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No.
absolutely not.
you already paid for the hardware. it already has the firmware installed. All that they're doing is flipping a software switch that tells the system to let the firmware/hardware be functional.
it being a one-time payment isn't the problem. The problem is that you already paid for the heated seats or whatever else. I shouldn't have to pay to have features that are already in the car.
Manufacturer are going SDV, whether we like it out not. Software defined vehicle. They're a computing platform on wheels.
Like a computer or a smartphone, buying the hardware does not grant you access to all software ever made for that plateform.
Hopefully one day we'll see some computing hardware standardization across brands and openness for third party apps and subscriptions.
The current status of being at the mercy of a single vendor is terrible. Given standardized and similar computing hardware and APIs, I'd like to try Mercedes or Cadillac or Tesla's FSD one month each and see which one I prefer and can afford.
Heated seats, for example, are not “software”.
It’s some form of heating element. You flip a switch and it runs electricity through some fairly resistive wires (iirc it’s carbon fiber; maybe NiChrome)
The most firmware you see is some kind of thermal monitoring to keep from getting too hot. It’s not a complicated system.
All this is, is a whole bunch of claptrap to sell you fully functional car, but charge you to unlock that functionality. You wouldn’t buy a house and then buy keys to use every room in the house.
You can call it what you want. I call it extortion. It should be illegal, and it’s certainly scummy.
Technically they haven't paid for the feature yet, it just so happens that it's cheaper to manufacture without having a second line of non-heated seats which makes me think "why not just include heated seats (and enabled) as standard?"
Edit: Why am I being downvoted? I'm only pointing out that if BMW wanted to have a heated/non-heated seat options it costs more to set up and operate a separate manufacturing line to support both options. That's just a fact of running production lines.
Furthermore I'm questioning their business logic here with going with the subscription model because, as shown in the thread here, it only generates negative press, so why even bother with the subscription model and just have heated seats as standard. No subscription model for hardware BS needed, it makes the brand look more luxurious, and it'd be a great selling point in the dealerships to say "all these bad bois come with heated seats as standard".
They can just adjust the baseline cost to include the heated seats if they need to preserve that margin.
In factual reality, you own every bit of hardware the thing comes with and every capability of it. Anybody who tells you otherwise is a goddamn liar and a thief!
End. Of.
Edit: I downvoted you because of the "technically they haven’t paid for the feature yet" part, not the "it’s cheaper to manufacture without having a second line" part. Make no mistake: everyone who buys the vehicle pays for the feature. Some are getting swindled into paying for it twice.
It’s not that it’s cheaper.
It’s that they’re getting away with extortion and make more money that way.