That is not really fair to whoever actually owns those billboards. Those poor things won't last a week without being hacked or remotely disassembled. How much do those billboards cost?
BMW to shame out-of-warranty UK drivers with smart billboards
161–170 of 351 posts
Re: BMW to shame out-of-warranty UK drivers with smart billboards
#162Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's not the license plate that's PII, it's whether I've paid my warranty or not.
Having a warranty is boolean, so can't be personally identifying (though it is personal private information). The license plate is unique to your car, so is personally identifying. Edit: the key term is that it's indirectly identifying: https://gdpr.eu/eu-gdpr-personal-data/
Being "called John Smith, living at 12 High Street and having an interest in titty bars" is a boolean too. I'm not sure I'd want that to leak out though, ..., aw crap.
Re: BMW to shame out-of-warranty UK drivers with smart billboards
#163Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Sure, turbos etc. sound like a hack and a hack they are, but the era of V8 rumble is gone for good. tell that to the new c8 corvette. anyways, the C63 AMG is a $70,000 car. for that price you should be able to get a v8 or at least a v6, even if it makes no sense. lots of cars that are way cheaper still have more than four cylinders.
The value of an engine is not determined by the number of cylinders. You aren't owed a certain number just because you payed a certain amount. An argument can be made that v8+ are capable of being more sonically pleasing, but it ends there.
Can’t speak to the technical argument. I can agree with you that my dads Lexus sc400 from 2000 had a great sound and super smooth driver (v8). That engine was a workhorse... over 500k km and still rocking. The rest of the accessories were falling apart (door handles, leather) but that engine was rock solid.
Re: BMW to shame out-of-warranty UK drivers with smart billboards
#164Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Who wants a subscription for basic functionality in a car? I don't get this fundamental objection. It's just a different way to pay. Either you pay up-front or you pay a subscription. Work out the total cost of ownership (you'll need to estimate how long you likely keep the car either way.) Now take that final figure and either it's worth it to you or it isn't. How that final figure gets paid doesn't seem like a bi…
I don't understand why this perfectly valid comment is getting downvoted. It is not like BMW sold the item and only then decided to start charging. When you buy it is up to you to understand all the up front and delayed cost. Most people prefer delayed costs.
I look forward to paying a monthly fee for using Bluetooth in my car.
Re: BMW to shame out-of-warranty UK drivers with smart billboards
#165Don't really care about manufacture warranty (3 years... Really? The service packages the dealers sell in Australia are tricky, especially condition-based engine oil change WTF). Self and trusted mechanic friend can take good care of the car (thanks to realoem, newTIS and bimmerPost, BimmerCode etc.). I didn't even buy (one-off A$395, LCI became subscription and later scraped) CarPlay for my original F87, because I b…
Warranties are fear-driven anyway, the expected value has to be negative for them to turn a profit. With CarPlay, you're not missing much. I had a Golf R with it, pointless.
I badly wanted a 1M when new but it seemed like a horrible financial decision (even though it wouldn't have been!) and I'd have had to have let go of my Z3M Coupe that I still have today.
Re: BMW to shame out-of-warranty UK drivers with smart billboards
#166Would this not be misuse of PII? You own a particular vehicle registration mark as much as you own a particular phone number, and both can reasonably be used to identify an individual (motor database verus telephone database).
Why does BMW even store the license plate? Is the warranty tied to a license plate? And if so, why?
Registration # information is public in the UK. You can just scan any vehicle on the road. I don't think ownership info is, but you can get all the detail of the car it belongs to (or is SUPPOSED to belong to).
Re: BMW to shame out-of-warranty UK drivers with smart billboards
#167Earlier quoted context omitted.
Ok, but then I'm genuienly curious - which laws are being broken? Licence plates in the UK can be scanned by automated machines owned by private companies, that's been established many times before. To request the owner data from the DVLA you need their permission - but that's not necessary here, BMW doesn't need to know anything about the owner, so no such request would be made to the DVLA. Then on the other side, t…
In EU, this would probably still violate GDPR. They need your consent to use any personal data (data about a person) for anything else than the core service they provide. Can the car license be tracked back to you? If yes, then anything attached to it is still personal. For example subscriptions or maintenance status. Can they use this information to deny you access to their services if the subscription expires? Yes!…
Well, what "probably" happens is that whenever an out-of-warranty car is detected, they show a generic bilboard that says "hey, is your BMW out of warranty? Extend today!".
Like I said, in the UK private companies are explicitly allowed to use AMPR machines to read licence plates(every supermarket in this country will have AMPR machines that record when you come and go). BMW just cross-references that with their own record to see if the car is under warranty or not - but like I said, they probably don't actually identify you in any way on the bilboard.
Re: BMW to shame out-of-warranty UK drivers with smart billboards
#168I have a BMW and buying a Tesla Model 3 in a few months. I think it's just BMW for the 21st century.
I actually laughed out loud when BMW ads showed actors dancing around a car, taking their phone out of the pocket, and having to hold it up to the door handle to unlock the car as an example of how modern and tech-forward the brand is.
Re: BMW to shame out-of-warranty UK drivers with smart billboards
#169I 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.
There is a big difference between a BMW or BMW with M sport packet, and a BMW M.
The BMW Ms are actually developed by a different company (the BMW M company, which is different from the BMW company).
For some reason people think of them as being extremely similar, but anybody that has driven a BMW 3xx and a BMW M3 knows that there is a world between them.
Re: BMW to shame out-of-warranty UK drivers with smart billboards
#170Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Sure, turbos etc. sound like a hack and a hack they are, but the era of V8 rumble is gone for good. tell that to the new c8 corvette. anyways, the C63 AMG is a $70,000 car. for that price you should be able to get a v8 or at least a v6, even if it makes no sense. lots of cars that are way cheaper still have more than four cylinders.
The value of an engine is not determined by the number of cylinders. You aren't owed a certain number just because you payed a certain amount. An argument can be made that v8+ are capable of being more sonically pleasing, but it ends there.
The value is determined by the customer. An electric motor is, in every respect except its inability to use energy-dense fuels, pretty much perfect. Just not very interesting.
As a toy, an ICE has value. They shouldn't work at all! it's a ridiculous idea. It's quite cool that they do anyway.