Pay to turn on your cars heated seat

M

Matesrates

Well-known member
BMW are introducing this for a subscription of £15 a month. Is this the thin end of the wedge with more extras being charged for, or will it be a flop.
 
Seriously? So they're selling you an over priced bit of engineered redundancy and then asking for more money monthly to turn all it's features on and people happily sign up for this? One born every minute I suppose.

All of my Dad's 1980s Volvos had heated seats, you just pushed a button, they're probably still working as well.
 
Then surely people will buy cars without heated seats or if they come as standard then simply don’t use them and revert to the trusty old hot water bottle on cold mornings.
 
Lytham_fy8 said:
Seriously? So they're selling you an over priced bit of engineered redundancy and then asking for more money monthly to turn all it's features on and people happily sign up for this? One born every minute I suppose.

All of my Dad's 1980s Volvos had heated seats, you just pushed a button, they're probably still working as well.
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They are doing it, if you want to turn on your heated steering wheel it’s another £10 a month.
 
Eternaloptimist said:
Then surely people will buy cars without heated seats or if they come as standard then simply don’t use them and revert to the trusty old hot water bottle on cold mornings.
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But you are buying a car with heated seats, you're just not allowed to use them unless you give BMW a tenner a month.
 
Lytham_fy8 said:
But you are buying a car with heated seats, you're just not allowed to use them unless you give BMW a tenner a month.
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The scary thing is though Lytham, is that companies like this are taking over our lives.
Controlling when we can turn our heated seats on. What next? You fancy a bit of slap and tickle with the missus but can’t recline the seats because you don’t subscribe? ( btw, I’m too old for that malarkey)
It wouldn’t surprise me if they had hidden microphones and cameras to monitor everythIng we do.
George Orwell was spot on all those years ago.
 
Matesrates said:
BMW are introducing this for a subscription of £15 a month. Is this the thin end of the wedge with more extras being charged for, or will it be a flop.
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Get used to things like this. I am hearing that a lot of different everyday facets of life which have traditionally been free are going to start being charged for. Seems the way capitalism goes.
 
Eternaloptimist said:
The scary thing is though Lytham, is that companies like this are taking over our lives.
Controlling when we can turn our heated seats on. What next? You fancy a bit of slap and tickle with the missus but can’t recline the seats because you don’t subscribe? ( btw, I’m too old for that malarkey)
It wouldn’t surprise me if they had hidden microphones and cameras to monitor everythIng we do.
George Orwell was spot on all those years ago.
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Aye, I'll stick with my 90s Honda ta, even if it is a bit juicy.
 
You’ve got a car ! Luxury ! I bet you’ve even got shoes and have never walked for miles barefoot in the snow to look in a dustbin for your dinner ! Ay up you barmpot you’ve never had it so good !
 
I bought a heated seat cover from Amazon for £37 a couple of years ago, looks good in my sexy 10 year old Astra 😀. Still working fine now & helps no end with my dodgy back on the long treks daaarn saaarth.
 
Pasty Muncher said:
I bought a heated seat cover from Amazon for £37 a couple of years ago, looks good in my sexy 10 year old Astra 😀. Still working fine now & helps no end with my dodgy back on the long treks daaarn saaarth.
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Good idea, I guess things like this will be introduced to get round these charges. What next, yo have to pay for your radio? I wonder if other car manufacturers will get on board, or whether they’ll try to get market share by activity promoting all features free.
 
You’d just get an after market one fitted and tell them where to go.

I suspect it’s one of those PR stories thrown out to get a reaction as opposed to policy.
 
BMW are occasionally taking away servicing provision on older electric cars, most big replacement parts have to be electronically matched to the car, so if you want to do repairs yourself or find a non-BMW workshop you need codes to match the part to the car which BMW will not give. A few other electric car companies are taking away right to repair in the same way apple and various other mobile phone manufacturers have. Numerous cases where Tesla de-activate the car when not serviced or repaired by official Tesla service providers. Im sure that one of the electric BMWs doesnt have a functioning bonnet, it can only be opened by BMW service personnel

Unfortunately, the cost of plug in electric cars is still and will be prohibitively expensive for quite some time, probably until they are phased out in about 15 years time, so they need ways to bring the price down for the mass market and look to make profits some other way.

the EU is passing laws on right to repair, which apple and samsung are fighting and have been fighting for a while.

ill add it is very similar to waht the budget airlines - and eventually all airlines have started doing. cheap headline price and then shed loads of extras and then even pricier add-ons at the point of use.
 
Electric cars have less moving parts and need less maintenance. So the associated income from car maintenance for servicing/repairs will be less for the car manufacturers. So they’re looking for ways to ‘maintain ‘ an income stream beyond just the initial sale of the vehicle.
It’s much easier, cheaper, and quicker to make all cars standard. So the facility for heated seats is fitted as standard rather than an optional extra.
 
I believe this is after they have been retro fitted….. but if added when built or as standard, they’re free to use.
Just asked a mate who works for beemer
 
I must be ahead of my time cos I’ve never used my indicators just in case.
 
There's something on my wife's VW that's free ATM then after a few years they want to charge you for, within the infotainment system, I'll have to look again what it is after when it becomes chargeable. I think it's something to do with remote access, wankers, time to get it chipped.
 
Global warming, we may well see heated seats confined to the history books of motoring, on the other hand good old air conditioning is a must have.
 
Matesrates said:
BMW are introducing this for a subscription of £15 a month. Is this the thin end of the wedge with more extras being charged for, or will it be a flop.
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They built solonoid valves into the dampers on some models so you can upgrade to adaptive suspension. Also high beam assist and speed cameras model dependent. Anyone would think they had won the war!
 
Is this to use them, or is it to be able to turn them on remotely though the APP, just a thought where its on about Connect??

I love my electric seats, can have the car a bit cooler to keep the dogs OK, and warm us if its cold. Also, on our silly distance to family runs, turning them on help no end with the aches and pains.
 
The heated seat will keep their arse warm whilst they queue at the food bank.

'We can't afford to feed the kids these days, what with the costs of I phones for us all, Sky TV, BT TV for the sport, takeaways and the other subscriptions, we were already struggling but this cost to BMW, you have to have one of them to make the neighbours think you're minted, has put the cap on it.'

Yes, these people do exist.
 
Who actually uses their 'heated seat'?
I've had a few cars with heated seats, tried them a couple o times but eventually though they were a waste of space.
Also they make you fart. 😄
 
I have to admit I had heated seats on a convertible. In a Madrid winter - bright sunshine but about 4 degrees, made driving with roof down a real pleasure
 
Matesrates said:
BMW are introducing this for a subscription of £15 a month. Is this the thin end of the wedge with more extras being charged for, or will it be a flop.
Click to expand...
I got a 2020 330e from new. Automatic dipped headlights is a piad for function. Even dipped I get flashed like they are on full beam so it's a waste of money imo.
 
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