Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

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

thedrive.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

181–190 of 351 posts

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

#181

Post by chrisseaton »

xxpor wrote: post #180
chrisseaton wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Without sarcasm, I think cars as a subscription has some interesting possibility and I wouldn't object to it. Land Rover has a new subscription product but doesn't seem to have a lot of momentum behind it. You pay a monthly fee that isn't more than if you financed the whole car at the moment, and you can keep getting new vehicles and absolutely everything (servicing etc) is covered because they're motivated to keep r…

You could call it a "lease"

A car 'lease' is an existing way to get a car that isn't the same as these new subscription services.

Land Rover already do leasing - their subscription is a different product.

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

#182

Post by ukulele »

mattlondon wrote: post #139
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've never understood this intimidation strategy/mentality. "ooh big/mean/fast/close car behind me - I had better speed up/get out of the way or..." or what, precisely? Ram me off of the road? Crash into the back of me? Try and eat me? I don't know what things are like in China, but there is a saying in the UK: "all mouth and no trousers".

I was curious so looked up "all mouth and no trousers". It's corrupted from the expression "all mouth and trousers", and means the same thing!

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

#183

Post by floatingatoll »

tyingq wrote: post #41
floatingatoll wrote: post #24

Either BMW changed their mind or overstated what they’re doing, because they are on-record contradicting this story: https://www.motoringresearch.com/car-news/bmw-targeted-warra... BMW has told Motoring Research its targeted billboard warranty adverts – which are claimed to use number plate registration technology to tailor public adverts to BMW drivers – do not actually draw upon vehicle warranty status. Rather, onl…

That sounds like a weasel word version of "we can detect vehicle warranty status without using PII."

The phrasing around "no vehicle data is stored or retained" implies that they're doing vehicle plate->VIN lookups in their database of cars manufactured and perhaps warranties issued, which as the manufacturer of said car they might well be correct to say that no PII is required. There's a missing piece of anti-targeting marketing legislation here, that GDPR won't cover under PII, even if it is eventually found that their plate lookup is a PII violation:

Can the manufacturer of an object use their privately-held data about the object to target marketing to the bearer/operator/etc. of that object?

Probably, yes, at least until a law is passed or a ruling is issued that states otherwise. The best short-term route of attack here would be on the plate->VIN conversion database, assuming that's what they're using anyways. But long-term, they'll figure out how to use a telephoto lens or LIDAR or paint-embedded QR codes to get VIN numbers somehow, so best to tackle the bigger problem too.

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

#184

Post by leetcrew »

xxpor wrote: post #180
chrisseaton wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Without sarcasm, I think cars as a subscription has some interesting possibility and I wouldn't object to it. Land Rover has a new subscription product but doesn't seem to have a lot of momentum behind it. You pay a monthly fee that isn't more than if you financed the whole car at the moment, and you can keep getting new vehicles and absolutely everything (servicing etc) is covered because they're motivated to keep r…

You could call it a "lease"

I don't think you can typically lease a different car every month. I kinda wish you could. I would definitely pay to try a car for a full month before buying it.

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

#185

Post by Aeronwen »

TheRealSteel wrote: post #54
christophilus wrote: post #8

Wow. Straight out of Minority Report. It seems to me that this would violate laws of some kind.

Philip K Dick may end up being seen as a prophet the way things are going.

Stories that were meant to be warnings double as instruction manuals.

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

#186

Post by rconti »

seattle_spring wrote: post #106
xiphias2 wrote: post #4

I have a BMW and buying a Tesla Model 3 in a few months. I think it's just BMW for the 21st century.

> I think it's just BMW for the 21st century For people that look at cars as status symbols, sure. Also maybe for people that think straightline performance is all that matters. All mainstream Tesla's are dogs around turns compared to even baseline luxury German cars.

Sorry, but this is both misinformed, and rudimentary "my first car forum" or "import vs domestic in the 1990s" level analysis of vehicle dynamics. To not even attempt to call out a car model or even a brand or generation, and just hand-wave "baseline luxury German cars", and not attempt to specify what type of cornering you're discussing here.

The biggest problem a Tesla would have vs a competitive ICE sport sedan would be mass, which can hurt all vehicle dynamics; likely on the order of 300-400lbs or so (Model 3 LR: ~4k lbs, 330i ~3600lbs, Model S P75 ~4500lbs, 530i ~4000lbs). Of course it's worth noting that none of these vehicles are featherweights, and the extremely low center of gravity of skateboard battery pack vehicles helps them roll vastly less than one would expect, which helps a lot in transitions and steady state cornering.

Regardless, both the Model S and the Model 3 are extremely well-balanced and the 3 is surprisingly nimble and adjustable. The 3 has a ton of grip, turns in sharply and gets out of corners FAST. I haven't driven a Model X so I can't say.

Source: I instruct, I drive on the track, I own 2 BMWs and 1 Tesla, I've driven numerous BMWs and Teslas including the original roadster on the street and on closed courses. And I've been on car forums for decades and seen endless comments like this.

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

#187

Post by leetcrew »

yodelshady wrote: post #170
fhood wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

yeah no one buys an amg because it's a sensible vehicle. these are the folks who sell a 600 hp station wagon.

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

#189

Post by wzdd »

chrisseaton wrote: post #98
wzdd wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

It's fine to object to the increasing size, but the comment claimed that a BMW designer said that the big grilles are because Chinese customers want the driver in front "to feel intimidated, as if the car and driver behind wanted to eat them".

Without a source, this comes across as racist. So far I haven't been able to find such a source. The closest I've found is a quote from the lead designer saying that in Europe people want to blend in, but in the rest of the world they want to stand out, and the design follows that. The China connection seems to be extrapolation by journalists and bloggers (because cars with big grilles are popular in China), and the bit about intimidation seems to be fabricated entirely.

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

#190

Post by throwbacktictac »

chrisseaton wrote: post #172
amaccuish wrote: post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I look forward to paying a monthly fee for using Bluetooth in my car.

Without sarcasm, I think cars as a subscription has some interesting possibility and I wouldn't object to it. Land Rover has a new subscription product but doesn't seem to have a lot of momentum behind it. You pay a monthly fee that isn't more than if you financed the whole car at the moment, and you can keep getting new vehicles and absolutely everything (servicing etc) is covered because they're motivated to keep r…

Through an altruistic lens this seems like a good idea. But realistically economy driven by quarterly reports I see this devolving into a dystopian tail really quickly.

I don't think Land Rover can get it done. However Apple and/or Tesla might have the fandom to pull something like this off.

Post reply on HN