[roxxor]

     Featured on BIMMERPOST.com

So this morning I received an invitation email for a survey from the BMW Board of Drivers panel. Upon following the link, it asked me a couple beginning questions about if I still have my current car, etc. It then went into a description of what Driving Assistance Plus and Driving Assistance Professional are and the differences between them, and also explained what Parking Assistance was.

The survey then offered me a list of options to choose which I would consider, and the options for them were monthly/annual plans, in a fashion similar to how Apple CarPlay has moved to an annual plan instead of paying upfront for it. I don't recall the DA+ pricing, but the Driving Assistance Professional(the higher end option of the two) was offered two options, either a monthly charge of $25.00 or an annual charge of $240(the equivalent of $20/mo). The Parking Assistance option was ridiculously priced in my opinion, either $70/mo or $780 annually($65/mo equivalent).

Unfortunately, there was no option for me to select that I would not like those options to be priced like that, and would rather pay the upfront cost rather than have to pay monthly for them. It makes me wonder if even more options/features will end up going towards this type of pricing structure in the future.

[Aaaaaaaaa]

I got this too. I think this is becoming a dangerous precedent. What next? Engine gets automatically detuned after a "M Performance Free Trial"? Car comes fully loaded then progressively options become locked out unless you pay a fee? Jeezus BMW.

[DrifterX]

This is becoming a joke - if they go towards this direction and don't offer a reasonably priced one time cost for options, they'd lose me as a customer when it's time for me to purchase a new vehicle. Regardless of how much I like the car.

[The Automotive Enthusiast]

That's kind of ridiculous.

[P1]

Laughable. There is no service provided. It's a feature. It's like buying a dishwasher, but then having to pay Samsung a monthly fee for the drying function to work.

[ecaedus]

taking a page out of Tesla's playbook i see. you can get the model 3 without enhanced autopilot and it'll still come with all the necessary hardware, sensors and cameras installed for autopilot, but since you didn't pay the $5K for the software to be unlocked, you won't get to ever use the hardware. In fact you lose the basic ACC if you don't pay.

very annoying business model for sure since you paid for the hardware that's already in the car and you don't get to use its capabilities.

unfortunately i think all companies are bound to be going this route on any features that can be locked-out using software. BMW's already doing it for CarPlay, it only makes sense for them to see how much they can get away with.

[Aaaaaaaaa]

I can sort of see one benefit of this. Custom orders will be faster since they can just produce one configuration. Or maybe eliminate the need for custom orders since all models have the same options. Just pick out your colors and wheels and be out the door. Will definitely make impulse buys easier since you don't have to do any research on options. Just take the car home and decide which features to keep after 3 months.

[xlover]

I don't get this at all, software has no incremental cost per unit where the hardware does... they should just make more standard and raise the base prices... easier to market "more standard features" than "pay extra for subscriptions"

[jjrandorin]

Originally Posted by roxxor

So this morning I received an invitation email for a survey from the BMW Board of Drivers panel. Upon following the link, it asked me a couple beginning questions about if I still have my current car, etc. It then went into a description of what Driving Assistance Plus and Driving Assistance Professional are and the differences between them, and also explained what Parking Assistance was.

The survey then offered me a list of options to choose which I would consider, and the options for them were monthly/annual plans, in a fashion similar to how Apple CarPlay has moved to an annual plan instead of paying upfront for it. I don't recall the DA+ pricing, but the Driving Assistance Professional(the higher end option of the two) was offered two options, either a monthly charge of $25.00 or an annual charge of $240(the equivalent of $20/mo). The Parking Assistance option was ridiculously priced in my opinion, either $70/mo or $780 annually($65/mo equivalent).

Unfortunately, there was no option for me to select that I would not like those options to be priced like that, and would rather pay the upfront cost rather than have to pay monthly for them. It makes me wonder if even more options/features will end up going towards this type of pricing structure in the future.

I selected "none" and then it asked me why, and I had to type a response. I type in "features like these should not be a subscription, they should either be an additional package with a 1 time cost, or "standard" with an increased cost to the vehicle.

Unfortunately, even though I got this survey, I think their target market is not my generation (I am 50) but my son's generation (who is 25).

I am not a fan of "software as a service" business models, for example, I prefer to pay once instead of monthly.

[Z4M_Coupe]

The person that came up with the idea should get fired, along with anyone supporting them. The hell is wrong with BMW, they just keep surprising us. -_-

[pz619]

Frankly, this is offensive. Pay for a service built into the car? It’s not like the parking system is calling a server somewhere to do its job. This simply is a cash grab. What’s next, seat heater charge? Am I going to lose the seat heater because I was late on the seat heater bill?

[kdeleon]

I think it would be cool if the car came with every option but nothing on. It would allow me to add an option later after hearing more opinions about it. Like Carplay, right now, I don't use it very ofter but once iOS 12 comes and I can use Google maps, then I would want it.

But what I don't like is the subscription model. It should be a one and done. Again Carplay is a great example. I keep my cars for a long time, so on my car at least I get to keep it on. But for 2019, I would have had to pay for it each year. I would feel weird paying for something like that 10 years from now but at the same time, I feel like I should not lose that functionality later on.

[enjoythemusic]

Originally Posted by ecaedus

taking a page out of Tesla's playbook i see.

Sadly, BMW is. Seriously wrong move on their part imho. But am sure they'll realize if they push too far, people will go elsewhere (or guys like us will just do a 'work-around' for free/inexpensive).

Waze killed in-car nav $$$.

[TheUltimateDrivingManiac]

Wait till somebody will come up with the idea of Pay-per-Use!

50c for the parking sensors, $1 for a backup camera or $2 for a surround view per use. Self parking - $5, adaptive cruise control - 75c per mile.

[are0lies]

Originally Posted by TheUltimateDrivingManiac

Wait till somebody will come up with the idea of Pay-per-Use!

50c for the parking sensors, $1 for a backup camera or $2 for a surround view per use. Self parking - $5, adaptive cruise control - 75c per mile.

Not bad. Now if the damn thing took me directly to an actual parking space, I might be in.

[TheMidnightNarwhal]

Originally Posted by jjrandorin

Unfortunately, even though I got this survey, I think their target market is not my generation (I am 50) but my son's generation (who is 25).

I don't know man, I'm 20 and I find this really fucking dumb.

[David70]

They are of course welcome to do whatever they want but I am not into buying subscription services and won't be part of any of these. Buying a "Premium" product and then being nickel and dimed to use features already on the car is a joke. At $70 a month for Parking Assist, paying over $2 a day to help me park ($70 a month), thanks, I'm good. Then I keep this car for 6 years and the cost for Parking Assist is $780 x 6 = $4680 to help me park? Again, no thanks.

Charge me a reasonable cost up front and lets move on, problem they see is no one would consider paying $5k for Parking Assist, part of the reason companies would like to hook you into paying by the month. Same reason I bought my own router instead of paying the $8 a month which never ends. Not a big cost but another waste of money I don't need.

[Law]

This is the same type of toxic nickel-and-diming that's plaguing every software-infused product across many industries.

It's a bit sad to see how the internet and tech have devolved within the last 5-10 years.
It went from this open, connected, boundless platform for innovation, dissent, connectivity, and innovation, to a limited, controlled, manipulated network.

So stagnant are companies in their innovation, that instead of developing new & better products/services to entice the customer, choose to nickel-and-dime customers by designing with planned-obsolescence or imposing mandatory subscription to keep the customer perpetually at their mercy.

What happens if the customer resists/declines (i.e., use the old product/version instead of upgrading and/or stop paying subscription)?
It stops working.
Just like that. Obsolete.

So welcome to 2018 where you now have to buy a product, pay the full price of the product AND keep paying a monthly/annual subscription, in order for it to keep working as advertised.

Office 365, PlayStation Plus, and Carly for BMW are examples of products & services that I've refused to support after they switched to a subscription-based model.

Just imagine the trend in another 10-20 years as more and more things are "smart" and "connected" to each other and the internet.
One day you stop paying your Smart Thermostat Subscription. Your A/C hardware works just fine and you paid your electricity bill, but you didn't pay Nest the $5.99/month to keep the App and fancy screen on your thermostat operational/active. So now you can't use it.
Oh it gets better, you also didn't pay your Smart Door Lock Subscription, and now you can't even get into your own house.

So BMW, it's great if you want to follow Silicon Valley and Tesla in their quest for more connectivity and automation, but if connectivity and automation means being perpetually at your mercy, then I will gladly decline.

[BMWKLR]

I wish I could say they would lose me as a customer for this, but they already lost me, a customer who has had over 9 BMW vehicles. A BMW just isnt a BMW any more.

[Flying Ace]

What's Driving Assistance again?

[P1]

Originally Posted by Law

This is the same type of toxic nickel-and-diming that's plaguing every software-infused product across many industries.

It's a bit sad to see how the internet and tech have devolved within the last 5-10 years.
It went from this open, connected, boundless platform for innovation, dissent, connectivity, and innovation, to a limited, controlled, manipulated network.

So stagnant are companies in their innovation, that instead of developing new & better products/services to entice the customer, choose to nickel-and-dime customers by designing with planned-obsolescence or imposing mandatory subscription to keep the customer perpetually at their mercy.

What happens if the customer resists/declines (i.e., use the old product/version instead of upgrading and/or stop paying subscription)?
It stops working.
Just like that. Obsolete.

So welcome to 2018 where you now have to buy a product, pay the full price of the product AND keep paying a monthly/annual subscription, in order for it to keep working as advertised.

Office 365, PlayStation Plus, and Carly for BMW are examples of products & services that I've refused to support after they switched to a subscription-based model.

Just imagine the trend in another 10-20 years as more and more things are "smart" and "connected" to each other and the internet.
One day you stop paying your Smart Thermostat Subscription. Your A/C hardware works just fine and you paid your electricity bill, but you didn't pay Nest the $5.99/month to keep the App and fancy screen on your thermostat operational/active. So now you can't use it.
Oh it gets better, you also didn't pay your Smart Door Lock Subscription, and now you can't even get into your own house.

So BMW, it's great if you want to follow Silicon Valley and Tesla in their quest for more connectivity and automation, but if connectivity and automation means being perpetually at your mercy, then I will gladly decline.

You forgot to mention Netflix, Hulu, Spotify, Adobe, my lawn care service. It's all moving to a pay-as-you-go model.

And bless Office 365. It's done very well for me over the years.

[wdeerfield]

how many people actually end up using this tech on an everyday basis? if it means not increasing the price for other things because tech is bundled into a package that i dont want, im all for it.

adobe did this with creative suite and its pretty sweet to only pay for it when you need it. going to take a trip? order up a month for these packages and cancel when you dont want them anymore.

microsoft for the xbox just introduced monthly charges for the actual hardware now.

i bet this is driven by them negotiating with the vendor who supplies the features to reduce their cost by saying "we only have X number of people actually using it a month" instead of the flat higher rate to incorporate it into all cars.