BMW has vowed to continue its controversial subscription model, but has no plans to introduce paid performance and electric vehicle (EV) driving range upgrades.
The German manufacturer first introduced subscription features including heated front seats, a heated steering wheel, and BMW Drive Recorder through its ConnectedDrive store back in 2022.
The move drew backlash from owners forced to pay extra for features already fitted to their cars, and ultimately saw BMW drop seat heating from its subscription offering in 2023.
However, BMW’s online store has since expanded to include several advanced driver assistance (ADAS) features, lighting animations, and even adaptive suspension, which became available last year for models equipped with the necessary hardware at a cost of $29 per month.
Speaking to Australian media including CarExpert at the launch of the new iX3 electric SUV, BMW head of product communications Alexandra Landers defended the subscription system but admitted to mistakes in its initial rollout.
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“We still believe in the option of a structure where you don’t have to decide from the start if you want a certain ADAS system,” said Ms Landers.
“The criticism we got was from seat heating. This was probably not the best way to start with it.”
While BMW does offer certain convenience features on a subscription basis, Ms Landers explained that the platform will predominantly be used for driver assists and safety technology going forward.
Examples of this include traffic camera information, automated parking, automatic high-beam, and real-time traffic information, which are all currently available through the ConnectedDrive store.
Parking Assistant Professional costs $29 per month, while real-time traffic information will set you back $115 per year. High-beam Assistant is available for a one-time fee of $259.
Ms Landers argues that such features incur ongoing running costs that BMW is unwilling to cover out of its own pocket.
So, while new BMW models will be fitted with the sensors and cameras necessary to enable certain systems, the features won’t be usable unless owners are willing to pay for them.
“It’s not everything on board, but it’s technologies on board,” said Ms Landers.
“For the additional ADAS systems, we also have costs for running. We have Cloud usage, and that’s a cost.
“So if you use it, you have to pay for it.”
BMW has committed to building out its store to include more post-purchase vehicle upgrades, but performance and range boosts aren’t among the planned additions, at least in the case of the Neue Klasse iX3.
“We are not a tuner… that didn’t make sense for us,” explained Ms Landers.
“We discussed that very intensively, but so far for base cars… you buy a car with maximum power.
“We said we want to have 800 kilometres [of range], because this is the use case: you drive two and a half, maybe three hours on the Autobahn, and then you have to stop for a bio break. That’s why we said no upgrade on this.”
BMW isn’t the only automaker to operate a subscription model in Australia.
Tesla recently made its Full Self-Driving (Supervised) semi-autonomous driving system available to eligible Model Y and Model 3 owners for a fee of $149 per month, while Mercedes-Benz and Toyota also charge for pre-fitted convenience and driver assist features.
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