BMW owners in some countries will have to pay 18 euros per month for heated seats, a feature offered in a large number of high-end vehicles from the competition.
After introducing its first subscription in 2018 for CarPlay, BMW had been floating the idea of tying convenience features to subscriptions since 2020, and the German automaker has now made it a reality in select markets. Indeed, the owners of BMW in South Korea were surprised to see arriving on the official store new options in the form of a subscription allowing access to certain functionalities.
Among them, we find, for example, access to the on-board camera for 11 euros per monthto adaptive cruise control for 39 euros per monthand to heated seats for 18 euros per month. You will also have to spend ₩11,000 (around €8.40) to benefit from intelligent traffic lights that change automatically depending on the road you are on. The first month of trial is free, and consumers can then subscribe to one month, one year or three years depending on the chosen offer.
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BMW introduces subscriptions in its cars, but not for all
With these new subscriptions, BMW hopes that some customers will be able to choose certain options only when they really need them. It is likely that some drivers choose to subscribe to heated seats only in winterrather than having them available to them all year round.
Of course, it is always possible for customers to purchase the “lifetime” options rather than taking out these new subscriptions, but their introduction is good news for those who want to have a choice
Subscriptions are available now from the official BMW online store in countries such as UK, Germany, New Zealand, South Korea and South Africa. Given their availability in Germany, it is likely that these new subscriptions will soon arrive in France. We know that BMW wants to equip its cars with Android Automotive from 2023, and we hope that it will not arrive as an option or as part of an additional subscription.