Support NeoGAF

[ricardo_sousa11]

So, I thought this was a joke, but its not.

The idea is, you buy your car fully upgraded, and then pay a subscription fee to unlock said features, for example, heated seats? Sure, just pay a monthly fee and you can use it.

I cant even begin to describe how ridiculous this is.

EA would be proud.

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

The market corrects itself.

 

[-Arcadia-]

Genius for them, though. People absolutely will buy the base car and upgrade over time. Nobody is going to sit on features (quite literally in this case) they have, but can't access. They'll justify each feature to themselves, one transaction at a time.

 

[West Texas CEO]

how much for seat armor?

 

[EviLore]

It’s like Tesla’s over the air updates, except terrible. Tesla pushes its updates for free, and even adds horsepower, improves braking distance, etc., over time.

 

[-Arcadia-]

Didn't realize this was subs, though. That's a much worse idea... but probably will still work.

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

Smart for BMW. There are apps and vanity phone cases that people spend $1000+ on just to have it.

When you have wealth, your perception of money is completely different. If you poured a glass of water and thought it "tasted funny", would you hesitate for a moment to dump it and pour a new one? Yet for most of history, throwing away water like that would be something only a prince or delegate could afford to do.

 

[captainraincoat]

It’s like Tesla’s over the air updates, except terrible. Tesla pushes its updates for free, and even adds horsepower, improves braking distance, etc., over time.

so gamepass is Tesla.......EA is BMW

 

[Kenpachii]

Won't work, people will hack that shit and have all the features without any problem. They will just lose a ton of money doing so.

 

[GeorgPrime]

It’s like Tesla’s over the air updates, except terrible. Tesla pushes its updates for free, and even adds horsepower, improves braking distance, etc., over time.

I wait for the day when Elon Musk knows the time of electric cars comes to an end now and sells the company to focus on something new

Iam sure most stuff wont stay free after that. Like exchanging batteries and engines for free.

 

[quickwhips]

Hackers will just unlock cars over time. Sounds like a way to get a cheaper car but I’m probably wrong.

 

[John Mullins]

Nickle and dimed on a supposed luxury car. Tacky AF.

I have a 135 but would never go for any of this BS.

Unlock your heated seats that are already fitted? Fuck right off.

 

[Birdo]

DLC skins would actually be pretty cool, if they were possible

Maybe in the future, we'll have programmable paint that works like a screen.

 

[jts]

Won't work, people will hack that shit and have all the features without any problem. They will just lose a ton of money doing so.

Maybe when those cars are old and purchased used. New cars I have my doubts, not only closed systems are getting increasingly harder to penetrate, I also don’t think the average new BMW purchaser is the type to do that and void warranty and so on.

Frankly speaking, I think for many it will just be a small add-on value to their fat monthly lease payments.

 

[TaySan]

It's like on disc DLC, but for cars. These cars are expensive enough as is and they still wanna nickel and dime us for features that were came included with a purchase. Avoiding these cars in the future.

 

[Spaceman292]

That's what you get for buying a BMW. They deserve it

 

[V4skunk]

So, I thought this was a joke, but its not.

The idea is, you buy your car fully upgraded, and then pay a subscription fee to unlock said features, for example, heated seats? Sure, just pay a monthly fee and you can use it.

I cant even begin to describe how ridiculous this is.

EA would be proud.

It's a shame that people will just unlock everything using an obd scanner.

 

[Mistake]

Great, give people more incentive to hack their cars, leading to vulnerabilities for everyone. Don’t like Jim? Let’s make his seat too hot while he’s driving

 

[Elektro Demon]

Wow. Just wow.
Well, I look forward to people hacking the living shit out of it.

 

[nush]

Wow. Just wow.
Well, I look forward to people hacking the living shit out of it.

 

[Fbh]

They haven't tapped into the full potential of this until they go all in on lootboxes.

Make it like "$400 to get the upgrade you want, $50 to get a RANDOM upgrade". Did you get seat heating in summer? don't worry just try again!!!!, there's even a 0.001% chance you'll get a rare golden BMW ticket on your next try and unlock 2 random upgrades!!"

 

[EverydayBeast]

Fine and hopefully adding microtransactions works out for them it's gamers fault microtransactions exist you and I know that, they got microtransactions in cars? Here we go, maybe this will make Ford or Tesla mad, being mad is what people like? Give me a metallic blue BMW

 

[DeepEnigma]

As if these pretentious vehicles can't get any more...

 

[TheMan]

Frankly speaking, I think for many it will just be a small add-on value to their fat monthly lease payments.

yeah I think this is a good point. My understanding is that lots (most?) new BMWs are actually leased so those buyers are already in the subscription mindset. These extra charges are just a method of squeezing the rubes out of a few more bucks here and there. Probably allows bmwto streamline production too

 

[teezzy]

It's like on disc DLC, but for cars. These cars are expensive enough as is and they still wanna nickel and dime us for features that were came included with a purchase. Avoiding these cars in the future.

How bold of you to avoid purchasing a BMW while still living with the 'rents.

 

[LordCBH]

Just jailbreak the car.

 

[nush]

new BMWs are actually leased so those buyers are already in the subscription mindset.

That's a good point actually, a lot of cars are either fleet or rentals. It allows them to make money off people who don't own the car but are just driving it.

Sign up for your BMW account and unlock these features on any BMW car you are driving.

 

[Kamina]

I cant even begin to imagine the backlash they will receive if they lock preinstalled features behind a paywall.
If my car has seat heating that i paid for but cant use it due to missing subscriptions this is bound to cause all kind of outcries. The EU consumer protection has to step in.

 

[Manstructiclops]

BMW are a pikeys brand.

 

[cryptoadam]

Screwing over the used car market. It will be like TESLA where they lock features when its sold second hand. So when you buy the Game of the Year BMW edition it gets downgraded to vanilla with no DLC. Say bye bye to heated seats, lane assitance, heck throw in the back up cam, automatic transmission, auto windows, auto locks and on and on.

Probably if you sell you car second hand the only thing that will work is the steering wheel, brakes and gas. Even the radio and touch screen in the future might need to be unlocked via DLC.

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

When will PKD's toll door come true?

“The door refused to open. It said, “Five cents, please.”​

He searched his pockets. No more coins; nothing. “I’ll pay you tomorrow,” he told the door. Again he tried the knob. Again it remained locked tight. “What I pay you,” he informed it, “is in the nature of a gratuity; I don’t have to pay you.”​

“I think otherwise,” the door said. “Look in the purchase contract you signed when you bought this conapt.”​

In his desk drawer he found the contract; since signing it he had found it necessary to refer to the document many times. Sure enough; payment to his door for opening and shutting constituted a mandatory fee. Not a tip.​

“You discover I’m right,” the door said. It sounded smug.​

From the drawer beside the sink Joe Chip got a stainless steel knife; with it he began systematically to unscrew the bolt assembly of his apt’s money-gulping door.​

“I’ll sue you,” the door said as the first screw fell out.​

Joe Chip said, “I’ve never been sued by a door. But I guess I can live through it.”​

 

[ipukespiders]

DLC skins would actually be pretty cool, if they were possible

Maybe in the future, we'll have programmable paint that works like a screen.

Fuck that, I just drive through a gas station and get a new paint job free in a millisecond.

 

[Charles Brandon]

It’s like Tesla’s over the air updates, except terrible. Tesla pushes its updates for free, and even adds horsepower, improves braking distance, etc., over time.

Autopilot isn't for free though. That's on-disc DLC in exactly the same way.

 

[Goro Majima]

BMW makes some nice cars but they've been horribly anti-consumer for years and years at this point by nickle and diming their packages and upgrades.

Between that, this microtransaction thing, atrocious cost of maintenance, and that big ugly ass grille on the 4 series - BMW is kinda losing that appeal to me as a bucket list purchase to aspire to.

I have a personal bias toward Audi anyway so I'm probably just talking shit.

Objectively, I wonder how the Germans are going to handle things like the entire Genesis lineup competing quite well against their cars and at a much lower pricepoint? Adding microtransactions seems short sighted in light of that in the long run. Young people aren't as likely to grow up thinking of a BMW as this amazing thing to buy someday.

 

[ipukespiders]

These cars are expensive enough as is and they still wanna nickel and dime us for features that were came included with a purchase. Avoiding these cars in the future.

"Us"? I don't think you're the target market.
Don't you live on benefits with your parents? Can you even drive?

 

[Shizumapower]

Just jailbreak the car.

You wouldn't download a car?!

 

[nush]

BMW are a pikeys brand.

They've still not fallen as far as Lexus.

 

[GHG]

This is scammy to the extreme.

Won't work, people will hack that shit and have all the features without any problem. They will just lose a ton of money doing so.

Yep, first thing a lot of people will do is take it to an independent garage, get it chipped and then take out a 3rd party warranty program with said garage.

 

[Amory]

If this is just being done so they can reduce the number of trim levels, who cares?

If I bought a model without heated seats for less money and then down the road I want to add them on for a fee, that actually sounds alright in my book.

 

[Mitsuda Maniac]

Now I have even more reason to hate assholes w/ entry level BMW's who think they can cut everyone off like they own the road.

 

[nush]

"Us"? I don't think you're the target market.
Don't you live on benefits with your parents? Can you even drive?

 

[Mr Nash]

I'd be curious to see which models make the most use of this in the future. Will it be the super low end BMWs that tacky real estate agents drive just so they can say they own a BMW, or the higher end ones driven by bankers, lawyers, etc.. Moreover, will people still be able to buy the vehicle with the features they want outright rather than paying a monthly fee?

 

[DESTROYA]

Fine and hopefully adding microtransactions works out for them it's gamers fault microtransactions exist you and I know that, they got microtransactions in cars? Here we go, maybe this will make Ford or Tesla mad, being mad is what people like? Give me a metallic blue BMW

No its corporate greed not gamers fault. WTF does Ford or Tesla being mad have anything to do with this. If anything they are laughing at BMW.

People just saying hack the car will only void the warranty, if you want to do it after that go nuts.

 

[Robot Carnival]

I remember reading some farm equipments like trackers would have something like this. farmer have to pay the company a monthly fee to be able to do repair and maintenance even if they own the equipment. and there are farmers that would "hack" on board chips to disable these sort of things.

 

[haxan7]

I don’t think hacking the car and getting a third party warranty will work like people seem to be thinking. BMW is the master of forcing people into their dealerships for service.

It would also only be a tiny chunk of BMW’s market who would try that. Your average guy willing to put down the money on a new BMW is not gonna want to go that sketchy route.

 

[Pejo]

This needs to be shat on repeatedly and concisely. As we saw with video games, once companies get a taste for this sort of thing, it will become the new normal. Fuck BMW and I hope they catch a TON of flak for this.

 

[Foamy]

So disappointed in BMW for this.

 

[#Phonepunk#]

they kind of already existed tho? power windows. power steering. "these things don't come standard" etc etc. car companies have always sold a stock model that you could load with DLC

 

[keraj37]

My frigde had it long time ago - I need to pay monthly fee or it will stop cooling and freezing.
Thankfully it accepts my credit card.

 

[newtypepilot]

BMW already nick and dime you anyways, but this is a new low. They have really gone downhill with their fake engine noises and cookie cutter interiors.