BMW does a Ryanair
Backlash over budget airline-style extra fees to use heated seats
BMW has been accused of behaving like a budget airline by charging car owners to use certain features.
Drivers must pay a monthly subscription if they want seats and steering wheels heated.
The hardware that delivers these functions turns them on via a remote upload once the extra payment is made – £10 a month for a heated steering wheel and £15 a month for heated front seats.
Alternatively, the company says, customers buying its new models can enable the features for a oneoff payment – such as £200 for heated steering wheel.
The move has been condemned by drivers on social media. They say the German car giant appears to be copying the methods of many budget airlines, such as Ryanair and EasyJet, where headline prices are bumped up with fees for everything from baggage to food and the right to sit with family members.
Critics on Twitter said BMW had ‘lost its essential spirit’ and was being ‘cash grabby’, ‘insane’ and even ‘dystopian’.
One complained: ‘Subscriptions for software is one thing. No one is going to subscribe for heated seats or whatever, if I own the car I own everything in it.’ Another said: ‘ This is the most annoying thing I have ever heard.
‘If you buy a car with heated seats, you shouldn’t have to pay a subscription fee to use them.’
A third said: ‘How utterly ridiculous. Pay to have hardware installed, then pay monthly to have the software block removed that stops you operating it!’
The features are available via BMW’s ConnectedDrive online store and are activated remotely with no need to visit a dealer.
A number can be bought permanently for a one off fee or trialled for a month before being purchased on subscription.
They include adaptive cruise control that automatically maintains a preset speed, keeps a certain distance from the vehicle ahead and can steer the car in its lane. This is available for £750 on a permanent basis, £350 for one year or £35 a month.
A dashcam drive recorder costs a one-off £199, adaptive suspension is £399 and a feature that creates the engine noise inside the car is £99.
In a statement, BMW said the ability to add new features to their car can be helpful for owners who change their mind after purchase.
It claimed it is particularly useful for owners who buy their car second-hand ‘as they now have the opportunity to add features the original owner did not choose’.
Subscriptions also enable drivers to ‘experiment with a feature by purchasing a short-term trial before committing to a purchase’.
BMW’s move is part of a wider industry trend, with a range of manufacturers offering subscriptions or imposing charges to switch on features or improve performance via software downloads.
Tesla offers various upgrades. A system called Premium Connectivity costs £9.99 a month and includes a sentry mode camera for security, video streaming, an internet browser, music streaming and even a karaoke function.
‘Most annoying thing I’ve heard’