All the more reason to keep my older cars. I bought the cars, and their features- it’s mine to toast my ass as I please, when I please.
And someone will come up with a hack as they already have to get into the hidden systems via the OBD port and Bimmercode. Luckily my cars are out of warranty so I have no need to take them back to the dealer and have things reset.
Something else I’ll add btw, I’ve been a BMW enthusiast for decades and BMW is in the last few years trying harder to lose and alienate a big segment of their loyal customers than even Rolex with their policies, designs, and customer hostility. I can’t see myself being in a new BMW again since the previous gen M2 left production. Its like they genuinely don’t want the people who used to buy their cars and want to be some weird cross between Audi and Lexus making boring, heavy cars with poor interiors.
Something else I’ll add btw, I’ve been a BMW enthusiast for decades and BMW is in the last few years trying harder to lose and alienate a big segment of their loyal customers than even Rolex with their policies, designs, and customer hostility. I can’t see myself being in a new BMW again since the previous gen M2 left production. Its like they genuinely don’t want the people who used to buy their cars and want to be some weird cross between Audi and Lexus making boring, heavy cars with poor interiors.
Had a 2015 BMW 428iC. Far from a trouble-free ride, but quality of service department was very good. When that lease was up, BMW really tried to stick it me on a new lease. I found that dealing with the sales department so unpleasant that they lost a customer.
On my second Audi, but they do the same thing as BMW. My 2021 A5 has built-in navigation, but they want $80/month for that. At least Audi isn’t charging for Apple Car Play…yet. Siri does a far better job than in-car navigation.
Audi also comes with a chip that gives access to almost all toll roads in US without a separate transponder for each. Not worth $10/month for that as I am not a long-haul trucker.
We better get used to this. The airline and hotel industries have made billions with up-charges. The automakers want what they see as their fair share.
We better get used to it. I don’t see this going away.
gatorcpa
Oh yea Car-Play has to be of the best things Apple’s ever done, especially given how woefully bad every single automaker is at making their own navigation and infotainment systems UI wise. My car is a 2012 so I had to spend about $800 having an aftermarket CarPlay box installed to work with the factory touchscreen which is thankfully very good quality. Having Audible for audiobooks and Apple Music’s great UI and Siri controls at the same time as really good navigation is just awesome, and I think that feature is really key to making any older car feel modern and current.
I think back in the old days, what really set BMW apart for me is they had this driver focused feel with the center console tilted towards you, and were always significantly lighter than their Audi and Mercedes competition with that 50:50 weight balance and direct steering. Now the new M4 CSL is laughably called a “lightweight special” at 1760kg, the lineup has FWD cars, and they’ve gotten so big that a new 4 series dwarfs the E34 5 series. None of those points of difference exist anymore and the stying and interiors are just poor compared to the competition, so I’m not really sure what if anything they’re trying to be these days. Mercedes are still positioning themselves as the higher tier luxury competitor and have the best interiors, Audi are still making turbocharged AWD cars that are heavier but more practical, but BMW is just in no-man’s land.
