BMW heated seat subscription "experiment" FAILED

[AngryMan]

BMW's terrible heated seats subscription didn't even make it to a second winter19 hours ago
I know you're all as disappointed by this as I am . Heartbreaking news . I was eager to be gouged for the "right" to use equipment that was ALREADY installed on my car .
Ford and all other car brands ...PLEASE TAKE NOTE .
The fairy tale assertion that installing all the equipment on all the cars and then letting you pick and choose which accessories you actually wanted to USE would lower car prices never made sense . If you install $1200 worth of equipment the price of the car needs to reflect that . The lack of the items should also be reflected in the lower car price .
Back in the day if you needed a lower price you went with the AM/FM radio option. If you could afford more you went with the CD/Navigation. The difference was usually a couple hundred to a couple thousand dollars . I understand markups and profit margins but parts cost money . Workers installing more parts means more expense because of the added time to install the parts and the wages associated with that time .

Sponsored

 

[Logal727]

BMW's terrible heated seats subscription didn't even make it to a second winter19 hours ago
I know you're all as disappointed by this as I am . Heartbreaking news . I was eager to be gouged for the "right" to use equipment that was ALREADY installed on my car .
Ford and all other car brands ...PLEASE TAKE NOTE .
The fairy tale assertion that installing all the equipment on all the cars and then letting you pick and choose which accessories you actually wanted to USE would lower car prices never made sense . If you install $1200 worth of equipment the price of the car needs to reflect that . The lack of the items should also be reflected in the lower car price .
Back in the day if you needed a lower price you went with the AM/FM radio option. If you could afford more you went with the CD/Navigation. The difference was usually a couple hundred to a couple thousand dollars . I understand markups and profit margins but parts cost money . Workers installing more parts means more expense because of the added time to install the parts and the wages associated with that time .

It's actually cheaper to build things with more common options than like 100 different trims.

 

[KevinS]

This is the difference between BlueCruise subscriptions (let's leave price aside) and things like heated seats... there is absolutely no ongoing R&D associated with making those seats get warm.

A BMW should come standard with heated and cooled seats IMO for the supposed premium experience it is.

 

[AngryMan]

"A BMW should come standard with heated and cooled seats IMO for the supposed premium experience it is."

IMO ALL EVs should have standard heated seats and steering wheels. If a new EV buyer has to use the Eheat and gets horrible range in the winter he/she will not enjoy the vehicle and it will poison their perception of the car and the technology .

 

[Ghost Ryder]

BMW's terrible heated seats subscription didn't even make it to a second winter19 hours ago
I know you're all as disappointed by this as I am . Heartbreaking news . I was eager to be gouged for the "right" to use equipment that was ALREADY installed on my car .
Ford and all other car brands ...PLEASE TAKE NOTE .
The fairy tale assertion that installing all the equipment on all the cars and then letting you pick and choose which accessories you actually wanted to USE would lower car prices never made sense . If you install $1200 worth of equipment the price of the car needs to reflect that . The lack of the items should also be reflected in the lower car price .
Back in the day if you needed a lower price you went with the AM/FM radio option. If you could afford more you went with the CD/Navigation. The difference was usually a couple hundred to a couple thousand dollars . I understand markups and profit margins but parts cost money . Workers installing more parts means more expense because of the added time to install the parts and the wages associated with that time .

It doesn't cost BMW $1200 in material for heated seats. It could be <$50 in material. It probably cost more to not install seats in some cars then to install seats in all cars. Having different lines and options are expensive.
You're assuming that the price will stay the same, but BMW will now give heated seats for "free." In reality, they will just bundle it in other options, or raise the price of all cars and include it in the "standard" equipment.

 

[Ghost Ryder]

This is the difference between BlueCruise subscriptions (let's leave price aside) and things like heated seats... there is absolutely no ongoing R&D associated with making those seats get warm.

A BMW should come standard with heated and cooled seats IMO for the supposed premium experience it is.

The difference with the way ford is implementing blue cruise is that if you don't pay, you lose the function of the equipment that you already paid for.

 

[ctenidae]

The difference with the way ford is implementing blue cruise is that if you don't pay, you lose the function of the equipment that you already paid for.

It's not the equipment that's expensive, it's the R&D and ongoing support- the software. The sensor package isn't much (I'm sure someone here knows exactly what's in it), but the software's a beast.

That's why heated seats subscriptions are stupid. The material costs more than the ($0) support, so pay up front.

 

[AngryMan]

The difference with the way ford is implementing blue cruise is that if you don't pay, you lose the function of the equipment that you already paid for.

I didn't pay for the "prep" package and the cost of the car reflected that as it was cheaper than the cars WITH the package .....proving my point . IF they installed the prep equipment on all cars MY car would've cost $1200 more .

 

[Jimrpa]

BMW's terrible heated seats subscription didn't even make it to a second winter19 hours ago
I know you're all as disappointed by this as I am . Heartbreaking news . I was eager to be gouged for the "right" to use equipment that was ALREADY installed on my car .
Ford and all other car brands ...PLEASE TAKE NOTE .
The fairy tale assertion that installing all the equipment on all the cars and then letting you pick and choose which accessories you actually wanted to USE would lower car prices never made sense . If you install $1200 worth of equipment the price of the car needs to reflect that . The lack of the items should also be reflected in the lower car price .
Back in the day if you needed a lower price you went with the AM/FM radio option. If you could afford more you went with the CD/Navigation. The difference was usually a couple hundred to a couple thousand dollars . I understand markups and profit margins but parts cost money . Workers installing more parts means more expense because of the added time to install the parts and the wages associated with that time .

The BMW “heated seat subscription” was a stupid idea.

I don’t mind paying a subscription for things that are kept current or improve over time. For example, a SiriusXM subscription or a subscription for updates BlueCruise functionality (such as updated road information or additional features).

paying a subscription to use a static function in the car is insane.

 

[AngryMan]

IF they installed extended range batteries in EVERY Mach wouldn't that increase the cost/price of ALL the cars ?

 

[Jimrpa]

"A BMW should come standard with heated and cooled seats IMO for the supposed premium experience it is."

IMO ALL EVs should have standard heated seats and steering wheels. If a new EV buyer has to use the Eheat and gets horrible range in the winter he/she will not enjoy the vehicle and it will poison their perception of the car and the technology .

“Horrible range in the winter”? Do explain. While I have heated seats and a heated steering wheel, I keep my climate control at 72. I have noticed decreased range in the winter, but due to exterior temps, not due to cabin heat.

 

[AngryMan]

Ford needed to lower the costs so what did they do ? The eliminated equipment that was up til that point in time standard . A good example was the charger .

 

[Ghost Ryder]

I didn't pay for the "prep" package and the cost of the car reflected that as it was cheaper than the cars WITH the package .....proving my point . IF they installed the prep equipment on all cars MY car would've cost $1200 more .

It would of cost what Ford decide charge for it. Whether it would of been spread out to all cars or not, that's up to Ford. Rest assure that the "prep" package did not cost Ford $1200. That's just what they decided to charge you.

You can look no further the Porsche, where all features are optional. For instance, they would charge you $1000 to delete the radio. This is an extreme example, but clearly illustrate the point that it cost money to deviate from "standard" trim.

 

[Ghost Ryder]

Ford needed to lower the costs so what did they do ? The eliminated equipment that was up til that point in time standard . A good example was the charger .

Charger is not a good example, because it didn't add to the complexity of adding another station or trim level. In manufacturing, when you have to multiple lines, it may cost more than the actually hardware that's going into the car. That's one reason why Tesla cost is so low, because they don't really have a lot of options. Everything is included. It simply the build process and reduce cost.

Back to the BMW heat seater example. If the seat heater hardware cost BMW $100 (which is likely much less) per vehicle, but it cost BMW $200 to run two different station (one for cars with seat heaters and one without), does it make sense to not install seat heaters on all vehicles?

At the end of the day, they have accountants to do all the cost calculations. And marketers to find out how to extract the maximum profit.

 

[AngryMan]

“Horrible range in the winter”? Do explain. While I have heated seats and a heated steering wheel, I keep my climate control at 72. I have noticed decreased range in the winter, but due to exterior temps, not due to cabin heat.

So you've never noticed the " Climate use" and "accessories" tabs under "Where did my energy go" in the This Trip app ??

Sponsored