Technology

Ah ha, my clever plan has been poor and not being able to afford to buy a brand new BMW, has paid off.

"Your" dashboard?

I'm sure this will help beat the Chinese automakers

When my wife bought a new Mazda, the dealer made her sign a form that said the remote start app would only be free for one year. He told her it was just boiler plate; the remote start app would be free forever. I knew when she bought the vehicle the remote start app would be a monthly charge starting in precisely one year. lol!

BMW is framing this as a "one-time movie partnership"

What kind of people do you think are eating that up?

"Guys, it's just this one-time ad, we had no intention of ever doing this again! Just forget about it for a year or so!"

That's only in the US, I suppose?

I don't think they'd get away with it in another market with a functioning society.

One reason this type of promotion may be becoming more common is that connected cars give automakers a direct path to the driver's screen.

Once a person purchases a vehicle it should be theirs, not shared access with Automakers and their partners.

"we are a premium brand"

my ass.

For people who had forgotten the seat heating subscription

Nothing says luxury car like trashy ads on your dash

I've never exactly been in the market for a bmw anyhow, but this is a great way to guarantee I will never want one.

Anytime a corporation or a politicians says they aren't going to do something, it means they're thinking about that subject, and they are definitely going to do it.

We make far more decisions to NOT do something, and if someone doesn't want to do something, they just don't do it, they don't tell everybody. We don't talk about the things we aren't going to do, we talk about things we ARE going to do.

Years ago, I was in a national managers conference call meeting, and HQ started it by saying "If there are rumors of lay-offs in your office, shut them down. There are no plans for lay-offs at this time." I don't remember what the rest of the meeting was about, but we all walked saying "Lay-offs are coming."

Sure enough, within two months, I was out of a job, along with a bunch of others. Within a year, several branch offices were closed. We weren't worried about it at all, until they brought it up in the meeting.

If they're bringing it up, they're softening us up for it, even if they're saying No.

We're heading straight towards a cyberpunk future.

And not even a shiny, pretty, exciting one, ours is still half boring for some reason. I can't even pin down what's missing. It still feels like ours has wood paneling or something, but even that would be too '70s, which would still be a little cool. Maybe ours is too '90s? Our cyberpunk somehow still feels too analogue and not enough.

I'm willing to bet that these cars do not get software updates wirelessly though. You gotta take your car into the stealership for those. But ads? Instant wireless transmission.

On supported vehicles, starting the car brings up a banner on the Control Display, and tapping it launches a full-screen Spider-Man animation with music and ambient lighting effects. BMW says the feature is available on suitably equipped cars built after July 2020 and running BMW Operating System 7, 8, 8.5, 9, or X.

Ah, I see. It's a feature! I'm surprised they're not trying to charge a subscription fee to get ads on your dashboard.

That's a suspiciously specific promise to make.

Was looking for a new electric car and had BMW in the rotation. That’s not happening now. Was already on shaky ground after the heated seat thing and now I’m not touching em.

In case you are considering purchasing a BMW here are the models mentioned in the article:

BMW says the feature is available on suitably equipped cars built after July 2020 and running BMW Operating System 7, 8, 8.5, 9, or X

This sounds like something that should be illegal.

the seat heater sub kept me away from buying a new one anyway

Curious, what IS the best new car brand for privacy? Especially in the EV sector?