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When BMW started charging an $18 per month subscription for heated seats in 2022, the backlash was swift and brutal. Customers banded together, urging others not to encourage this type of behavior from automakers, lest it open the door to more perceived avariciousness.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve already paid for it!\u201d cried one Reddit user<\/a>. \u201cThe fucking hardware is in your car and you\u2019ve already paid!\u201d<\/p>\n Customers complained that a subscription for a hardware feature only makes sense if the upfront cost is small or nonexistent \u2014 not when someone has already spent around $50,000 on a luxury car.<\/p>\n Now it appears BMW will no longer charge customers to activate hardware-based functions in the future, according to Autocar\u2019s<\/a> interview with Pieter Nota, BMW board member for sales and marketing. Nota did say, however, that BMW intends to expand its offering of on-demand software services and functions with future models, like driving and parking assistance. The automaker is working to increase connectivity to cars with over-the-air updates.<\/p>\n \u201cWe thought that we would provide an extra service to the customer by offering the chance to activate that later, but the user acceptance isn\u2019t that high,\u201d Nota told Autocar. \u201cPeople feel that they paid double \u2013 which was actually not true, but perception is reality, I always say. So that was the reason we stopped that.\u201d<\/p>\n Paying for and downloading software services, on the other hand, is well accepted by consumers who are used to that process by dint of having smartphones.<\/p>\n Other automakers are also introducing subscriptions to software services in order to boost revenue. Tesla, for example, famously charges $12,000 (again)<\/a> for its \u201cFull Self-Driving\u201d driver assistance system. And General Motors aims to have a Netflix-sized subscription business by 2030<\/a> by selling services like its OnStar in-vehicle concierge.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n