BMW to offer over-the-air heated seats
New software upgrades will allow owners to add heated seats or adaptive cruise control without visiting a dealer after they've taken deliveryBMW has announced that new over-the-air upgrades for its vehicles fitted with next-gen software will allow buyers to upgrade their cars even after they've taken delivery -- without the need to visit the dealer.
According to the German car-maker, soon owners of its latest BMWs will be able to add features like high-beam assist, heated seats, heated steering wheel, semi-autonomous cruise control and even adaptive M Suspension via BMW's own ConnectedDrive app store.
BMW released a video to explain how it will work; just minutes after the over-the-air add-on has been uploaded to your car, the feature goes live and can be used by the driver.
Interestingly, it's thought that as well as a one-off fee, BMW might allow you access to an option on a subscription basis, allowing owners to add heated steering wheel for a few weeks when temperatures drop, for example.
Better still, BMW will allow some features to be downloaded for free as part of 'test drives' for up to a month.
The biggest beneficiaries of the new subscription business model are expected to be those who lease their car. Not having to add the options when ordering the car will lower monthly payments, making vehicles more affordable.
The only fly in the ointment for the new over-the-air options is what happens when the first owner sells their car.
The big worry is that the second or third owner will then have to re-order the options they thought they were buying with their used car.
BMW has yet to confirm what will happen in those cases but is keen to point out the over-the-air upgrades will see all its models get better the older they get.
Set to roll out its iDrive 7.0 next month, BMW says the new free to upgrade operating system will add faster navigation, an on-board personal assistant, wireless Android Auto and better design and functionality.
In the future it's thought software updates could boost the range of BMW's pure-electric vehicles, while BMW M could release specific chassis tunes for individual circuits for track-day fans.
It's thought one of the first options BMW will offer over the air will be Apple's Digital Key, as part of the updates due in July.
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