Jul 13, 2022
BMW introduces new heated seat subscription in UK
A monthly heated steering wheel subscription costs £10.Subscriptions have been available for features on BMW cars for some time in the UK, but the heated seat offer started this month. The manufacturer told the BBC that "Where heated seats, or any feature available in the ConnectedDrive store have been purchased when a customer vehicle is ordered, no subsequent subscription or payment is necessary". The news has sparked online debate, with news site The Verge saying: "In the case of heated seats, for example, BMW owners already have all the necessary components, but BMW has simply placed a software block on their functionality that buyers then have to pay to remove." There were negative comments on social media too, with one Twitter user writing: "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." Kurt Opsahl, general counsel of digital civil liberties campaign group the Electronic Frontier Foundation, tweeted: "A seat heater blocked by software is broken, and the car owner should have the right to repair their seats."
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