BMW Quietly Launches In-Car Subscriptions in U.S.

BMW owners can now pay a monthly fee to use some features of their cars. The development, long expected and dreaded by car shoppers, happened quietly and without formal notice.

For now, owners can also buy most of those same features permanently at an up-front cost.

The Second Automaker To Try This in America

The move comes less than two months after Mercedes launched a horsepower subscription for owners of some of its electric cars. In early November, the company announced that owners of its EQE sedan, EQE SUV, EQS sedan, and EQS SUV could unlock additional horsepower for their cars for an annual payment of $1,200.

BMW itself began charging a monthly fee for heated seats in some countries last summer but didn’t bring the idea to the U.S.

A Long Time Coming

Automakers have spent several years signaling that the future of car shopping will be very different than shopping today.

Traditionally, shoppers select the features they want on their car at the time of purchase. They then pay a fixed price for the car or take on a loan with monthly payments that don’t fluctuate, to drive it home. Automakers often bundle features into packages – if you want the heated seats, you have to pay for a premium audio system and leather steering wheel, too — to make building cars in bulk easier.

But most of today’s cars are always connected to the internet. That gives automakers some control over cars long after they’ve left the factory.

Many plan to use that fact to create a new revenue stream.

In the future, automakers could build every feature into every car that leaves the factory, dispensing with the idea of options entirely. That simplifies their supply chains and production processes, saving them money.

They could then switch many features on and off remotely, allowing owners to subscribe to them. The idea wouldn’t work for non-electronic features like leather seating. But it could work for heated seats, sets of audio speakers, and even horsepower and suspension tuning, all of which are increasingly software-controlled.

The End of Ownership

For drivers, there are arguably a few benefits to the idea. Owners could adjust their monthly payments to reflect their financial circumstances. They could turn off features when they’re not necessary. And owning a luxury car could be more in reach for some people if their existing car could grow more luxurious with a few taps in a phone app.

But it could also end the idea of ever paying off your car.

Early surveys show that buyers don’t consider that a worthwhile trade. In a recent Cox Automotive survey, only a quarter of car shoppers said they would pay subscription fees.

Cox Automotive is the parent company of Kelley Blue Book.

BMW’s Move Discovered by Accident

BMW didn’t make a formal announcement of its new program. Car and Driver found out about it by mistake.

Automakers loan cars to journalists for testing. Most maintain fleets of “press cars” that pass from journalist to journalist throughout the year – when Kelley Blue Book editors reserve a car to test it and review it, we might get it just after Motor Trend and before Road & Track, for instance.

A Car and Driver editor was paging through touchscreen menus in a 2023 BMW X1 press car when they came across a group of menus asking them whether to activate several subscriptions.

When they asked BMW about what they’d found, the company wouldn’t explain what features would require a monthly fee. It said only, “Upgrade availability depends on factors such as model year, equipment level, and software version, so this keeps things more digestible for consumers.”

Company Releasing Some Information

BMW has been a little more forthcoming since. The company sent Motor Authority a breakdown of some pricing.

It shows only one feature – a service that alerts drivers to speed cameras – that is subscription-only ($25 a year – and we’d note here that the Waze app does the same for free). The others, like remote engine start and a parking assist feature – can be purchased permanently or rented.

Some Lawmakers Want This Outlawed

Is this the inevitable future of car ownership? Possibly not. Last year, two New Jersey lawmakers proposed a bill that would ban subscriptions for car features in their state. The bill, proposed in September, has gained additional sponsors but not yet reached a vote in the state legislature.

We’ve seen no similar moves in other states yet, but will keep you updated if the idea catches on.