BMW offering heated seats for £10 a month

T

ThatFragranceGuy

Well-known member
www.cnn.com

Why BMW is offering heated seats on a monthly subscription

BMW is now offering British drivers the option of enjoying a heated seat on a monthly subscription basis. Of course, you can still get heated seats the regular way -- just buy them as an option when you purchase the car -- but for those who didn't do that, or who bought a used car without the...
www.cnn.com www.cnn.com

So the tech will be in the car, but you have to subscribe to use it. I read a comment that altering software to enable it will be difficult due to encryption and will count as modifying the vehicle, potentially invalidating insurance.

Wild
 
Corcaigh_the_Cat said:
Corporate greed, who would have thought it.
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Is it corporate greed, or is it simply allowing people the flexibility to choose what they want to pay for?

It looks to me as though its a traditional car manufacturer attempting to move towards a subscription business model in line with changing consumer expectations.
 
Corporate greed, that's what it is.

Heating and cooling subscription next?

You already have a choice to buy a BMW with/without heated seats, or do you?
 
Or you could just turn the heating up in the car.

Heated seats FFS! I can hear these silly sods now......

Oh, my heated seats are not on.... and my diamond shoes are too tight.

Twattss!
 
Ok then Mr smarty BMW I will pay monthly for heated seats Dec to march and then cancel my subscription in april
 
In theory it could be a good idea, so long as there is a genuine discount for not using the subscription based features.

I only use my heated seats probably a couple of months a year so if I can see that I am saving money on a car by only paying for them 2 months of the year then it’s a winner.

It all comes down to whether there is a genuine saving or not
 
A lot of car manufacturers do this, my previous Audi had front and rear parking sensors fitted, I paid for the rear ones but the front ones could be purchased as an extra through the Audi App. It stinks a bit given the tech is already there.
 
Corcaigh_the_Cat said:
Corporate greed, that's what it is.

Heating and cooling subscription next?

You already have a choice to buy a BMW with/without heated seats, or do you?
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You do, but there's no flexibility if you suddenly decide you do actually want it after you've bought a car without it - this is a way of providing consumers with the ability to pick and choose.
 
I wish I could get hold of a new BMW to complain about the heated seats. My January 2022 order has just been given a May 2023 estimated delivery date :oops:
 
Ayresome said:
I wish I could get hold of a new BMW to complain about the heated seats. My January 2022 order has just been given a May 2023 estimated delivery date :oops:
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I've just got one from Volvo to say my December 2022 delivery (the whole reason I went with a Volvo over another couple of brands) is now scheduled for May 2023.
 
This happened with gaming and it hasn't been gold for consumers, subscriptions work well in isolation, for example having Netflix. They don't work well when you have to subscribe to Disney+ Netflix paramount+ prime video and more on top of tv channels

Similar in games you used to buy a game and would unlock extra characters or missions and later an expansion would come out, usually paid for.

Now you get initial release with exclusive content for those that per-ordered and content is locked behind micro transactions. Look at games like FIFA where people end up spending thousands

How much do heated seats cost and how many months of subscription would it take to reach that level?

If they're building them anyway you are arguably going to be paying for them up front just not as an advertised option, but it will be priced in no doubt.
 
ThatFragranceGuy said:
If they're building them anyway you are arguably going to be paying for them up front just not as an advertised option, but it will be priced in no doubt.
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Exactly this, but if you want to use them you can pay for them twice.

That's what some consumers are happy with, obviously. Well, lots of them some of the time, but some of them lots of the time.
 
Here's a thought...do you actually really NEED heated seats? They're mostly used on leather interiors, so if you have the money to spec your car with leathers, you should, in theory, not be too worried about the cost of the subscription for the seats. I've been driving for 32 years, only had them in one car, my old Saab 9-3 aero convertible, and honestly, it felt like id wet myself each time they went on. I'd much rather crank the heaters up than remotely worry about heated seats ffs.
 
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