
BMW wants to sell you subscriptions to your car's features - djsumdog
https://techcrunch.com/2020/07/01/bmw-wants-to-sell-you-subscriptions-to-your-cars-features/
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taurath
BMW has seemingly done everything possible in the last few years to stop any
justification for actually buying their cars. I was looking at getting one,
sat down in it, and concluded other than the engine there wasn’t a single
thing about it that was a substantial upgrade from a Honda Civic with an audio
upgrade, including interior quality. It’s really buying the badge.

Edit: yes of course there’s better performance parts throughout - I was mostly
commenting on the feel of the interior whilst driving the car. And part of
that is Honda moving up in quality over the last 5 years. Still, as someone
who would like performance it’s really hard to justify paying 2x for something
that doesn’t even feel 1.5x.

~~~
tracer4201
The trend in recent years has been more luxurious interiors at a lower cost.

Prior to COVID, I was using a car pool app to get to work. I’ve rode in Audi
A4s and A5s, BMW 3 series, Accords, Civics, and even a Model 3.

A buddy of mine picked up a new Mazda3. The interior felt pretty much
equivalent to a BMW 3 series or A5. I don’t know much about car performance
and so presumably the major difference is just the brand name and engine
power.

Personally I don’t own a car and view cars as a utility to get from point A to
point B. I can see spending a bit more on a car if you commute or drive a lot.

The vehicle industry blows my mind — not only the buying process itself but
also the pricing model. It’s crazy how Americans are willing to drop $30-40K
(that’s average?) for a vehicle. But I digress.

~~~
bsder
> It’s crazy how Americans are willing to drop $30-40K (that’s average?) for a
> vehicle. But I digress.

Market segmentation means you don't have a lot of choice.

A Toyota Camry (a quite basic mid-size car) _starts_ at $25K. Even some of the
cheapest cars sit at almost $20K and their safety ratings at US freeway speeds
are often not great combined with being underpowered.

The fact that people have to drive on US freeways a _lot_ means that you can't
just engineer a small, slower speed car and call it a day.

~~~
EricE
$25K over 10 years isn’t terrible. People who feel they have to buy a new car
every 2 to 4 years only have themselves to blame.

Then again, god bless them. If it wasn’t for all of them there wouldn’t be so
many good used cars for me to choose from :)

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lukevp
Sounds similar to Tesla and including the cameras and computer for AP but
enabling through software. I don’t really have a problem with this but I
wonder the implications of building DRM into basic car features like a heated
steering wheel. What happens if I swap my steering wheel with another junkyard
part in 10 years? Is it going to detect tampering and disable features because
it thinks it’s being hacked? What about the legality of working around this by
running power directly to the heating module, is this somehow detectable and
could be a breach of contract somehow?

~~~
smilekzs
That would require an authentication chip on the heater side, which
considering the price of USB-C cables / Apple accessories, and the ultimate
goal for the car makers is to save money / make more money, does not make much
sense.

That said, fault detection is very common on modern car electronics,
especially safety-critical components. Your throttle-by-wire pedal has 2
redundant channels that output 20% to 80% signal, possibly mutually complement
or some other scheme. Your airbags have open-/short-circuit detection. However
these are never actively designed to defeat circumvention, so you see after-
market steering wheel makers supply you with dummy resistors that pretend they
are airbags.

EDIT: I could imagine the entire seat or steering-wheel assembly sharing one
microcontroller which has encrypted communication to the vehicle's "Body
Controller". That would defeat wholesale replacement / MITM, but still does
not prevent you from co-opting the physical connection to the actual heater
element. You would most definitely break (e.g. bumper-to-bumper) warranty but
who cares.

~~~
lukevp
I owned a 2003 bmw and there were many modules within it (for example, the
rear trunk latch was its own module). With CAN bus electronics it’s super
cheap and they design a lot of the parts to operate this way, and they don’t
directly interface with the ECU. They could have a relay in the ECU that
provides the power output to the heater wires and it will only operate if the
CAN command has a signed payload that uses some key from BMW, and compromising
that key or sharing it would be in violation of the DMCA, similar to the Sony
PS3 key that happened many years back [0] or the current battleground of right
to repair John Deere tractors. That would make it not technically impossible
to create another replacement part, but it would violate copyright.

[0]:
[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_3_homebrew#Priva...](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_3_homebrew#Private_key_compromised)

~~~
smilekzs
If there is a relay then you can simply ground a leg of it and get power. Or
you could add-a-fuse and provide power. As long as the heater itself has wires
going between the seat and the ECU / relay box then you have a way. I doubt
the manufacturers would go this far, but it is entirely possible for the relay
/ power electronics to be an integral part of e.g. the seat control module,
then you'll have a hard time.

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dna_polymerase
Great, can't wait for the days when I finally need to pay to drive my BMW over
80 mph.

In all seriousness, they probably try to look for additional income sources
since they have hard times ahead of them with the switch to electric and lower
profit margins.

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mensetmanusman
Tesla has lead the way here.

This is nothing different than software as a service.

Because the backend will require constant employment and overhead of skilled
programmers, this business model makes sense as the vehicle becomes more and
more of a service provider. Nothing different than turning on and off
satellite radio for a monthly fee.

~~~
rasz
No, BMW had DRM inside car modules >20 years ago. You had to go to the dealer
to 'pair' replacement parts, otherwise car wouldnt even start. All under the
guise of immobiliser, totally not killing third party repair/used parts
market!

[https://www.ecudoctors.com/pages/bmw-ecu-dme-reprogrammed-
an...](https://www.ecudoctors.com/pages/bmw-ecu-dme-reprogrammed-and-rebuilt)

~~~
tyingq
They are all also pretty notable for exorbitant replacement key costs.

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grawprog
Watching the way this type of thing's gone with software and computers, once
this becomes normalized they'll turn to basic features. Maybe a monthly radio
subscription, or better yet, timed listening for your cars stereo, basic
packages start at a half hour of listening time a day, only $2.99/month or
$1.99/month if you pay for 12 months. This includes the ability to tune in
both am and FM stations or plugin an external device using an aux cord.
Bluetooth or usb connectivity is only an extra 50¢/month.

From there we could move on to distance packages, We've got a few packages
available.

First there's The Commuter package. Up to 100km/day, ideal for those who,
unfortunately, still need to drive to work

$50/month

Additional km available at $1.50/km

Then we've got The Weekend Warrior. For the fun loving free spirit that likes
to get away for the weekend. You get up to 200km/day usuable between 5pm
Friday - 12 am Sunday. Can be added to the commuter plan for those spontaneous
getaways.

$50/use

For those heavy drivers, we've got The Cruiser. You get a hefty 500km/week.
Ideal for families or just those who like to get behind the wheel.

$100/month + 20¢/km emissions fee

Additional km available for $2.00/km

Finally, we've got the Road Tripper Package. Need to get away somewhere? Just
drive across country? Well the road tripper is the package for you. You get a
whopping 2000km good for a month's use. Take yourself anywhere with the road
tripper package.

$150/use + 50¢/km emissions fee

Additional km available at $5/km

Only valid for use outside local region. Use within 100km of primary residence
or work place is subject to a $5/km fee.

~~~
jjeaff
Sure, sounds great!

Oh, you ALSO want me to BUY the car up-front? Well then it would be my car and
not yours, so why should I be paying you fees?

~~~
grawprog
It's in the terms of the license agreement you signed on purchase.

