It's very par-for-the-course for BMW, they have been nickel and diming for years.

BMW did the same when they charged $80/year for Apple CarPlay for their 2019 models. They stopped shortly after.

As a long time BMW buyer, the brand lost me when they floated this plan. The writing was on the wall: they see themselves as a lifestyle, not a car brand, and we'll see more desperate attempts to make consumers a subscription instead of a purchaser. Everyone wants to be Apple, which gets a feedline of subscription revenue from phone purchasers.

Note the odd logo change around this time as well (2020 or so), another sign of their attempts to "reinvent" themselves as a services company. https://bimmertips.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/BMW_logo_o... (via https://bimmertips.com/bmw-logo-history-origin/) in one picture, and BMW's take at https://www.bmw.com/en/automotive-life/bmw-logo-meaning-hist....

I miss the days when BMW just made really fun cars that I was willing to overpay for, helping my dealer and the factory stay profitable.

They had stopped this before 2019.

> That convenience wasn't lost on BMW, which for the 2019 model year turned CarPlay from a $300 stand-alone option into a subscription through its ConnectedDrive suite of app services, at $80 per year or $300 for 20 years.

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a30139034/bmw-apple-carpla...

So, since the 2019 model year was available in 2018, they stopped it in 2018.

I have a 2019 model bought in 2018 and it has absolutely no ongoing fees to use CarPlay, which I do daily.

It's the thin end of the wedge. Want to use the stereo, unlock remotely, etc etc?

The question is will customers stand for it. I know as a used car buyer I won't the subscription so that means the car doesn't have heated seats and is valued that way compared to a different car that does have it. In turn that means BMW is risking lower resale value, and resale is a factor in new car price.