BMW wants to charge a subscription fee to enable heated steering wheel
1–10 of 49 posts
Re: BMW wants to charge a subscription fee to enable heated steering wheel
#2This could very well be the cheapest for the consumer. Considering BMW has the highest maintenance costs of all brands in the USA, having a subscription fee for certain features may very well be cheaper. That's assuming BMW doesn't charge for a broken feature.
https://twocents.lifehacker.com/the-car-brands-with-the-high...
Re: BMW wants to charge a subscription fee to enable heated steering wheel
#3Hyundai charges a subscription fee for remote start built into their cars. First three years are free, paid subscription thereafter. You have to use their app to remote start. There's no button on the key fob.
Re: BMW wants to charge a subscription fee to enable heated steering wheel
#4This could very well be the cheapest for the consumer. Considering BMW has the highest maintenance costs of all brands in the USA, having a subscription fee for certain features may very well be cheaper. That's assuming BMW doesn't charge for a broken feature. https://twocents.lifehacker.com/the-car-brands-with-the-high...
>That's assuming BMW doesn't charge for a broken feature.
That's a big assumption to make.
Re: BMW wants to charge a subscription fee to enable heated steering wheel
#5This could very well be the cheapest for the consumer. Considering BMW has the highest maintenance costs of all brands in the USA, having a subscription fee for certain features may very well be cheaper. That's assuming BMW doesn't charge for a broken feature. https://twocents.lifehacker.com/the-car-brands-with-the-high...
Does that mean they would cover all parts/labor expenses to replace a broken steering wheel heater?
Re: BMW wants to charge a subscription fee to enable heated steering wheel
#6We should be allowed to own our things again. Software locks that you are not allowed to bypass proves that most of the important items in our lives are not ours. The future might be a world where only multi billion dollar corporations own property
Re: BMW wants to charge a subscription fee to enable heated steering wheel
#7This could very well be the cheapest for the consumer. Considering BMW has the highest maintenance costs of all brands in the USA, having a subscription fee for certain features may very well be cheaper. That's assuming BMW doesn't charge for a broken feature. https://twocents.lifehacker.com/the-car-brands-with-the-high...
I paid for Audi connect - total waste of money. Mercedes me connect - total waste of money. Mercedes recently changed to a subscription model but I honestly would not pay for nice to have features. Must have features? maybe.
Re: BMW wants to charge a subscription fee to enable heated steering wheel
#8This is interesting. It seems like everything is going subscription-based. It sort if makes sense in that software can be improved upon after sale and needs to be maintained, but on the other hand a single but fix can be sent to an arbitrarily large number of units, so with this model only the largest companies will be able to compete in features and price.
With so many purchases to consider, and less and less time during which to do it, I wonder when we'll get to the point that there are companies that sell an entire "lifestyle". You make $30k/year? Here's our bronze subscription option. For $20,000/year we'll put you up in a spartanly furnished apartment and with a servicable car and you'll get your staple foods and toiletries delivered every other week. Whatever you have leftover after taxes is yours for saving or spending. Make $150k? The gold package costs $90k/year and includes a luxury apartment downtown, a Tesla and fresh vegetables shipped twice a week!
Re: BMW wants to charge a subscription fee to enable heated steering wheel
#9This is interesting. It seems like everything is going subscription-based. It sort if makes sense in that software can be improved upon after sale and needs to be maintained, but on the other hand a single but fix can be sent to an arbitrarily large number of units, so with this model only the largest companies will be able to compete in features and price. With so many purchases to consider, and less and less time d…
Oh and also from the article:
> In some markets, BMW owners may also be able to pay for "authentic" BMW engine sounds that will come through the car stereo. In many BMW cars today, the engine sound is augmented inside the cabin with pre-recorded sounds from the stereo. These are tuned to match the engine speed and performance so they sound like actual sounds coming directly from the engine. This is done so that the cabin can be quiet during normal driving but occupants can still experience engine sound when it's wanted, BMW executives have said.
I'm not going to go as far as to say we've stopped building useful things, but we really could be a post-scarcity society if we had our priorities right.
Re: BMW wants to charge a subscription fee to enable heated steering wheel
#10While I dislike “subscription everywhere” model, I suspect this could work miracles for second hand market, allowing consumers to add options to their purchase. I wouldn’t be surprised if these options are thrown in as “freebies” to the first owner and free for a couple of years and then turn into subscription.