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BMW Doubles Up On Paid Subscriptions In the US, Charges $105 A Year For Remote Engine Start (carscoops.com) 160

Posted by msmash from the how-about-that dept.
An anonymous reader shares a report: BMW is expanding the number of feature subscriptions it is offering in the United States. The marque has revealed that five vehicle features are now available through its subscription service, consisting of Remote Engine Start, Drive Recorder, Traffic Camera, Driving Assistance Plus with Stop&Go, and Parking Assistant Professional.

Most of these features are available through either a 1-month, 1-year, or 3-year subscription, or can be purchased outright for a one-time fee. Motorauthority reached out to BMW USA and found that the Remote Engine Start costs $10 for 1 month, $105 for 1 year, $250 for 3 years, or can be purchased for $330 for the life of the vehicle. As for the Driver Recorder, it is available for $39 for 1 year, $99 for 3 years, and $149 for a one-time payment. Driving Assistant Plus with Stop&Go can be added for $20 for 1 month, $210 for 1 year, $580 for 3 years, and $950 with a one-time payment. As for Parking Assistant Professional, it is available for $5 for 1 month, $50 for 1 year, $130 for 3 years, or a one-time fee of $220.
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BMW Doubles Up On Paid Subscriptions In the US, Charges $105 A Year For Remote Engine Start More

BMW Doubles Up On Paid Subscriptions In the US, Charges $105 A Year For Remote Engine Start

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  • Different brand (Score:4, Interesting)

    by ThurstonMoore ( 605470 ) on Tuesday January 10, 2023 @01:21PM (#63196034)

    Time to buy a different brand car.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by The-Ixian ( 168184 )

      But how are you supposed to maintain your a**hole status card if you don't buy a Beemer?

      • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

        by DarkRookie2 ( 5551422 )
        Mercedes. F-350. Plenty of asshole vehicles out there.

      • Re:Different brand (Score:5, Funny)

        by CubicleZombie ( 2590497 ) on Tuesday January 10, 2023 @02:01PM (#63196268)

        But how are you supposed to maintain your a**hole status card if you don't buy a Beemer?

        I just bought a used BMW and I was shocked to find out that it came with turn signals! Who would have thought?!

        • They must have been after-market parts installed by the previous owner.

        • You lie! No BMW has EVER been fitted with turn signals.

          • They have the signals as a legal requirement in most places they are sold. They just don't bother hooking them up to the controller on the steering column.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by msauve ( 701917 )
          Do they charge a subscription fee for the turn signals?

      • I can think of a bunch of vehicles that give similar "street cred". Audi, Mercedes, Maserati, Acura, Lexus, etc.

        I can see BMW succeeding with this, because people lease them anyway, and $105 a month is pretty much an added fee on that. It would be nice if people just didn't blindly accept monthly subscriptions to use car features, but if people want that brand, they will gladly pay for it, similar to how console gamers will thank scalpers for the privilege to pay 2-3 times the cost when getting the latest

        • Where did you get $105/month?

          If you lease, pay the 3 year fee, if you plan on keeping the car, pay for the lifetime subscription.

          Most of these features are available through either a 1-month, 1-year, or 3-year subscription, or can be purchased outright for a one-time fee. Motorauthority reached out to BMW USA and found that the Remote Engine Start costs $10 for 1 month, $105 for 1 year, $250 for 3 years, or can be purchased for $330 for the life of the vehicle. As for the Driver Recorder, it is available for $39 for 1 year, $99 for 3 years, and $149 for a one-time payment. Driving Assistant Plus with Stop&Go can be added for $20 for 1 month, $210 for 1 year, $580 for 3 years, and $950 with a one-time payment. As for Parking Assistant Professional, it is available for $5 for 1 month, $50 for 1 year, $130 for 3 years, or a one-time fee of $220.

          Simply negotiate the fee out of the sale price, don't pay list price on a new car.

          This is a non-issue that people that would never buy a BMW somehow enjoy attacking BMW for.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by thedarb ( 181754 )

        It's called a Tesla.

      • Buy any brand, swap out the ornaments, and slap a BMW sticker on it. Problem solved. Now you've got a Beemer that will turn heads. Even better if it is a giant, gas guzzling pickup truck that can occupy six parking spaces.

    • Time to buy a different brand car.

      For those for which a BMW is a lifestyle affirming show piece (rather than primarily transportation), there are few true alternatives (BMW marketing has worked hard to promote the lifestyle image). The feature fees are not likely going to be a factor in whether most individuals considering a BMW will to go to another brand.

      • For those for which a BMW is a lifestyle affirming show piece (rather than primarily transportation), there are few true alternatives (BMW marketing has worked hard to promote the lifestyle image).

        I drive BMWs becasue they are an excellent combination of practical and fun to drive. They built thier reputation on "sports sedans". If you care about driving dynamics but need a car the family can live with, BMW should be high on your list (and yeah, Audi S series and some AMGs as well). Or you can by a Buick. Or my father's Olsdmobile.

    • Why? It's a feature on a car you can buy at a reduced price for just the 3 years of your lease, or you can buy it outright for a few dollars more.

      The features you choose not to activate in the car when you own it can be activated by the next owner if they want it.

      Car dealer shop rates are crazy high, installing options at the dealership is expensive.

      How many options at the BMW dealer are less than $400?

      Besides, you can negotiate the activation and the cost when you buy the car, just tell the dealer to bundl

    • Time to buy a different brand car.

      But then you won't get the benefit of BMW's "Auto Suck" option that comes free with every Bimmer.

  • just walk away unless the dealer gives you for fre (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Joe_Dragon ( 2206452 ) on Tuesday January 10, 2023 @01:23PM (#63196044)

    just walk away unless the dealer gives you for free.
    Will they crack or will they be willing to lose an sale at the last minute

    • Re:just walk away unless the dealer gives you for (Score:5, Insightful)

      by stabiesoft ( 733417 ) on Tuesday January 10, 2023 @01:28PM (#63196080) Homepage
      And be sure to tell them why you walked. Be emphatic. IE, I will not buy a car with silly subscriptions. Please tell BMW corporate they can FO. If enough people walk from bmw, others will get the message. I believe toyota did the subscription for a short while for remote start, but I thought the pushback caused them to abandon it.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by laxguy ( 1179231 )

        How much does a Toyota remote start cost? The cost of a Toyota remote start ranges approximately $8 per month or $80 per year.

        you thought..

        • OMG, you are correct. But I note the blowback seems to be enormous. I scanned several threads and in several of the threads, people opted for a different car like a Forester instead of a Rav. Take note toyota, you are not the only game in town. Smart automakers should even do commercials where the toyota owner is pushing the remote button from inside their warm home on a snowy day and getting angry. Meanwhile the Subee owner is smiling as his car is defrosting the window as he watches from inside. This stuf

      • or the sales manager will come running and say We will cover the lifetime fee.

      • Considering you can still buy it outright, subscriptions gives you options. If you plan to own it for a year or two subscribing is cheaper than buying. And if you donâ(TM)t want the option donâ(TM)t buy it.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by nagora ( 177841 )

          Considering you can still buy it outright, subscriptions gives you options. If you plan to own it for a year or two subscribing is cheaper than buying. And if you donâ(TM)t want the option donâ(TM)t buy it.

          The issue is that the feature is there. You're not paying for extra work to be done, it's been done. So there's no reason for there to be a difference.

          • The issue is that the feature is there. You're not paying for extra work to be done, it's been done. So there's no reason for there to be a difference.

            You would really hate Cisco Systems. Or mainframes.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by eth1 ( 94901 )

        The "for the life of the car" prices don't seem out of line with the cost of options on luxury brands, and they do give that option.

        That said, I suspect the motivation for doing this is one/both of two things:
        1 - the "for the life of the car" option is only available at initial purchase, and they're hoping that the initial purchasers (which for luxury brands might only keep it for a year or two) will opt for the subscription or 1/3yr option, forcing all subsequent purchasers to use the subscription
        2 - peopl

      • Toyota was a bit of a special case I thought. That they hadn't "planned" to aim one way or another, and their current solution needed constant support/effort. I'm guessing they're renting a few cloud servers like any other internet/mobile aware app. But then all the backlash.

        I never read the reason for the "extra costs to run the service" but...

    • BMW will likely not give the dealer the ability to do that. "Subscribe or don't". It's not floormats - if BMW offers no way to make the service perpetual, the salesperson won't be able to do it.

    • Just walk away already, don't even bother trying to haggle with the dealer. Those guys lie for a living, they're a lot better at it than you. You might think you got the "upgrade" thrown in, but they'll stick it to you by raising other costs such as by adding "dealer fees" or other bogus methods. They know how to get that money out of you, one way or the other. And if you think you're a smarter haggler than the others, you are *exactly* the kind of customer they want to see walking in their doors.

    • Relationship between corporate and the dealers is not at all cozy.

      Corporate hates dealerships that are way too numerous, but in many places cannot sell direct to consumer because of State protectionist legislation [justice.gov]. This adds a few grand to the cost of the car just for the dealer bloat that the manufacturer would likely pocket in direct-to-consumer sales.

      Meanwhile, the dealers not only gouge customers for service (which pisses off the brand), but they charge corporate insane charges for any warranty or recal

  • Creating jobs (Score:3)

    by muh_freeze_peach ( 9622152 ) on Tuesday January 10, 2023 @01:26PM (#63196066)
    BMW and any car companies that follow this model are going to create an economy of "feature hackers".

    • Re:Creating jobs (Score:5, Informative)

      by Puls4r ( 724907 ) on Tuesday January 10, 2023 @01:51PM (#63196200)
      It already exists in the tuning industry. For instance, a Ford Ecoboost turbo engine reacts incredibly well to tuning, in some cases gaining 30% power.

      You can gain significantly in your 0 to 60 time by tuning the engine, changing the shift points, and changing the shift timing to remove the delays put in by the manufacturer to reduce harshness.

      You end up with a surprisingly fast car that is very fun to drive, at a reasonable price.

      • You end up with a surprisingly fast car that is very fun to drive, at a reasonable price.

        And with unsurprisingly high emissions and fuel consumption.

        • You end up with a surprisingly fast car that is very fun to drive, at a reasonable price.

          And with unsurprisingly high emissions and fuel consumption.

          You gotta pay to play.

      • That's true but a little different in that the OEM tuned out the factory the car not just for performance but to meet a balance of performance, fuel economy, driveability and reliability (and to be fair sometimes they will "detune" one trim package to sell a a new performance trim level).

        Yes you can tune your engine for more performance but that could reduce it's lifetime, require more frequent servicing and change the handling profile. Does the tune technically void your warranty if it causes some damage

  • We need open source hardware cars but the barriers to entry are too high with all the regulation involved in car manufacturing. A shame really, it would be great if the Kit Car scene was much more accepted worldwide. Even in UK where it originated it is being suppressed to a point and the EU plain hates non-mass-produced cars and has created laws to drastically reduce their numbers.

  • Normally car manufacturers are rather polite in hiding their "hidden" fees for their excessive (and now standard) features.

    But BMW? No. They're taking the dirt road and rubbing the prices in every owners face. Why? Because Fuck You, That's Why.

    BMW. The Ultimate Fuck You Machine.

    • Normally car manufacturers are rather polite in hiding their "hidden" fees for their excessive (and now standard) features.

      But BMW? No. They're taking the dirt road and rubbing the prices in every owners face. Why? Because Fuck You, That's Why.

      Here in the US, BMWs (and other German luxury marques such as Mercedes and Audi) are still status symbols, and the way status symbols work is the more you paid for it, the greater the perception of your status. You don't drive a new BMW so you can tell your important friends how good a deal you got on it, you drive a new BMW so everyone knows how much money you have. The fact that basic features are essentially DLC? Doesn't matter.

      Look at the poor long-term reliability and extremely rapid depreciation of

      • That's why I drive a Toyota plugin hybrid. Two, actually. The 2022 Mercedes-Benz GLE made the LEAST reliable car list this year, by the way... hell of a status symbol! My brother-in-law has a G wagon, which looks impressive until you ride in it and discover it has very little leg room for a vehicle that costs over six figures! (He says they are all hand made.)

      • . You don't drive a new BMW so you can tell your important friends how good a deal you got on it, you drive a new BMW so everyone knows how much money you have.

        I know quite a few people driving domestic pickups and SUVs (which are an easy plurality of vehicles around here) which were quite a bit more expensive than my BMW. If a well equipped F-150 is not a status symbol (and it is not), neither should be the majority of BMWs (3 series is by far thier biggest seller).

  • New BMWs are pay by month anyway (Score:4, Interesting)

    by UMichEE ( 9815976 ) on Tuesday January 10, 2023 @01:28PM (#63196078)

    I know this seems pretty crazy and it's definitely not something that I would put up with if buying a car, but 75%+ of new BMWs are leased. If you're already paying monthly, why do you care if you're paying monthly for an additional feature or if it's rolled into the car's value? You're renting the car, not buying the car, so you don't care if you're renting the features instead of buying the features.

  • The ability to have passengers is $5 for one day, $25 a month, $220 a year. Subscription to have more than two tires is $500 a year. Subscription to not buy a BMW is $0 per lifetime.

  • Soon, you'll just license things. The era of ownership is ending. You'll have to tell your great-grandkids stories about how you used to actually own stuff and what it was like.

  • That one makes some sense to me (Score:3, Insightful)

    by SuperKendall ( 25149 ) on Tuesday January 10, 2023 @01:31PM (#63196104)

    If you have to pay for server infrastructure and connectivity, then I am fine at that point with some kind of recurring charge (plus a premium) to cover costs.

    If they wanted to be nice it would be great to have free remote start you could activate from your home if the car was on the same WiFi, and the paid version was for starting your BMW from your 400th floor Manhattan office.

    The stuff that really gets me is a "subscription" to something like heated seats which is all hardware and local controls. Stuff that that, it's only reasonable to pay for that once - I might be OK with a one-time unlock that varies in price based on current temperature, but defiantly not any kind of recurring fee.

    • If you have to pay for server infrastructure and connectivity....

      This should send megawatts of fear down your spine. A car's functionality should absolutely, positively, NEVER depend on network connectivity. Ever. Period. Full Stop. Cars should never even have network connectivity.

      Remote ignition has always been a terrible idea. Its one useful purpose would be to warm up a car on a freezing day because the door locks are frozen shut, you know that you left your environment controls on heater or defrost, you're less than ten feet from the car, and you know that eventually

      • In every other scenario, it's an invitation to have your car stolen.

        The alternative is much worse. When someone goes out to warm up their car without remote start, they unlock the door, start the car, leave the key in the ignition and walk away. With remote start, I hit a button on my phone, the vehicle starts (is smart enough to turn the heat / defrost on), the doors remain locked, and the vehicle cannot be driven until the key is placed in the ignition and turned on. Only one of these is an invitation to have your car stolen.

      • Don't live in some shit hole that you have to worry about you car getting stolen. I'm currently at work and my house door and car door are unlocked, I am not the least bit worried about my house or my car being broke into.

    • You can get all the network connectivity for your car that you want THROUGH YOUR PHONE... you know, that thing that Bluetooth connects to your car whenever you get close to it?

  • So you bought the hardware that does remote start when purchasing the car. Now you have to buy it again? Over and over?

    No.

  • Vote with your dollars (Score:5, Insightful)

    by slazzy ( 864185 ) on Tuesday January 10, 2023 @01:33PM (#63196110) Homepage Journal
    Please don't buy this shit! You don't want subscription cars, while $105 might sound like not a lot of money, wait until they update the price on you, or the billing verification server goes down and your services don't work or possibly can't even unlock your car. Just say NO!

  • Can't wait for the commercials (Score:5, Funny)

    by quonset ( 4839537 ) on Tuesday January 10, 2023 @01:33PM (#63196112)

    "For only a nickel a day, you too can help a poor BMW driver start their car from inside their house."

  • How much for the option to drop me off at the front door, park itself at the nearest free parking space, and move itself periodically if the parking space has a time limit?

  • For all of those that say walk away, don't buy it. They misunderstand the main purpose of this.
    1) Those on leases will get the subscription
    2) The used car market, this move will allow BMW to continue to sell features each time the car is sold, as "lifetime" subscriptions are ended when car is sold.
    The upfront cost was already part of added packages and that has not changed, nor will it.

    • Bullshit. BMW is specifically working around the First Sale Doctrine.
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]

      BMW can only bypass the first sale doctrine by explicitly making these features always subscription only. Kind of like using a loophole to prop up the bottom line. It is despicable for those that want to *own* and not *lease* a vehicle.

      Cars depreciate really quickly and are not an investment. At least when you own it is not a total loss, your lease is a total loss to you.

      • At least when you own it is not a total loss, your lease is a total loss to you.

        It's not a total loss with a lease - you still get to drive it the agreed-upon number of miles.

        Unfortunately in many places in the U.S. and the world, you have to have a car to be able to do the things you want and need to do. Now, it doesn't HAVE to be a BMW, of course. Regardless of if you own or if you lease, in both situations having your own vehicle is quite expensive. I try to bicycle everywhere I can, or just stay home.

    • "lifetime" subscriptions are ended when car is sold?? So under what laws does it say when you sell an car you must tell the manufacturer?
      and is the manufacturer checking each state list of tiles?

  • they've been doing this for decades... (Score:3, Funny)

    by inerlogic ( 695302 ) on Tuesday January 10, 2023 @01:48PM (#63196190) Homepage
    they started with the turn signal subscription, and no one opted in.

  • Looks like I'll never own a BMW, renting features already on my car is not in my future.

  • Is this something only in America (the charging), or are they charging for this in other nations?

  • This is not paying for a feature to be added. This is paying a ransom for something that has been artificially crippled so it can be sold back to you.

  • There are aftermarket options https://www.bimmer-tech.net/ca... [bimmer-tech.net]

  • > Parking Assistant Professional

    That is an upgrade from Parking Assistant Plus? Why would I need more than one level of parking feature? Is it like Basic crashes your car 40% of the time, Plus crashes your car 20% of the time, and Professional won't crash your car?

    I bought my car to drive and I can park just fine, thank you. Shit, parking was part of the basic driving test.

    You wouldn't need backup cameras and parking assistants if the body/windows/mirrors were designed with visibility in mind.

  • They lose 5 figures per car sold, they need the money.

  • Seat warmer, 5 $/month for one butt (left or right) 9 $/month for both. The strange thing is, it is turned on at the highest setting by default for all. Only the subscribers can turn it off.

    BMW will insert advertisement into your audio stream, irrespective of the source by default. Subscribers can turn off.

    GPS will only show business partners who pay a fee to BMW on the GPS screen by default. Subscribers can see all. BMW spokescritter Ms Tota Lass said, "Look, it is a commercial business that shows up o

  • Can anybody come up with a hack to enable this for free?

    • Can anybody come up with a hack to enable this for free?

      Probably, given all the same software tools the BMW factory and dealers use are easily available online to BMWs owners who are also techologically competent. Probably won't be for you though, you might brick something.

  • ... how will they pay subscription?
  • They wanted to do the same thing with the turn signals but it turns out no self-respecting BMW driver uses them, so it was a non starter...

  • ....we CUSTOMERS have to tell them to go fuck themselves.

    Jailbreak these shitty services.

  • Can we pay to have BMW cars not start considering how most BMW drivers actually drive?

  • If I am not mistaken, the turn signals are also an optional extra few BMW drivers seems to spring for when they option out their new ride. Or perhaps it expired and they forgot about it.

  • Remote start should die a quick death. As a Canadian resident, in a cold area, I understand why people use it, but the problem is that most (possible confirmation bias, I know) people abuse it, leaving their V8 trucks (see earlier bias statement) rumbling for minutes on end outside their own properties (ie 3 metres from the door-to-door). Charge $1,005 for it for all I care.

    • It's very useful with an EV to pre-heat (or pre-cool) the car while it's plugged in, rather than burning down the battery after a regular start. It's also not an extra-cost item with most EVs, and even if you need a paid subscription to something like OnStar if you want to use The App, it works fine without that with a button on the key fob.

  • This is a great way to shrink your market!

  • So, if you don't subscribe, start charging BMW storage fees for the stuff they put in your car that you don't / can't use? Profit.

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