With outstanding equipment like parking sensors, an eight-speed automatic transmission, and a faultless sound system, BMW is among the most well-known automakers worldwide. However, the German-manufactured car is turning into an unusual business model for car buyers in some countries.
They are now offering their customer’s heated seats and other basic features for a subscription fee of $18 (approximately R300) a month. The BMW subscription plan for seat heaters is sold in the U.K. and South Korea. Apart from the heated seats feature, there are also options for a heated steering wheel, adaptive cruise control with lane centering, and a driving assistance system.
Apparently, on BMW’s U.K.site, some automobiles come with seat warmers “installed at no additional cost,” but to use the seat-warming feature, consumers must either pay up to $416 to unlock the service on an “unlimited basis” or purchase a $17 monthly subscription plan.
Following BMW’s subscription models of seat heaters feature and other options, customers are furious and have criticized BMW as “greedy and exploitative” as the “basic features” are offered for free in other vehicles.
Despite the fact that people may be accustomed to paying monthly fees for services like satellite radio in their vehicles, it is nevertheless unusual to pay a subscription fee for an automobile’s hardware components. After all, when a consumer buys a car, all the hardware, such as the tires, seats, steering wheel, defroster, and other components, are often included in the purchase price.
According to a manufacturer’s representative, the option is only available to buyers of cars who did not already have the features fitted. “For secondary owners, this functionality is particularly useful, as they now have the opportunity to add features the original owner did not choose,” the spokesperson said.
Taking to Twitter, one Twitter observer said, “The car will come with all the necessary components, but payment is needed to remove a software block. Welcome to microtransaction hell.”
This is wild — BMW is now selling a monthly subscription service for heated seats in your car.
• Monthly fee: $18
• Annual fee: $180The car will come with all the necessary components, but payment is needed to remove a software block.
Welcome to microtransaction hell.
— Joe Pompliano (@JoePompliano) July 12, 2022
Here are some comments from folks online:
“Companies should NOT be having a f*cking subscription for HEATED car seats and a HEATED wheel. Don’t even try it.”
“Who’s going to be the first person to jailbreak a BMW for those free heated seats.”
“How is this legal? Not to forget BMM would technically have full control over heated seats and can shut it off at any time and also force you to rebuy it.”
“BMW is starting to sell a subscription fee for heated seats to remove the software that blocks you from gaining access to it. Capitalism doesn’t breed innovation. Capitalism breeds a future where people have to jailbreak their car for features that are already built into it.”
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Author: staff
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