BMW Is Betting on In-Car Microtransactions

In-Car Microtransactions are purchases you can make for your car that allow you access to specific features and options you’ll enjoy during your drive.

As more vehicles transition into a digital world, some automakers, including BMW, see the benefits of offering these in-car purchases. Those who play video games are familiar with in-app purchases to unlock various items during a game this is basically the same thing, but for your car. As a luxury automaker, it’s not entirely surprising that BMW will require customers to purchase various items to have access to desired technology. This could allow drivers to enjoy an individual package of items during every drive.

This is the Next Step in the Over-the-Air World

Updates to current vehicle features that are sent over the air are still fairly new. That said, auto brands that offer this technology have found incredible success with it, allowing drivers to update their safety, infotainment, or other computerized systems in a car without heading to the dealership. This makes the experience of a modern vehicle much more enjoyable for the driver and allows them to spend time driving and not waiting at the dealership while their computer system is improved.

Which BMW Model Will Receive Benefits?

The BMW models that will have the benefits of in-car microtransactions are those with the newest Operating System 7 software. This system allows the company to offer various functions in the vehicles, including access to heated seats, driver assistance features, and infotainment upgrades. This does lead to a few questions, specifically the safety systems, which should probably be offered as included features, but that’s something BMW and regulators can determine later. With this new process, drivers could buy a basic BMW package without some of the tech items and only add what they want later on.

Will it be Worth the Cost for Subscription Features?

If you guessed that this new process of adding features to a BMW would work like a subscription service, you’d be right. This means if you want heated seats or a heated steering wheel, you’ll pay for them every month. While that might not sound like a great deal for you, if BMW offers flexibility with these subscriptions, it could be. Do you need heated seats every month of the year? If not, maybe the brand will offer a way to turn them off and not pay for them for the months when you won’t use these seats.

A Used BMW Might Give New Owners Flexibility

To make new in-car microtransactions work, BMW will need to build all of the features into every car. Even if the original owner doesn’t use some of the features, they’ll still be there. That could be a huge benefit to future owners of pre-owned models. If the original owner didn’t want to use a wireless charging pad, the new owner might. That means shoppers looking for a pre-owned BMW will not be stuck with only what the first owner added to the car.

Initially, this Will Cost More for BMW, Maybe

For BMW to add all of the features and hardware necessary to make the subscription items function, they must build these items into their cars. This could benefit the brand because of less differentiation for each vehicle, which might streamline the process and create a more affordable overall production system. The added cost could come in with the items in the vehicle, but each BMW made has the opportunity to be a fully-packed model with the electronics included. This could be one of the most interesting ways for cars to be built that we’ve ever seen.

Will These Tech Items be Affordable?

If you look at the history of BMW with subscription services, don’t expect these new in-car microtransactions to be affordable at first. The fact that BMW is a luxury brand should benefit from this process, but it also means a car might become much more expensive than it should be initially. An example we can review is the cost of Apple CarPlay. While some cars offer this feature as an included item, BMW used to charge $300 for it and then added it as an $80 per year option.

BMW is Simply Taking a Page Out of the Tesla Playbook

Tesla has been offering subscription services for in-car purchases for many years. Drivers that want to use the Autopilot feature or add the premium connectivity package have had to pay for it with their Tesla vehicle. This can be a difficult process at first, but eventually, it catches on. BMW needs to avoid some of the challenges Tesla has faced and offer features that won’t be disabled simply because the car is sold as a used model later on. If BMW can make this work, other automakers will likely follow suit.

Many Other Automakers Hit the Over-the-Air Process

Transitioning to in-car microtransactions is the natural process that takes us from over-the-air updates to selecting the software and features we want to use in our vehicles. Both Ford and GM have been working with some of these features for a little while and already offer over-the-air updates. This does bring about one important question that won’t be answered until we see vehicles with these new systems.

Will New Cars with Disabled Subscription Features be More Affordable?

If a new owner must subscribe to some of the features offered in their vehicle through subscription services, shouldn’t the car initially be more affordable? It seems that this would make a lot of sense. The automakers are making money off the purchase of the vehicle and have an additional stream of income through the subscription services that drivers can use. It doesn’t seem right that prices of new vehicles continue to rise if consumers can’t access all of the features without subscribing to them. Think about the fact that you might have to subscribe to the heated function of your seats or steering wheel in the future. Does this make sense?

How do you feel about the new BMW in-car microtransactions? Does it make sense to you, or is it another way for automakers to demand more money?