This week, BMW announced, a virtual truth press convention, several features of its new operational formula 7, which will arrive this month in the new five 2021 Series, before more widely deploying a live update.
Some of the features of OS7 feel like real game-changers, like how an iPhone can be used instead of the key fob, and BMWs can warn each other about hazards ahead and slippery road conditions.
But what has garnered the most attention in the 24 hours since journalists removed their VR headsets, is a complex new subscription model.
BMW has already attempted to load subscriptions for features. But in the case of asking drivers to earn $80 a year for Apple CarPlay (which is loosely installed on their phone, remember), the business style temporarily changed after consumers complained.
But now the subscription style is back. BMW is still quite indistinct at the moment, and nothing has been said about prices. But he said that features such as complex motor force assist systems, higher sports exhaust sounds, adaptive suspension M and, yes, heated seats, can only be presented per subscription, with disputed periods ranging from one month to 3 years.
On the production line, it makes sense. It is probably more cost-effective for BMW to send the same highly specified cars to the production line, with the above features installed and in condition of use, rather than producing each car according to the precise needs of the buyer. Buyers can use the feature if they checked the box when placing the order, or if it did not exist.
It is still known whether a blank 90s-style dashboard button will remind them of their penny.
When winter comes they might decide to pay for heated seats for three months, which would be activated via a software update. A couple of years down the line, the next owner of that car might decide they want to activate its Adaptive M Suspension and IconicSounds Sport system, by paying and downloading the software update.
All of this is convenient if presented in the right way, but it also turns out that BMW charges a recurring subscription for parts already installed in the car. Because that’s what it is.
BMW will of course have factored the cost of fitting heated seats and other hardware into the overall cost of the car, even if they are never activated, so the buyer is in a way paying for their fitment anyway. They just can’t use them until they cough up some more cash on a regular basis.
The German automaker hasn’t yet explained exactly how the system will work, but imagine hitting the heated seat button on a cold morning, only to be told your subscription has expired. Perhaps you could opt for a free one-month trial and hope spring arrives by then.
Some features – again, we don’t know exactly which – will incur a one-time cost instead of a regular subscription.
BMW isn’t the first car company to do this. Tesla lets buyers upgrade their Autopilot system by paying after taking delivery of the car. It also previously unlocked extra battery capacity the same way, since at the time the cars already carried the same physical battery pack, but were sold at a range of prices depending on how much of the pack was available to use. But where that felt like a sensible and cost-effective production method from a trend-bucking startup, BMW’s move feels somewhat less hospitable
In a way though, this all seems inevitable, given how accustomed we are to paying subscriptions for the music, movies, TV shows, books and games we used to buy outright. But it is still quite a leap to go from media that had become digital anyway, to the tangible features of a car – and a luxury car with a premium price tag at that.
I am an automotive and technology journalist who has written for Wired UK and the BBC, and have a life-long passion for everything on four wheels.