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It's so bizarre. There's no reasonable fiscal reason for BMW to require this. The only reason to implement something like this would be just to establish the pr

It's so bizarre. There's no reasonable fiscal reason for BMW to require this. The only reason to implement something like this would be just to establish the precedent of paying a subscription to the carmaker so they can add on easy-to-pay-for additional features and one-time expenses later. Micropayments and loot boxes for your car.

netsharc 9y ago
Porsche already has an idea of temporarily more horsepower for money, not even permanently.
- celim307 9y ago
  Link? That's disgusting
  - netsharc 9y ago
    I can only find one German article about it, maybe they were just throwing ideas to see how the public would react: http://winfuture.de/news,100802.html http://winfuture.de/news,100802.html Ah I found the interview: https://newsroom.porsche.com/en/company/porsche-digitalization-autonomous-driving-functions-on-demand-connectivity-innodrive-technology-interview-lutz-meschke-14586.html https://newsroom.porsche.com/en/company/porsche-digitalizati... > Which solutions are relevant for a brand like Porsche? > We will increasingly offer functions “on demand”. That means that the costumer can buy new functions at any time if needed – including long after buying the car and, where applicable, only temporarily. Be it as a one-off for a fee, as a flat rate or as a subscription. > Which functions do you offer on demand? > For example, it would be possible to combine modules from the area of autonomous driving individually. Imagine that you could use a software update to download a few more PS over-the-air at short notice if you want to head to the racetrack on the weekend – or dynamic headlights if you are headed for a long night drive.
- Jeremy1026 9y ago
  And Tesla lets you access the rest of your battery pack by paying more.
  - Baeocystin 9y ago
    To be fair, that that is even possible is because they installed better, larger battery packs than were initially promised in the first place. Even if the buyer never pays for the 'extra' miles, they still get the benefit of improved responsiveness and less wear and tear on the cells that the larger pack brings.
    - nolok 9y ago
      What a weird conter argument. Can be used for porsche too ! > To be fair, that that is even possible is because they installed better, larger engine than were initially promised in the first place.
      - Baeocystin 9y ago
        Are you telling me you wouldn't be happy to get a better engine, for the same price, than what you originally agreed to pay for? Because to complete the analogy, the new engine would have to have better acceleration and superior durability than what you thought you were going to get, even if you never once paid for any additional performance unlocks.
        SturgeonsLaw 9y ago
        But is that really what it is, or is it a case of not getting all of the engine that you did pay for?
        ssheth 9y ago
        They are delivering a superior battery with more capacity and performance than what you actually ordered. The only difference is that they figure to make up the difference when eventually the car is sold back to tesla and then they can "activate" the extra part of the battery of the owner didn't already pay for the extra upgrade somewhere along the way and then resell the car for much more than what they paid since the car is now a couple models better.
- sk5t 9y ago
  To what specifically do you refer?
  - netsharc 9y ago
    I read it on German news, and found the original quote, in a what looks like an internal interview of Lutz Meschke, Vice President of the Executive Board and Member of the Executive Board, Finance and IT. From their own website: https://newsroom.porsche.com/en/company/porsche-digitalization-autonomous-driving-functions-on-demand-connectivity-innodrive-technology-interview-lutz-meschke-14586.html https://newsroom.porsche.com/en/company/porsche-digitalizati... > Which solutions are relevant for a brand like Porsche? > We will increasingly offer functions “on demand”. That means that the costumer can buy new functions at any time if needed – including long after buying the car and, where applicable, only temporarily. Be it as a one-off for a fee, as a flat rate or as a subscription. > Which functions do you offer on demand? > For example, it would be possible to combine modules from the area of autonomous driving individually. Imagine that you could use a software update to download a few more PS over-the-air at short notice if you want to head to the racetrack on the weekend – or dynamic headlights if you are headed for a long night drive.
acdha 9y ago
I could buy something for ongoing software and security support but this is steep for something designed to reduce the amount of work they have to do in that regard.
jeffwilcox 9y ago
BMW already has a major precedent here... after 3 years of owning one today, you pay: $100/year for real-time advanced traffic in the nav system $100/year for BMW Connected (send addresses and info to your car, unlock, locate etc. from your phone) Sadly this feels like the latest attempt to increase subscription service revenue to help justify those network access fees and monetize in the serviceworld. :/
- huhtenberg 9y ago
  This has a clear purpose though - it exists to push people to change to a new BMW every 3 years. This is an open secret and salespeople like bringing it up.
merb 9y ago
well you know... german car manufcaturers are just ignorant and greedy. they also use big subsidizes for "EV"s/car batteries which they never really delivered. the german governement is so deeply involved with the manufcaturers that nothing really would change anything. they basically have their marionettes to do whatever they want. I mean just look at VW. no high level executive got any charges up until now. the latest news were around november 2017 were the "searched" for stuff, but I doubt that they will ever put anybody to jail in germany. i mean changes are high that inside the "diesel-gate", some local german governement was directly involved. I mean "Niedersachsen" (the county) actually helds at least 20% of the Volkswagen AG. so they probably knew that something is fishy. I mean it was already pretty fishy that cars would've been emission checked with only software instead of the working old methods.

netsharc 9y ago

Porsche already has an idea of temporarily more horsepower for money, not even permanently.

celim307 9y ago
Link? That's disgusting
- netsharc 9y ago
  I can only find one German article about it, maybe they were just throwing ideas to see how the public would react: http://winfuture.de/news,100802.html http://winfuture.de/news,100802.html Ah I found the interview: https://newsroom.porsche.com/en/company/porsche-digitalization-autonomous-driving-functions-on-demand-connectivity-innodrive-technology-interview-lutz-meschke-14586.html https://newsroom.porsche.com/en/company/porsche-digitalizati... > Which solutions are relevant for a brand like Porsche? > We will increasingly offer functions “on demand”. That means that the costumer can buy new functions at any time if needed – including long after buying the car and, where applicable, only temporarily. Be it as a one-off for a fee, as a flat rate or as a subscription. > Which functions do you offer on demand? > For example, it would be possible to combine modules from the area of autonomous driving individually. Imagine that you could use a software update to download a few more PS over-the-air at short notice if you want to head to the racetrack on the weekend – or dynamic headlights if you are headed for a long night drive.
Jeremy1026 9y ago
And Tesla lets you access the rest of your battery pack by paying more.
- Baeocystin 9y ago
  To be fair, that that is even possible is because they installed better, larger battery packs than were initially promised in the first place. Even if the buyer never pays for the 'extra' miles, they still get the benefit of improved responsiveness and less wear and tear on the cells that the larger pack brings.
  - nolok 9y ago
    What a weird conter argument. Can be used for porsche too ! > To be fair, that that is even possible is because they installed better, larger engine than were initially promised in the first place.
    - Baeocystin 9y ago
      Are you telling me you wouldn't be happy to get a better engine, for the same price, than what you originally agreed to pay for? Because to complete the analogy, the new engine would have to have better acceleration and superior durability than what you thought you were going to get, even if you never once paid for any additional performance unlocks.
      - SturgeonsLaw 9y ago
        But is that really what it is, or is it a case of not getting all of the engine that you did pay for?
        ssheth 9y ago
        They are delivering a superior battery with more capacity and performance than what you actually ordered. The only difference is that they figure to make up the difference when eventually the car is sold back to tesla and then they can "activate" the extra part of the battery of the owner didn't already pay for the extra upgrade somewhere along the way and then resell the car for much more than what they paid since the car is now a couple models better.
sk5t 9y ago
To what specifically do you refer?
- netsharc 9y ago
  I read it on German news, and found the original quote, in a what looks like an internal interview of Lutz Meschke, Vice President of the Executive Board and Member of the Executive Board, Finance and IT. From their own website: https://newsroom.porsche.com/en/company/porsche-digitalization-autonomous-driving-functions-on-demand-connectivity-innodrive-technology-interview-lutz-meschke-14586.html https://newsroom.porsche.com/en/company/porsche-digitalizati... > Which solutions are relevant for a brand like Porsche? > We will increasingly offer functions “on demand”. That means that the costumer can buy new functions at any time if needed – including long after buying the car and, where applicable, only temporarily. Be it as a one-off for a fee, as a flat rate or as a subscription. > Which functions do you offer on demand? > For example, it would be possible to combine modules from the area of autonomous driving individually. Imagine that you could use a software update to download a few more PS over-the-air at short notice if you want to head to the racetrack on the weekend – or dynamic headlights if you are headed for a long night drive.

acdha 9y ago

I could buy something for ongoing software and security support but this is steep for something designed to reduce the amount of work they have to do in that regard.

jeffwilcox 9y ago

BMW already has a major precedent here... after 3 years of owning one today, you pay: $100/year for real-time advanced traffic in the nav system $100/year for BMW Connected (send addresses and info to your car, unlock, locate etc. from your phone) Sadly this feels like the latest attempt to increase subscription service revenue to help justify those network access fees and monetize in the serviceworld. :/

huhtenberg 9y ago
This has a clear purpose though - it exists to push people to change to a new BMW every 3 years. This is an open secret and salespeople like bringing it up.

merb 9y ago

well you know... german car manufcaturers are just ignorant and greedy. they also use big subsidizes for "EV"s/car batteries which they never really delivered. the german governement is so deeply involved with the manufcaturers that nothing really would change anything. they basically have their marionettes to do whatever they want. I mean just look at VW. no high level executive got any charges up until now. the latest news were around november 2017 were the "searched" for stuff, but I doubt that they will ever put anybody to jail in germany. i mean changes are high that inside the "diesel-gate", some local german governement was directly involved. I mean "Niedersachsen" (the county) actually helds at least 20% of the Volkswagen AG. so they probably knew that something is fishy. I mean it was already pretty fishy that cars would've been emission checked with only software instead of the working old methods.