[RahulNagaraj]

BMW has included its adaptive M suspension feature under its subscription plans.

The BMW M adaptive suspension will be offered free of cost for the 1st month - like a trial period. Post the 1st month, customers wanting to continue using the feature on their BMWs will have to pay an additional subscription fee. Customers can either choose to pay 25 euros every month, 210 euros per year or 625 euros for 3 years. There is also an 'Unlimited' option - basically, a lifetime availability for 460 euros.



Subscribing to the feature allows owners to change the firmness of the car's suspension at the touch of a button. The subscription also includes an additional 'Sport' setting for electronically controlled dampers.

The adaptive M suspension though, is just one of many other features available for BMW owners via the subscription model. Some of these include parking assistant professional, driving assistant plus, welcome light effects, high beam assistant, remote service and many others.

Source: Reddit

Link to Team-BHP news

[Guna]

In case of car manufacturers incorporating hardware/capabilities in to cars, which can be availed/activated only through premium services, who would absorb the cost of these hardware?

• Unsuspecting car owners who may have paid extra for the feature they may not use?
• Manufacturers who are fine with reduced margin, with the hope that the cost of the hardware can be eventually recovered when owners opt for the premium services?

[vap2151]

IMHO this is ridiculous, what's next a subscription for power steering, parking sensors, climate control, adaptive lights etc etc. what are the highers ups doing these days.

[Turbojc]

Originally Posted by RahulNagaraj

BMW has included its adaptive M suspension feature under its subscription plans.

This is a classic case of “Just because you can, it doesn’t mean you should.” The suspension is a critical component of a vehicle, and companies shouldn’t toy around by paywalling mechanicals that could compromise vehicle dynamics.

Not only will some customers be paying for hardware they won’t use, they also will have to lug around all that extra weight. Also, if the suspension fails, they would end up having to pay more for complex components they won’t have use for in the first place! What next, a convertible roof that’ll only open and close if you pay a monthly ‘wind in the hair’ fee ?

Honestly, what is up with BMW nowadays? First they mess up the design, shift focus away from sheer driving pleasure towards comfort, and now this?

(Apologies for the rant - I’ve been harbouring these thoughts for way too long )

[TankJr]

This is dangerous territory where a manufacturer decides what components you can use in the product that you rightfully bought and own.

The fact that a third party can virtually disable something in my car is ridiculous and I hope that enough consumers call out their BS.

[chanz2015]

I dreaded this from the day I read about Tesla's subscription plans.*

This has been a few years in the making.

All new cars advertise ADAS features; buying the top model is not enough to enjoy them. The customer has to pay a yearly subscription. Subscriptions were limited to infotainment systems and software until now. It trickles down to mechanical features.

Soon there will be a base model with all features that are mandated by law, and to unlock every other feature, customers will need to pay a subscription.

This happened in the software industry some time ago. Remember the good old days when you bought MS Office or Adobe CD/DVD, and that was it? You could use the s/w for however long you wanted. Now everything is subscription* based. This model keeps generating revenue for the company. The automobile industry is now starting to replicate this model.*

Now each customer will generate revenue for the company even years after he or she buys the car.

[Sk8r]

Originally Posted by RahulNagaraj

Customers can either choose to pay 25 euros every month, 210 euros per year or 625 euros for 3 years. There is also an 'Unlimited' option - basically, a lifetime availability for 460 euros.

Why is this piece not making any sense to me ?

- Who in the right state of mind will pick a 3 years package when we can get lifetime availability, cheaper ?

- If it's just "460 Euros", why not just package it as part of the sticker price ? I mean who "can" buy a BMW and bother about an additional 460 euros ? it's probably rounding error for them. God, BMW

[itwasntme]

Don’t know how this works. I buy an aspirational expensive German sedan with a reputation for handling and chassis control, and then need to pay extra to activate hardware (which I’m already lugging around in a passive state), that promises to provide the ‘true’ experience?

They can do this for parking assistant type BS, but something that is core to their ethos? Absolutely not!

[Chetan_Rao]

This is the flip side of 'managed OTA' updates they don't tell you about when advertising new 'smart' features.

OTA giveth. OTA taketh away. No thanks.

[Pontiac]

I think what car manufacturers are trying to do here is giving an opportunity for the consumers to test out a feature before buying it or giving them an opportunity to "change their mind" later. If there is an option to buy the feature for lifetime, I think this makes sense. If it does not give a lifetime option, then this is ridiculous.

[ph03n!x]

Matter of time before someone find a way to root/ jailbreaks this, creates a easy to implement solution, and sells it for 1/10th the price.

[vijaysrk]

Great to see carmakers also hopping on to the SAAS bandwagon, except in this case its "Suspension as a Service"!��

On a serious note though, since this is a subscription service, I assume any repair costs required for the adaptive suspension in future would be borne by the company, and not be passed on to the customer?

If not, this sounds like the perfect criteria for a class-action lawsuit!

[NomadSK]

As expected, when cars gets designed by software engineers, rather than automobile engineers. No offence to anyone. Seems California is the new Detroit.

[GTO]

Worse still, BMW's "unlimited" subscriptions are usually locked in to the owner of the car. When you sell your car, the 2nd owner doesn't automatically inherit the subscription! He has to pay for it again

[turbowhistle]

Originally Posted by Sk8r

Why is this piece not making any sense to me ?

- Who in the right state of mind will pick a 3 years package when we can get lifetime availability, cheaper ?

- If it's just "460 Euros", why not just package it as part of the sticker price ? I mean who "can" buy a BMW and bother about an additional 460 euros ? it's probably rounding error for them. God, BMW

This has always been a thing with BMW subscriptions, the "outright" way is always cheaper than the subscriptions over the time. Still a stupid thing to do with the suspension as the M adaptive suspension is already an expensive option to configure.

Originally Posted by itwasntme

Don’t know how this works. I buy an aspirational expensive German sedan with a reputation for handling and chassis control, and then need to pay extra to activate hardware (which I’m already lugging around in a passive state), that promises to provide the ‘true’ experience?

They can do this for parking assistant type BS, but something that is core to their ethos? Absolutely not!

Just wait till we get reversible unlocks by some business and it should be available for cheap, I'm pretty sure it can be jail broken as of now but it will 100% void the warranty for new gen cars. I will give 1-2 years to the Russians/Eastern Europeans. They are pros when it comes to the software. BMW did the same dirty trick with older F models too, my car has the hardware for Apple Carplay but I need to pay a one time fee to activate the feature. BMW is charging 300 euros for it and lots of people on ebay are doing it for 60-100.