[Westside Guy]

Originally Posted by KiloHeavy

I would pay for heated seats if I knew that eventually I would get upgrades to the seats like massaging seats, ventilated seats, leather care, seat cleaning, etc. every 3-6 months.

How about a chauffeur while you are at it?

[Staszek]

Originally Posted by FLOSS M

I think this will be a thing in the future. Simplify all the builds to include all electronic options and be able to remotely enable or disable them with a subscription. Do we complain about Satellite Radio ….

Thats a different animal its content, and its not BMW you pay for the subscription its Sirius, who, if they are doing it right has updated fresh content that people want. If you don't want it you cancel the subscription and just listen to the radio or stream from your phone. You have options there.

What is changing with heated seats? I have an unseasonably warm winter and I don't need them so I will turn them off and renew next year? If I update my subscription will I get hotter heated seats when I renew?

Subscription-based services work for software, and that will increasingly be a thing, but with that things get updated and better.

Basic creature comforts are not the same thing.

[FrozenGT]

What BMWNA could start doing is-

Building cars fully loaded out. Then when you buy the car you get to pick what you want enabled.

This would cut down having to build out 100 different specs.

[88noodles]

I bet they add an M badge to levels of heated seats

[JMD]

What's next,....subscriptions to Open/Close sunroof,....subscription to operate the "One-Touch" feature for windows? Let me guess,...Massage Seats subscription next!

C'mon BMW

[clean_machina]

Originally Posted by FrozenGT

What BMWNA could start doing is- Building cars fully loaded out. Then when you buy the car you get to pick what you want enabled.

Of course like everyone else I'm appalled and do not like this direction. I think it raises some significant issues/questions about the nature of vehicle ownership. As others have pointed out, with a service like SXM or Nav updates, the value is delivered remotely. In this case a subscription makes sense because value is being delivered. But in the case of heated seats or existing vehicle equipment this brings into question who actually owns the vehicle? Do I own the heated seat mechanism, even if I don't pay for the service? Can I have someone modify them to work? It is my car after all. BMW is unfortunately following a trend to turn everything into a "platform" for service delivery and this implies that we don't own our cars but rather we license them from BMW and they can then sell us features as a service or control our access and privileges. IMO this is very anti-consumer and buyers should push back forcefully. I want to own my car and all it's systems solely for my use. If you can deliver some value, new features, or content via remote update, I'm happy for that option, but don't turn my car into a services platform (certainly not at the ever increasing MSRPs, as someone else said, if it's so cheap to just add heated seats to every car they should just be a standard option!!!) /Rant

[N54B30A]

Cant wait until people start unlocking these features themselves with bimmercode or ISTA.

[M3 boi]

Originally Posted by Rat_House

I would think you could easily bypass this with a little wiring or reprogramming.

Maybe, but if you wanted to rewrite an ecu, it may send a message to BMW saying to shut the car down, maybe even disabling stuff like the engine, then they could make owners pay a fee to put in a new ecu, fixing the problem for BMW but not owners… or one could just pay… just a thought

[Rat_House]

Originally Posted by M3 boi

Maybe, but if you wanted to rewrite an ecu, it may send a message to BMW saying to shut the car down, maybe even disabling stuff like the engine, then they could make owners pay a fee to put in a new ecu, fixing the problem for BMW but not owners… or one could just pay… just a thought

I doubt heated seats are connected to the ecu, the ecu is for the engine. This is likely the CCM.

[jdhiro]

Just about every news source I look at has roasted BMW for this. This was a major blunder.

Most of these features are free on every Honda, Toyota, Kia, etc out there. I think some people are willing to cut them out of their purchase in a BMW to save costs for a more luxury vehicle. Knowing that they are putting the hardware in the car, for something like heated seats anyways... is kind of insulting.

[x7m60i]

Originally Posted by N54B30A

Cant wait until people start unlocking these features themselves with bimmercode or ISTA.

We will have to see how well BMW can lock their SWs now.

[mbanck]

Originally Posted by Pentium

The whole idea of On Demand Features is stupid.

Why exactly? Many people don't use the seat heaters except in winter, so they might prefer to just pay for them 3-4 months a year, provided that's cheaper for a few years than paying for the option up front.

[kjx]

Originally Posted by Rat_House

I would think you could easily bypass this with a little wiring or reprogramming.

iDrive 8 is reportedly locked down and cannot be programmed like previous generations. Possibly to support functionality like this.

This also means that coding for things like anti-dazzle and variable light distribution will end with iDrive 7, unless and until iDrive 8 is cracked. Which will probably be detectable by BMW and have some limited consequences with the warranty.

[NickyC]

“For the people in the back…..”.

BMW: please take your ugly ass grills, shortened warranty and maintenance plans, higher priced cars for less features, subscription plans for what should be standard options, and finally your condescending attitude and suck it. You aren’t the only auto maker on the planet and your terrible decisions year after year are making it harder for me to support a brand I’ve been driving for over 20 years.

Stop sucking please.

[G30M]

i knew i hated iDrive 8 for a reason. turns out the bolt on cinema screen serves a big $$$ purpose

[UntzUntzUntz]

It's not in the US yet because 1) US is their main bread and butter that they can't afford a mass protest on an absurd and unjustified subscription, and 2) they're testing the waters in other countries to see how consumers behave towards a subscription model. When they see they can get away with it, you can bet they'll make subscription based functions for all.

Consumers should not allow this from anywhere because it will spread to your country too eventually.

[H_T]

Bottom line, this is a bulls* revenue stream they are trying to go for. Leasing a car? We'll include the heated seats with the subscription and the next buyer will need to subscribe. As long as we don't accept this at any stage it will be an uphill battle for the OEMs.

[CrippledLucifer]

Originally Posted by kjx

iDrive 8 is reportedly locked down and cannot be programmed like previous generations. Possibly to support functionality like this.

This also means that coding for things like anti-dazzle and variable light distribution will end with iDrive 7, unless and until iDrive 8 is cracked. Which will probably be detectable by BMW and have some limited consequences with the warranty.

Locked down for the time being yeah, but I suspect someone out there is already working on a solution. It's but a matter of time before it's all unlocked.

What's more concerning as you mentioned is if/when iDrive 8 is unlocked, there's a good chance the car may report this back to BMWs servers for warranty purposes. Not really a concern for those who'll be out of warranty, but if you're in a brand new car and wanted to bypass anything, good luck. This is why I'm not particularly fond of having cars with an always connected functionality.

[Jason]

Official Press Release Statement by BMW NA:

Statement of Clarification Regarding BMW Functions on Demand in the U.S. Market.

In response to recent media reports, BMW of North America would like to clarify how BMW’s Functions on Demand strategy will be implemented in the U.S. market.

Woodcliff Lake, NJ – July 14, 2022… As premium vehicle purchasers, BMW customers in the USA demand a high level of equipment in their vehicles. Options like heated seats are ordered on over 90% of the BMWs sold in the USA. If a vehicle is initially ordered with heated seats, that option will remain fully operational for the life of the vehicle. BMW of North America does not expect factory option purchase levels to change significantly going forward.

BMW Functions on Demand on the other hand is designed to offer premium features through software upload that use data and sensors from factory option hardware already built into BMW vehicles. As an example, some BMW models equipped with certain specific options from the factory can currently add the first two Functions on Demand features available in the US – namely a dash cam function called BMW Drive Recorder and BMW Remote Engine Start function—through a software download in a customer’s vehicle. The BMW Drive Recorder feature uses the cameras needed for advanced driver assist systems for dash cam functionality. This gives customers the possibility of adding new software based functionality and a degree of flexibility in that they will be able to test, and then decide whether or not to purchase a vehicle feature that was not initially available at the time of the original vehicle purchase.

With BMW Functions on Demand, customers will be able to explore new software-based features on a short-term basis by purchasing a trial, or buying that feature outright for a period of time or for the life of the vehicle. It is important to note that BMW Functions on Demand is intended primarily as a digital aftersales solution and will not affect options that were ordered at the time of the vehicle purchase.

Please note that BMW Functions on Demand and the possibility to test or purchase select options after the point of purchase is part of a global aftersales strategy that BMW has introduced in various markets around the world, including on a small-scale basis in the U.S. The features that are available in this digital aftersales online store will vary from market-to-market. Customers can browse available features in their local ConnectedDrive store online.

[mjr24]

Lot of big talkers on this thread....but bottom line, car manufacturers know most buyers are all talk now. Buyers have been paying way more for less since 2020 now.....you will still buy their cars no matter what and pay more for that right. The cat is out of the bag.....

[supershaft]

bmw quickly turning into a junk and undesirable brand

[P1]

Only a service with effort behind it should be on a subscription model.

A feature should not be. I don't pay my plumber a monthly fee to have a toilet seat.