

            And because automatics have so many more gear ratios, they're even beating manuals in fuel economy - the lack of ratios in a manual means the engine is operating outside of the optimum efficiency regime more often.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by dbialac ( 320955 )

          "You vill do vhat ve tell you. And you vill like it!"

          Sounds a lot like Python.

        • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

          by Anonymous Coward

          "You vill do vhat ve tell you. And you vill like it!"

          Any similarity between this attitude and and the systemd team is purely coincidental...

      • Re:Screw you BMW (Score:5, Funny)

        by JKanoock ( 6228864 ) on Tuesday July 12, 2022 @12:17PM (#62697014)
        Never wanted one because I know how to use a turn signal.

    • Re:Screw you BMW (Score:5, Interesting)

      by Joce640k ( 829181 ) on Tuesday July 12, 2022 @11:32AM (#62696790) Homepage

      I wonder how much DRM is built in so people can't hotwire them.

      ("hotwire" - geddit?)

    • You can buy heated seats in your new BMW, they're $415. If that's too expensive you can pay for a subscription and let the sucker that buys a used BMW deal with it down the road. If you like neither option you can not have heated seats or not have a BMW.

      • Well if its $300 for a three year subscription or $415 for an eternal purchase, it seems like a no-brainer. Even if only keeping the car for three years, I'm pretty sure the resale value will be more than $115 higher if you've paid for the heated seats (assuming it transfers to a new owner). However, this is the ultimate in ridiculous.

      • Re:Screw you BMW (Score:5, Insightful)

        by jobslave ( 6255040 ) on Tuesday July 12, 2022 @12:28PM (#62697092)

        So are they setting the map for subscription everything for those who can't afford the full upfront price? This sounds like the rent to own furniture/appliance model that just takes advantage of low income people who end up paying 2 or 3 times what the item actually cost in the beginning. Can't afford the heated seats? We have an option for you! Just $18/month we'll help you drain your savings so you can keep a car you can't really afford with options you can't afford, but you can keep your butt warm. I wonder if their marketing will have a cheesy used car sales guy in a cheap suit selling these subscriptions.

      • You can buy heated seats in your new BMW, they're $415. If that's too expensive you can pay for a subscription and let the sucker that buys a used BMW deal with it down the road. If you like neither option you can not have heated seats or not have a BMW.

        I have to guess if you buy one of the subscriptions models...but don't activate the subscription, that it would be fairly trivial to find the wires/switch that turn them on/off, and disconnect from the computer and reroute to a connection to a manual switch

    • Guess you won't be buying a Tesla, either

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by dbialac ( 320955 )
        Why would I want one?

      • What feature of Tesla is quite as bad as this?

        I know of two "add-ons" that only activate parts of the car if you buy them:
        1. Unmetered access to the supercharger network - understandable, Tesla does have to buy them and pay for the power.
        2. Autopilot - which is an incredibly complex and constantly updated software package, so it's like buying, say, licenses for Oracle after you buy a server to run it.

        This isn't like heated seats at all, which shouldn't have any "active" development for the heating you're

        • Re:Tesla extra buy features? (Score:5, Funny)

          by mrex ( 25183 ) on Tuesday July 12, 2022 @12:47PM (#62697212)

          A bit of searching says that you can play a $10/moth fee

          I found a bug in your post, just FYI

      • You can use the heated seat capability in Tesla cars that come with it whenever you want. Tesla does not do anything remotely close to BMW's level of obnoxiousness.
      • Why, is Tesla asking for subscription to heated seats?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by fermion ( 181285 )
      There is a market case to sell subscriptions, but not to unlock features that have already been paid for. This is what MS and the old mainframes used to do. The subscription must add value

      Like Mercedesâ(TM) has always had a subscription. Yes, it does unlock, literally in some cases, features that are in the car. But you also get always on connectivity. And you lose little if you donâ(TM)t pay for it.

    • These people aren't buying the hardware. Normally you pay for the hardware. Instead, they're including it in every vehicle and you're paying to activate it. All in all the price is pretty much the same. It may be cheaper, if you only need it when you need the heaters. I have heated seats and live in Minnesota. I use them maybe 2 months a year. If keeping a car for only a couple years, it'd be MUCH cheaper for me to activate this 2 months a year for 3 years, than to $550 for heated seats.

    • To be fair, we do this in software all the time. It is far cheaper and more efficient to have a single deliverable, one that the user installs exactly once, with the feature set controlled by a software key. It also makes the upgrade process painless for all concerned.

      Apparently, it is the same even when hardware is involved. Sure, you get people annoyed that some of their hardware is currently disabled. OTOH, they can upgrade their car instantly, without taking it to a dealership for extensive gutting.

  • The lube is free*. Every BMW comes with a 5 gallon bucket of lube so you can take it easier.

    *Free only until 2024. Additional lube will require a $10/month subscription.

    • Extra-large BMW branded butt plugs & hygienic wipes also available to stop your world from falling out of your bottom. Also $18 monthly.

  • Theft (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Nikademus ( 631739 ) * <{renaud} {at} {allard.it}> on Tuesday July 12, 2022 @11:28AM (#62696770) Homepage

    While I can understand that you need to pay a subscription to get 4G connectivity for the car, this one is clearly theft. But BMW is not the only one doing this, Tesla paved the way for this kind of theft.

    • Interesting, which Tesla features are paywalled?

      And don't say self driving because what you're actually paying for is a one time cost that guarantees future updates, including hardware updates as needed at no cost, which IIRC they've done twice now. Furthermore there's no monthly fee for it.

      • Battery capacity. Tesla puts the same battery packs in their cars regardless of which model you buy. The "capacity" is enforced through software. This is why they dropped the P100 and P75 branding... since they both have the same battery. I remember a few years ago during a hurricane in the US southeast, Tesla temporarily turned on the 100kwh capacity for all vehicles to help people get out of harms way.

        • The Tesla case is marginal in that one could argue that enabling use of the full 100kwh capacity has ongoing cost in that it's much more stressful on the battery and will result in a larger number of in-warranty failures. There is no arguable incremental cost of a heated seat.

      • A simple example would be to enable the full use of the batteries that are already installed in the car. And, like autopilot which would be deactivated if you sell the car. It's indeed not exactly the same, but you bought the car with the batteries, so why would you need to pay more to use them at 100% and worse, why would it be deactivated when the car is sold, which means you lose the prime you paid because the new owner won't pay for something he can't use. But it's stated that with BMW, you can also pay

      • Interesting, which Tesla features are paywalled?

        And don't say self driving because what you're actually paying for is a one time cost that guarantees future updates, including hardware updates as needed at no cost, which IIRC they've done twice now. Furthermore there's no monthly fee for it.

        For example, heated seats and steering wheel 'upgrades' for your Tesla: https://www.tesla.com/support/... [tesla.com] ... apparently: "Over-the-air upgrades are an essential part of the Tesla ownership experience and enable your car to improve with the touch of a button" (ugh, that's a level of marketing schmalz that would make a used car salesman gag). It's kind of like buying a phone and having to purchase an Over-the-air upgrade to be able to receive phone calls. Yet another 'innovative business model' you'd have t

  • Huh (Score:5, Funny)

    by muh_freeze_peach ( 9622152 ) on Tuesday July 12, 2022 @11:29AM (#62696776)
    So they must have a subscription fee on the turn indicators too, because no one who drives a BMW seems to be paying it.

  • Ubik (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Joce640k ( 829181 ) on Tuesday July 12, 2022 @11:30AM (#62696780) Homepage

    Reminds me of the novel "Ubik" where the protagonist pays a subscription for the door to his apartment and has to scrounge spare change off people so he can get in/out. It's probably not far away now.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]

    Quite a visionary idea for 1969...

    (I definitely recommend the book...)

    • Reminds me of the novel "Ubik" where the protagonist pays a subscription for the door to his apartment and has to scrounge spare change off people so he can get in/out. It's probably not far away now.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]

      Quite a visionary idea for 1969...

      (I definitely recommend the book...)

      I went to a bathroom at a Swiss gas station some years ago. You had to pay for the soap, the paper towels and the water you also had to pay to get into the toilet booth. I was amazed that they missed a chance to make you pay for lifting the lid on the toilet seat, charge you by the weight your turd and the volume of your piss and then made you pay again to get out of the damn booth. I don't mind paying for a clean bathroom but that was ridiculous. In Germany they just charged you whatever it cost to keep th

  • You have to pay for the power that drives the device, so you should be able to charge BMW for providing electricity to their unit.

  • For $18 you should be able to buy a connector that connects in line with the seat harness and reroutes power. To hell with renting a switch for $18/month.

    • It's certainly doable, of course. It will realistically cost you more than $18 because you have to be able to do current control to get different heat settings. Odds are good that you will have to dig pretty deep into the interior to implement it as well, although it's possible everything you need is inside of the seat.

      • It's certainly doable, of course. It will realistically cost you more than $18 because you have to be able to do current control to get different heat settings. Odds are good that you will have to dig pretty deep into the interior to implement it as well, although it's possible everything you need is inside of the seat.

        It may be doable with some wire, terminals, a switch, and a pot, which would quite cheap. Or you may want a PWM type controller which would be a bit more expensive, but the key is that it costs you whatever that is once per seat, probably for the life of the vehicle. Rather than paying monthly.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by bjwest ( 14070 )
        Of course everything you need is inside the seat, if you're adding your own current limiter the only thing you need are the heating elements.

  • I'm sure most of the people that buy them won't care, BMW is pricey. Still there will be many that will avoid a purchase to avoid subscriptions. I could see charging for services that actually matter, like a communications, but charging for services that were previously free is a good way to piss people off and reduce sales.

    But you have options, you could just add the heated seats for the full 415, which would pay for ~8 years of heated seats, so I bet most people opt for that.

    • Yeah I don't get it, just increase the cost of heated seats by $415. I guess they have their business metrics but is there really a buyer out there who is in the budget and market for a brand new BMW but would like to scrimp $415 by activating his heated seats only during the winter (the only selling point I can see to this?) Does that buyer exist?

      I suppose the cynical view is this is just a simple test case to move more and more features to this model, to the very car itself.

      • Re:Should be better alternatives than BMW (Score:5, Interesting)

        by bws111 ( 1216812 ) on Tuesday July 12, 2022 @11:53AM (#62696868)

        There may not be (many) people who would only activate them part of the time, but there are probably plenty of people who don't want them (and don't want to pay for them) at all, and plenty of people who do want them and will pay for them. This lets BMW build them all the same, which lowers costs for both groups. Manufacturing efficiencies are something that a lot of people on here can not understand.

        • Yeah, but normally when that happens it just becomes a "Standard feature" and is built into the price of the car, used as a selling point to go "see, our base model is better than their base model".

          Same deal with eventually including radios in cars, then FM radios, CD Players, MP3, bluetooth, android/apple auto apps, etc....

          • Re: (Score:3)

            by bws111 ( 1216812 )

            You can do that, then your competitor can come along and say 'or you can buy our car for $x less, and not pay for things you don't want, like seat heaters in Florida'.

            The reason the things you mentioned became 'standard' wasn't for bragging rights, it was because it became too expensive to offer options (too many possibilities). For instance, when I bought my first used car in the 70s, it came with the original sticker. The 'base model' had a 'standard' (manual) transmission, and an AM radio. The origina

        • Re:Should be better alternatives than BMW (Score:5, Insightful)

          by BRTB ( 30272 ) <slashdot&brtb,org> on Tuesday July 12, 2022 @12:09PM (#62696966) Homepage

          Nope, sorry. If they're including a hardware device in the car I Just bought, I reserve the right to use it as I see fit. If they want to charge for it, that's fine, but they only get to do that at hardware-purchase time. This whole "oh well that's a SOFTWARE feature, that's different" mentality is toxic.

          Subscriptions are fine for things that need ongoing effort. Onboard data connectivity, or map updates, controls that have to go through an outside server, or the like. Not "the privilege of sending power to a resistive heating loop that's already built into the seat cushion".

          And no, I don't agree with Tesla selling partial software-locked battery capacity either. Install the full battery, I expect to be able to use the full battery (minus whatever part is known by all parties up front to be reserved for wear leveling). If they want to sell a partial sized battery, then install a smaller one - maybe I wanted the weight reduction of carrying around fewer cells for some reason.

        • Sure I get the efficiency of building one seat for a model line but that doesn't explain the subscription model.

          If you put heated seats in every car and just sell the activation at the time of purchase nothing really changes from how they sell it now. It's still just a feature you buy while purchasing the car.

          I'm just still curious of the person buying a $40k+ vehicle and choosing to pay $18 a month versus just buying the heated seats feature for $415. I could be off base and there are plenty of BMW buyer

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Bert64 ( 520050 )

        I have a car with heated seats, and i can already activate them during the winter - it has a switch for just that purpose.
        I could have bought the car without heated seats, it would have been cheaper and very slightly lighter as a result.

        The idea that you can pay extra to get some extra hardware to implement additional functionality is fine, you can make that choice.
        The idea that you've already paid for the hardware, but don't get to use it without paying again is insulting.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by dbialac ( 320955 )
      I used to live near Miami. Heated seats weren't exactly... useful.

  • Soon, they'll require a subscription just to be able to get these other subscriptions ...

    • Soon, they'll require a subscription just to be able to get these other subscriptions ...

      You mean like connectivity in the car? I'll bet you that you already need to pay for that.

  • Subscribe for what needs maintence. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by jellomizer ( 103300 ) on Tuesday July 12, 2022 @11:38AM (#62696814)

    Heated Seats, are already built into the Car, a subscription is a stupid model for this, because say unlike Tesla Subscriptions to Unlimited Cell Service, or even for a software controlled feature (Like the Auto Pilot or FSD, that is constantly being updated. (And I am not trying excuse Tesla, as I think for the Price of their cars these should be included) Heated seats as a monthly or annual fee is just idiotic.

    I can get the idea that you may have to pay a one time fee of say $1000 to enable heated seats on your car, but a monthly fee is kinda stupid.

    We really need to start Voting for Right to Repair laws, in which we can have access to the products we buy.

    A lot of our wealth is from the physical stuff that we own. Renting/Leasing your car (with no buy back options), subscription for premium features, Tying a product or device to an account.... Vastly diminishes our actual wealth, at the trade off of spending less money.

    If you remembered Garage sales of the 1980's vs Garage sales of today. You use to be able to buy records, tapes, of music they may no longer listen to. Books that no longer want to read, VHS Videos of shows the kids outgrew. Today it is mostly outdated clothing, and if you are lucky some power tools.

    • Re:Subscribe for what needs maintence. (Score:5, Insightful)

      by drinkypoo ( 153816 ) <drink@hyperlogos.org> on Tuesday July 12, 2022 @11:46AM (#62696848) Homepage Journal

      Presumably they have done the math, and it's cheaper to not have to stock different options, have different wiring harnesses etc., because enough people will pay for this. At a guess, they probably have it worked out so that every single subscription is gravy — the cost of putting the feature in all vehicles is almost certainly covered by the number of people they anticipate will pay for it outright.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by mspohr ( 589790 )

      This is the trend. When you "buy" something, companies are increasingly trying to maintain control of the hardware through software.
      Started with music, then videos, books... and on to hardware... computers (Microsoft and Apple were pioneers here) and now everything that has software and connectivity (which is just about everything these days) prohibits you from access to repair or upgrade or even just use "features" without paying the man.
      Good argument for FOSS in everything but we are a long way from that.

      • Wait until they find out how cheap it is to just jumper a hardware switch directly to the heater itself! They'll be prepared to sue under the DMCA. They might even put the DRM inside the same chip as the thermostat to force the issue.

      • This isn't an issue with capitalism directly. However a case where there is a drastic drop in consumer protection, and lack of acceptable alternatives.

        Capitalism: if you don't like it. Don't buy it, go to someone else.

        The problem is that world governments, both Liberal and Conservative have been making sure that Companies have increasing freedoms to do what they want, while the consumers get more restrictions, and tougher enforcement for those who break the laws.

        The inequality is due to how most elections

  • When will they add a subscription for enabling turn signals on BMWs? Or is that not available due to hardware limitations?

  • and as an plus they can lock out non dealer repair on any thing in the car and use the DMCA to shutdown 3rd party
    parts sales
    repair guilds
    repair tools
    repair software
    etc.

  • As reprehensible as this is, it does at least bring some dark humor into play...

    Now you can LITERALLY hotwire your own seat to steal heat!

  • Yet another reason NOT to buy a BMW.

  • You can't blame BMW for fleecing high-end consumers who are buying a vehicle as a status symbol - it's their whole business model. With the luxury market, the entire point is that you pay a stupid amount of money for trivialities, so you can fit in with your friends that are doing the same thing. Being pointlessly expensive is a *feature* in this market. If you buy a BMW, you know what you're doing, you're paying too much for something to try to impress people, so don't be surprised when they continually in

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by dbialac ( 320955 )
      Strange, I got a lot of compliments on my car when I drove a BMW M3. That's despite the fact that I didn't buy it for status, but rather for sportiness and handling. I actually debadged it so it looked like any other car. It was an amazing car to drive. In reality, BMW has two markets: status symbol and the sports car market. They build cars that work in both.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Gilmoure ( 18428 )

      External validation.

      For some folks, it's all they have.

  • Microtransactions have been known to be a BMW plan for the past 2 years, since they anounced "going all-in on in-car microtransactions" in July 2020. On the plus side, owners can probably save on buying a subscription for indicators since BMW drivers usually don't them anyway.

  • If you are renting this feature then will BMW guarantee the availability of that feature? Will they repair it for free if it breaks as long as you are paying the subscription? I wonder if there are laws that might be applicable in the EU for this sort of thing.

  • Not just heated seats (Score:5, Interesting)

    by EvilSS ( 557649 ) on Tuesday July 12, 2022 @12:02PM (#62696922)
    Went to the UK store and holy shit, they are nickle-and-diming you for a ton of features. Want Apple Carplay? That's £265. Active cruise control? £750. Want to use that active suspension that is already included with your M series? £399. Turn recording on for the built in cameras to "film beautiful landscapes as well as dangerous or critical driving situations in road traffic."? £199. Want basic driver assist (adaptive cruise control and lane keeping?) £35/mo or £750 one time. Automatic high beams? £10/mo. Fake engine noises? £99. Heated steering wheel? Please deposit £10/mo.

    I really hope this doesn't catch on. People need to raise hell over it. It's one thing to offer stuff that either requires data (wifi hotspot for instance) or requires on-going development costs (map updates, self driving). But a subscription for stuff already installed and you are basically flipping a bit to enable it in a control module? Fuck that.

    Link for anyone interested: https://www.bmw.co.uk/en/shop/... [bmw.co.uk]
    • No one should have 'automatic highbeams'. Sick and tired of being blinded by oncoming headlights all the time. On city streets at night where there are perfectly good streetlights you do not need highbeams, keep them turned OFF.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by eth1 ( 94901 )

      Went to the UK store and holy shit, they are nickle-and-diming you for a ton of features

      This is standard practice for most luxury brands. Porsche is even worse - it's not a new thing.

  • bum rush.
  • FInd the connectors for the seat heaters. Disconnect them. Run a suitably large enough wire from the positive terminal of the battery. Now get yourself a nice toggle switch, available from any decent hardware store. Wire up the seat heater to the battery through the toggle switch. Don't forget to ground the other lead to the chassis. Congratulations, you now have working heated seats. Put the toggle switch anywhere you like. Don't forget to turn it off when you shut off the engine or you'll kill your batter

  • Configuring an i430 on the BMW USA site shows that heated seats is a $500 option, so if an "unlimited" subscription is $450, then that's a discount.

  • A Piece Of The Action (Score:3)

    by Gilmoure ( 18428 ) on Tuesday July 12, 2022 @12:23PM (#62697050) Journal

    Nice warm seats ya gots here.
    Be a shame is something– happened to 'em.

  • No thanks (Score:3)

    by argStyopa ( 232550 ) on Tuesday July 12, 2022 @01:40PM (#62697388) Journal

    I owned a BMW x5 for 5 years, I was unlikely to buy another to be honest.

    But now for SURE I won't. Fuck BMW.

  • I Predict That In The Future... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by classiclantern ( 2737961 ) on Tuesday July 12, 2022 @03:42PM (#62697786)
    The People of the 20th Century owned things. We bought things, held on to them, and because of inflation, sold them for more than we paid. I predict very soon people will not own anything but only lease things. Your car and your home will be leased. Someone else owns the land. You will not own media, music, movies, games, electronic equipment, or furniture. Entertainment can be taken away by the Copyright holder. Eventually, everything you need to live will belong to a gigantic corporation. You will not be allowed to sell your things because they don't belong to you. If the government owned everything it would be Marxism with all the inherent problems of that system. If corporations own everything and only allows use of it for a recurring payment, we would be a slave of those corporations. Eventually you will not own essentials like food, water, and air. Those are owned by a corporation. If you want good water you will have to pay for it (Nestlé). If you want good air you will pay each month (Carrier). If you want healthy organic food it will cost more every month (groceries). I own a copy of every movie and tune I ever bought. I own my house and the land. My car does not connect to the internet. Yes, I'm old. Enjoy your dystopian future.

  • Toyota is doing it too (Score:3)

    by ayesnymous ( 3665205 ) on Tuesday July 12, 2022 @11:55PM (#62698758)
    They announced you will have to pay a subscription fee to use the remote start capability.

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