BMW to charge a monthly fee for heated seats!

[John Barrett]

Is this the thin end of the wedge? I hope not.
My Mazda CX5 has heated seats and steering wheel, and every other gadget known to man!
Still, you don't see many BMW based motorhomes...

BMW introduces new heated seat subscription in UK

The company says the £15 per month payment allows UK drivers to "experiment" with features.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Dorset Diver]

Similar to a system that has been used by Airbus since at least 1985. All the tech is incorporated in all the aircraft, simple for manufacturing, and enabled as the customer requests or negotiates in.

 

[Guigsy]

To have vehicles fitted with equipment, but it's disabled, has been happening for decades. For some years, the Mk3 Golf had the motor and wiring harness for electric windows, but lower models had the switch missing and a manual winding handle. My BMW had the motor to fold its mirrors, but I didn't pay for the feature pack that included it, but I managed to enable it with a laptop. A few years ago, Tesla sold both a 60kWh and a 75kWh car, but they had the same battery pack and the extra range was just enabled in software (and Tesla also temporarily enabled it for free when people were caught in natural disaster areas in the US).

So 'disabling' features in vehicles has been happening for a while. A few years ago, BMW also offered additional features in the satnav that were a subscription feature. When the subscription disappeared, they switched them off. But I guess we're used to software services that had ongoing support being pay as you go.

The difference here is that it's entirely a hardware feature with no on-going 'cost' to BMW. Note that you can pay £350 to have it enabled forever, which is about the going rate for heated seats. The wedge here is that you can enable it for much less up-front as a subscription feature. But also bear in mind that many people lease the car, so they are effectively doing 'pay as you go' for the rest of the car anyway.

 

[tacr2man]

I see a business opportunity here for Russian hackers

 

[Orion]

Same with the VW Amarok I had since 2012. Several features that could be specified as ‘add ons’ (and charged for obviously!) could be activated FOC if you had the VCDS software and OBD dongle from Ross-Tech - £60 saved on the ‘cornering’ fog lights was one. I gained several free pints by setting up VWs for colleagues!

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[Wildbill]

I don't get it I turn a switch on and seat's heet up and it's summer
Bill

 

[Derbyshire wanderer]

This is now a feature on fork lift trucks to stop all aftermarket additional electrical devices working unless the factory send the codes for the can bus control options.
The world is definitely becoming a place where corporations will control the citizens ( well at least those that have money to buy the latest offerings).

 

[Wannabee]

A bit like the remap opportunities where product differentiation is the software with large differences in price to a broadly identical engine. So the VW group offered 1.6 TDi engines in 75. 90 or 115hp versions. The aftermarket remap was identical at 145hp which made a huge difference to my lowly 75hp for a fraction of the price without the emissions throttling and flat spots.

 

[Guigsy]

The manufacturers argument is they can produce one variant and then just alter it with software and it's cheaper than the cost of the extra parts. They can turn sell the same mix of specs for a slightly cheaper price... Just don't think too hard about it.

 

[dash300]

I see a business opportunity here for Russian hackers

Containiously combusting cars! . I have heated seats and steering wheel and have never found the need to use the facility. Now supercooled leather seats and wheel I might use!

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[Wannabee]

I have to say having owned a string of new BMWs in the last few years the cost of the car is the least of your worries. Although steering wheels are now included, the add ons are formidable and the service costs very high masking the true cost of ownership. My dealer was particularly poor seeking to externalise all risks and costs, asking for payments up front to cover inspection costs just in case BMW declined a warranty claim. I'm finding my happiness elsewhere.

 

[Guigsy]

I have to say having owned a string of new BMWs in the last few years the cost of the car is the least of your worries. Although steering wheels are now included, the add ons are formidable and the service costs very high masking the true cost of ownership. My dealer was particularly poor seeking to externalise all risks and costs, asking for payments up front to cover inspection costs just in case BMW declined a warranty claim. I'm finding my happiness elsewhere.

Mercedes went down the same path years ago.

 

[grumps147]

So that is why a lot of them do not have indicators, they have not been enabled.

 

[Guigsy]

So that is why a lot of them do not have indicators, they have not been enabled.

You have to pay per blink.

 

[MichaelT]

A bit like the remap opportunities where product differentiation is the software with large differences in price to a broadly identical engine. So the VW group offered 1.6 TDi engines in 75. 90 or 115hp versions. The aftermarket remap was identical at 145hp which made a huge difference to my lowly 75hp for a fraction of the price without the emissions throttling and flat spots.

Yeah Fiat Motorhome are the same apparently, same engine only software makes the difference between 130/150/180 according to my local fiat garage, I assumed it was bigger injectors or something but just mapping.

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[funflair]

Or are BMW actually working in your interest by keeping the initial purchase price down to below the level of "luxury car tax" over £40k I believe and then you can add the options as you see fit, just a thought?

 

[Wannabee]

Or are BMW actually working in your interest by keeping the initial purchase price down to below the level of "luxury car tax" over £40k I believe and then you can add the options as you see fit, just a thought?

You don't get many BMWs under the £40k threshold.

 

[G-RMPS]

This trend started in the 60/70s I think. IBM sold upgrades to their mainframe computers for huge amounts of money. The hardware was already installed, just not enabled.

 

[Odd-no-more]

My VW caddy has voice activated control for sat nav, phone etc. But they want £200 to activate it. I use Android Auto instead, well I am a Yorkshireman

 

[Guigsy]

Yeah Fiat Motorhome are the same apparently, same engine only software makes the difference between 130/150/180 according to my local fiat garage, I assumed it was bigger injectors or something but just mapping.

The core engine is the same. But some of the ancillaries do change. The lower powered outputs certainly didn't used to have variable vane turbos. I think the injector is bigger on the 180 too?

Or are BMW actually working in your interest by keeping the initial purchase price down to below the level of "luxury car tax" over £40k I believe and then you can add the options as you see fit, just a thought?

I wonder if it's a financial thing? Many cars are leased and owned by an arm of the vehicle manufacturer. If the car is initially worth less (on paper) because the extras aren't enabled, then it also devalues less during the lease (because extras generally have little value on resale), so on paper it looks like their asset lost them less money. I bet a financial fiddle like this would make each leased car look substantially more profitable.

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[Gromett]

This trend started in the 60/70s I think. IBM sold upgrades to their mainframe computers for huge amounts of money. The hardware was already installed, just not enabled.

For IBM it made absolute sense from a number of reasons. It also benefited the customer as much as the manufacturer. It was brilliant.

 

[Stoosal]

I’ve lived this long without a heated steering wheel…... If people want to pay for these things it’s up to them but never seen the need myself!

 

[mitzimad]

six months till its hacked

 

[funflair]

I’ve lived this long without a heated steering wheel…... If people want to pay for these things it’s up to them but never seen the need myself!

Never mix up need with want

 

[jongood]

For IBM it made absolute sense from a number of reasons. It also benefited the customer as much as the manufacturer. It was brilliant.

Where are they now though? lost the private customer market.

IMO the line needs drawing about ownership. If you own something then you should have the option whether you want the supplier to make changes to it afterwards. Samsung TV's are a case in point - where they stop working unless you do an update and said update removes menu choices.

Contracting or leasing, yes thats different.

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[Silver-Fox]

Or are BMW actually working in your interest by keeping the initial purchase price down to below the level of "luxury car tax" over £40k I believe and then you can add the options as you see fit, just a thought?

just can’t see a car manufacturer doing anything to help the buyer out

It’s all about profit at the end of the day as with most things in life

 

[Silver-Fox]

My VW caddy has voice activated control for sat nav, phone etc. But they want £200 to activate it. I use Android Auto instead, well I am a Yorkshireman

It’s surprising what “upgrades” can be released if you know what sequence to do things with keys etc.

Or a clever sod with a computer

 

[AXO66]

Bit like buying a mug and renting the handle

 

[bilM]

I was on a campsite in Belgium a couple of nights ago you had to pay for the toilet roll or bring your own and had to pay for the hot water to wash your hands.

 

[Gromett]

Where are they now though? lost the private customer market.

They never really had the private customer market. They are still a massive company that is highly profitable making in excess of $30Bn per year in profits.
They are still technology leaders and their main frames still command a big chunk of that market. They are leaders in Linux development (Redhat), and other software.
Their services side is a huge money earner. They are also developing the smallest chip process node. In the data centre they are still a big player.

Edit: Just tripped over this. https://www.precisely.com/blog/mainframe/9-mainframe-statistics (google must have been watching lol )

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