Earlier this week, BMW South Africa quietly rolled out several new subscription services that require additional payments for popular features such as heated seats. (Kyle Grillot/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Love it or hate it, connected cars are here to stay. Buying a new vehicle today means downloading a companion app, regularly updating software, and contending with sometimes finicky controls.
Taking advantage of this constant connectivity (again) is BMW, which is no stranger to blowback over random subscription charges. Earlier this week, BMW South Africa quietly rolled out several new subscription services that require additional payments for popular features such as heated seats.
Owners can purchase the features through BMW’s ConnectedDrive Store, and in case you’re wondering how a software update can add physical features to the car, it might anger you to know that the hardware is already there. You just don’t have access to it without paying more.
BMW South Africa charges R250 per month for heated seats, but buyers can opt to pay for a year at R2 400 or three years for R3 800. If you want the feature forever, BMW will sell it to you for R6 600.
There’s more. Want a heated steering wheel? If you don’t want to pay R3 800 for permanent access, get ready to shell out R160 per month, R1 600 per year, or R2 500 for three years. Wireless Apple CarPlay costs R5 400, and the ConnectedDrive store features several other added-cost upgrades.
To activate them, features are pushed through an over-the-air software upgrade on BMW’s ConnectedDrive platform.
This isn’t BMW’s first rodeo with subscription services. In 2019, the carmaker made waves with its decision to stop selling Apple CarPlay – on subscription – in certain markets. While it wasn’t offered at outrageous cost, being asked to pay for a service that others get for free feels like a slap in the face, especially at the prices new BMWs sell for.
The uproar led BMW to reverse course, and it quickly resumed offering the tech for free, refunding anyone unlucky enough to have paid for the service.
It’s likely some budding computing enthusiasts will come up with a homemade “workaround”. But take note that BMW South Africa’s warranty policies do disclaim that fiddling with a car’s electronics voids its warranty coverage, so as the saying goes, “don’t try this at home”.
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