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BMW to shame out-of-warranty UK drivers with smart billboards

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Re: BMW to shame out-of-warranty UK drivers with smart billboards

#91

Post by gambiting »

ratww wrote: post #88
gambiting wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But BMW provides the warranty - so they know whether they, as in - BMW UK - cover a car with this licence plate or not. They don't need any information about you at all, they have the information they need on their side - so they definitely don't need to ask anyone for permission to access it.

I don't think that's the issue here. The issue is them broadcasting in a Billboard that a BMW nearby doesn't have warranty.

Depends what the bilboard says. If it says "Hey, BMW EG16WHJ - your warranty is expired!" then yeah, that's probably not ok. But if they detect that a BMW with an expired warranty is stopped near the bilboard and just say "hey, is your BMW warranty expired? Renew today!" then it would be very hard to make an argument against it.

Re: BMW to shame out-of-warranty UK drivers with smart billboards

#92

Post by throwaway9980 »

spacephysics wrote: post #40
durnygbur wrote: post #14

I remember reading an interview with BMW designer that the obnoxiously huge front grills are a nod to the Chinese customers. Chinese customers wanted the drivers in front of them to feel intimidated, as if the car and driver behind wanted to eat them. Other premium brands like Lexus followed with this trend.

Makes sense seeing more and more companies taking china’s market more seriously given opportunity. In 10 years or less China will be the next global hegemony, especially if USD looses its reserve status. Tangentially related to the comment, but seeing more evidence of companies positioning themselves for such a transition.

Yes, we’re in the midst of some ghastly thrashing that seems unrecoverable. A paranoid person might think that what we are doing to ourselves is being encouraged by some sort of outside force that has a lot to gain if the US implodes. But that can’t be, can it? No, no. Not possible.

Re: BMW to shame out-of-warranty UK drivers with smart billboards

#93

Post by paganel »

totaldude87 wrote: post #85

whoever in BMW, who thought this Public shaming "ads" might increase sales should be given salesperson of the year (add in marketing mozart if you wish) coming soon, near the traffic lights. "a smart bill board showing your debt and dues pending to the entire f ck ng world" "hello there, yes, you on the red honda civic with number plate xxxx, how are things going on in your bed? last night you searched for it and we…

> "a smart bill board showing your debt and dues pending to the entire fckng world"

The "showing debt" thing I think already happens in China, too lazy to search for the exact reference right now but I remember reading something of the sorts not too long ago. Creepy as hell.

Later edit: Found a quick reference (among many others, I guess): "Chinese debtors shamed with broadcast of names and faces on giant screens on May 1 holiday" [1]

[1] https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2144690/chin...

Re: BMW to shame out-of-warranty UK drivers with smart billboards

#94

Post by rriepe »

throwbacktictac wrote: post #5

What echo chamber was the guy/gal behind this living in? Nothing about this sounds like a good idea to increase the value of the brand.

This had to cross a line because it was British, but then it couldn't be funny because it was German.

Re: BMW to shame out-of-warranty UK drivers with smart billboards

#95

Post by newyorker2 »

patrulo wrote: post #78
adav wrote: post #57

I used to really like BMWs but they have lost their way in my opinion. Front wheel drive models, charging a subscription for Apple CarPlay, that 4-series grill, increasingly horrific customer service at dealers and foregoing their position as the market leader in handling and dynamics really rub me up the wrong way.

M2cs or M5c are still by far the best cars in their class. While I'm not a fan of BMW's new design language (think the 4-series, or the iX), nor their move to subscription-based features, it's still my go-to brand. Other (non-exotic) brands are either downsizing (2.0 engine in the new C63 AMG for gods sake) or going fully electric – and I like my v8 rumble in the morning.

I might be a bit biased because my first car was a used M3 e36 back in the 90s. My wife just bought the M5 last year, admittedly one of the best driving experiences in recent years.

Re: BMW to shame out-of-warranty UK drivers with smart billboards

#97

Post by m000 »

gambiting wrote: post #50
whalesalad wrote: post #34

BMW is the most user-hostile car brand there is. They’re constantly seeking ways to squeeze revenue from their owners in slimy ways. (They charge an annual fee for access to car play, for instance)

In US they are experimenting with locking almost all features of the car behind a subscription model, so the car leaves the factory in nearly "full" spec, but then you need to pay a subscription to unlock features. For instance if you like heated seats, you can pay a fee and have them unlocked for a year. Or a radar-based cruise control, or satellite radio, or sport driving modes - everything will have its own price.…

And I thought EA was bad...

Re: BMW to shame out-of-warranty UK drivers with smart billboards

#98

Post by chrisseaton »

wzdd wrote: post #75
durnygbur wrote: post #14

I remember reading an interview with BMW designer that the obnoxiously huge front grills are a nod to the Chinese customers. Chinese customers wanted the drivers in front of them to feel intimidated, as if the car and driver behind wanted to eat them. Other premium brands like Lexus followed with this trend.

I'm no fan of the design, but BMW has considered their "kidney grille" to be an iconic design element since 1933. https://www.bmw.com/en/design/the-bmw-kidney-grille-through-... In general, sentences of the form "(I heard from (?P .* ) that )?(?P .* ) is (?P .* )" should be treated with a great deal of suspicion. (Extra whitespace insertion to bypass HN formatting)

I think they're objecting to the increasing size, not the design element entirely.

Re: BMW to shame out-of-warranty UK drivers with smart billboards

#99

Post by samizdis »

tonyedgecombe wrote: post #67
speedgoose wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Such a study exists for Finland : https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ijop.12642 You may find the full article on some Russian mirror website. I don't know whether HN allows us to name it.

There was something similar in the UK. The upshot was be careful if you are crossing the road when a BMW is nearby.

This is from last year, and is largely anecdotal, but it seems to reflect popular beliefs in the UK:

https://www.petrolprices.com/news/bmw-drivers-the-most-disli...

Re: BMW to shame out-of-warranty UK drivers with smart billboards

#100

Post by janoc »

iridium_core wrote: post #62
peshooo wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe your country is moving up the food chain. In my eastern-European country it seems like every third car is an old BMW.

Exactly - BMW is the has-been German brand, that you can buy as a 10-20 year old import. It holds no cachet and is harder to maintain and less fuel efficient than other brands with similar features. Tesla is the brand that people aspire to own, that people snap their eyes towards on the street. In small towns, all of the owners of Teslas are known and prestigious individuals. Functionally though - Teslas are too big…

Teslas fit just fine into European cities, they are no larger than BMWs or a VW Passat, not to mention the humongous SUV "tanks" that seem to be so popular.

Tesla isn't that popular in Europe simply because most are not insane enough to spend 80kEUR for Model S - for that price one can easily have a Porsche or some other real luxury or sports car.

And Model 3 is very overpriced for what it is. 55k EUR? For a compact car with mediocre range? Seriously? You can have a Porsche Cayenne for that price. Or two compacts like Renault Clio or even VW Golf.

That is really only for die hard fans of the brand. Nobody else buys it here. Also, the network of charging stations is much less developed in Europe than in the US and most are paid (and pretty expensive at that!).

Status symbols are cool but most people don't have Silicon Valley salaries here.

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