The world of microtransactions has made its way to the car industry, as the BMW ConnectedDrive service shows.
BMW has offered a number of connected features in its cars using an SD card since as far back as 2006, but the service has evolved over the years and now offers a large range of extra features that can simply be activated on the car by buying them online.
This was most recently brought to light by motoring journalist Jake Groves,who noted on Twitterthis week that when he tried to activate the high beam assist on his BMW 530e, he was faced by a video game-esque message prompt telling him that he would have to purchase the feature from BMW’sConnectedDrive store.
For reference, this is the original pop up message I got on the system - couldn’t snap it last night as I was mid-drive. BMW store says it’s £160 for “unlimited” use…pic.twitter.com/zLbkuktEwV
The High Beam Assistant feature, which automatically switches the car between low beam and high beam at night to avoid dazzling other drivers, costs £160 ($220)on the UK storefor unlimited use (it isn’t currently listed on the North American store).
Other features available on the store include:
Reaction to Groves’ tweet from those who weren’t aware of these services has been mixed.
Some suggest it’s a good idea to be able to add optional extras later in the car’s life instead of having to choose them at the point of sale.
Others say it’s greedy of BMW to have these features already pre-installed on the car and lock them behind a paywall, especially the High Beam Assistant which could make driving safer.
Naturally, others have just used it as an opportunity to make jokes:
https://twitter.com/i_forg0t/status/1375201327635107840
Watch this ad to earn 50 gems!High Beam Assist: 90,000 gems
“Connecting to the Brake Pedal Update Server…““Connection lost… Retrying…”
BMW added many of these new features in late 2019, but they’re only starting to come to light now as they roll out to more new models and the motoring press reports on them. Some recent Skoda models also feature similar microtransactions, according to users.
“We want our customers to enjoy all products, digital and other services together as a seamless experience,” said Jens Thiemer, senior vice president of customer and brand at BMW, in a statement.
“They are already connected today via all the BMW Group’s digital channels – from the web, through the BMW ConnectedDrive Store or via smartphone.
“Our goal is to ensure the customer no longer has to adapt to the specifics of their vehicle, but for the vehicle to be geared instead towards their personal and individual requirements.”
