BMW admits heated seat subscriptions were a mistake, but the paywalls aren't going away

[midian182]

Facepalm: BMW has finally admitted that charging buyers of its luxury vehicles a subscription to use heated seats probably wasn't a great idea. However, in a perfect illustration of corporate mentality, the company doubled down on charging a monthly fee to unlock post-purchase features.

BMW faced a wave of criticism in 2022 when heated seats were offered as part of its ConnectedDrive functions-on-demand program in markets like the United Kingdom, Germany, and South Korea. Owners could pay the equivalent of around $18 per month to access the feature – more than the $12 per month it cost to access the heated steering wheel.

The public backlash led to BMW discontinuing the heated-seat subscription in 2023. Paywalling an already in-place hardware feature – one that comes as standard in many cheaper vehicle – behind a monthly subscription was a PR disaster.

BMW eventually opted to sell the seats as a standard factory option (either included at purchase or bought outright) rather than via recurring payments.

Now, BMW head of product communications Alexandra Landers has admitted that the move was probably a mistake. "The criticism we got was from the seat heating, so this was probably not the best way to start with it," she told the media.

Landers tried to justify feature subscriptions by noting that some, especially those related to advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS), have ongoing costs for BMW when used by customers.

"If you use it, we have to pay for it. It's not everything important [to every customer], but the technology is important [to have in all vehicles], and we still believe in the option offer structure that you do not have to decide from the start if you want this ADAS [safety] system," Landers added.

So, while BMW admits the heated seat option was a bad idea and has since been removed, the company is still embracing post-purchase feature unlocks.

"BMW remains fully committed to the ConnectedDrive environment as an essential part of the global BMW Aftersales strategy," a BMW spokesperson told The Drive in an emailed statement.

"With these established digital offerings, we offer our customers even more comfort and flexibility in line with their individual wishes after they purchase a vehicle," the spokesperson said. "This allows customers to opt for additional functions and services retroactively."

Some of the options available as subscriptions or one-off purchases in BMW ConnectedDrive in the UK include adaptive suspension, high beam assist, safety camera information, adaptive cruise control, a welcome light animation, and even "Apple CarPlay Preparation." Like the heated seats, several of the features come as standard in many vehicles.

BMW says that it won't charge customers to unlock extra power in their vehicles, nor will it offer a Tesla-style over-the-air upgrade to increase the range of its electric vehicles.

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BMW admits heated seat subscriptions were a mistake, but the paywalls aren't going away

 

[VitalyT]

Toilet paper on subscription is a mistake.
Delivering part of a car at full price is a premeditated screw up.
I can imagine BMW bean counters folding fingers: Eins, zwei, scheiß drauf

Oh, I forgot to renew my brakes subscription!

- last thoughts a BMW driver has while flying off a cliff.

 

[Anton Longshot]

Great.
BMW should add engine start, steering, and brakes subscriptions.
In all their models.
Because, MONEY!
Oh and they should raise subscription prices at least once a year.

 

[JimF1]

Man you want to talk about greed, this is a perfect example. As long as the company execs and shareholders make money they don't care who they shaft or how they get it.

 

[bviktor]

If your ADAS stuff actually receives constant updates, fine, charge a monthly fee for it, because it is an ongoing cost for you to develop it. That's fair.

For anything else that's built once and be done forever should NEVER cost a monthly subscription.

 

[bviktor]

Man you want to talk about greed, this is a perfect example. As long as the company execs and shareholders make money they don't care who they shaft or how they get it.

Not really TBF, their remote control stuff is free, while at VW it needs a recurring subscription, for example.

 

[Robertrogue]

I think the observation in this article is not being authentic. It is not the heated seats, and the subscription for it, people should be worried about. It should be that manufacturers can (and will) turn all or part of your vehicle on and off at their leisure. Knowing that at any time while driving my vehicle, someone behind a computer feels like they don't like the way I drive decides to just turn stuff off is crazy!! "This dude driving up the mountain is way to fast, we need to stop him before he makes our (put in brand here) look bad". Sorry, control should not be left up to WIFI and or a good cell signal, or just the right amount of funds.

 

[mountains]

We can rationalize why this one is OK, but that one is not, but the bottom line is:

Y'all need to loudly say HARD NO to ANY of this subscription stuff or EVERYTHING will be subscription later. Those who have joined the resistance have already slowed this down for the rest of you.

 

[Hotdog1n]

If you have to subscribe to use things in your car that you bought. Do you really own it?

 

[DrSuess]

Cars should not have subscriptions. If we buy an $80K car we expect the car to be fully functional.

 

[Plutoisaplanet]

If your ADAS stuff actually receives constant updates, fine, charge a monthly fee for it, because it is an ongoing cost for you to develop it. That's fair.

For anything else that's built once and be done forever should NEVER cost a monthly subscription.

The big thing to note is as far as I'm aware every automaker has a 3 year upfront cost (when buying the package) before ADAS is offered as a monthly subscription. Tesla offers a monthly subscription immediately on new vehicles with no upfront cost. At least that's the way it was 2 years ago, though it might've changed since (all the pricing is already outdated for Tesla): https://techcrunch.com/2023/12/28/how-tesla-bmw-ford-gm-and-mercedes-driver-assist-systems-compare/

 

[James321]

GREEDY corpos will never learn, they will do it again and find other ways to screw the customer!

 

[m3diapers]

My audi has auto parking and I was able to use it twice successfully in the past 2 years without subscription--no complaint as long as it's free.

 

[AnilD]

Heated seats was the trial balloon, and it popped so hard it became a business case study.

Subscriptions make more sense for services with real ongoing costs, like cloud-backed driver assistance or map updates. The problem is BMW blurred that line by lumping in stuff that’s literally bolted into the car.

 

[toooooot]

"Landers tried to justify feature subscriptions by noting that some, especially those related to advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS), have ongoing costs for BMW when used by customers."

You folk use heat to warm your asses, but we keep paying for methane released. Of course it is an ongoing expense. Heated sits were not a mistake but the right thing to do all along!

 

[brunocasarini]

We can rationalize why this one is OK, but that one is not, but the bottom line is:

Y'all need to loudly say HARD NO to ANY of this subscription stuff or EVERYTHING will be subscription later.

"You'll own nothing and you'll be happy."

 

[p51d007]

Getting closer and closer to the "you will own nothing, and like it" mode with all the flipping subscriptions!

 

[Kashim]

Who cares about BMW? Most people don't. If you're stupid/rich enough to buy their cars then you deserve exactly what you're getting. I don't get why people are upset about this though. Most other car companies pull the same type of crap all the time. Tesla used to offer free charging, now you have to pay for it. Tesla's fake "Full Self Driving" garbage used to be free too, now you have to pay for it.

 

[disinfect8280]

How can they justify a subscription to something that costs them nothing if you use it. Literally nothing. No additional risk or recurring costs to BMW. Most of those other items they listed also fall into that category. It's getting wild out there. Do your due diligence before you buy anything these days.

 

[wiyosaya]

Who cares about BMW? Most people don't. If you're stupid/rich enough to buy their cars then you deserve exactly what you're getting. I don't get why people are upset about this though. Most other car companies pull the same type of crap all the time. Tesla used to offer free charging, now you have to pay for it. Tesla's fake "Full Self Driving" garbage used to be free too, now you have to pay for it.

My thoughts exactly, but I add, "Not to mention their consistently sh!t reliability ratings in Consumer Reports and the cost to repair them." It seems all you have when you buy a BMW is a car to brag about until someone asks you how much does it cost to maintain?

 

[wiyosaya]

Blowhard Motor Works certainly landed in the hot seat with this faux pas.