--- title: "BMW Now Selling Drivers Access to Their Cars’ Heating Systems for $18 Per Month" description: "BMW wants you to spend $18 a month to keep your heated seat subscription, yet another ludicrous consumer-hostile choice in the high-end auto space." date: "2022-07-13" modified: "2022-07-13" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/bmw-heating-microtransactions" categories: - "Advanced Transport" tags: - "BMW" - "cars" - "the digest" --- # BMW Now Selling Drivers Access to Their Cars’ Heating Systems for $18 Per Month ![BMW wants you to spend $18 a month to keep your heated seat subscription, yet another ludicrous consumer-hostile choice in the high-end auto space.]() *\Image: BMW/Futurism\* ## Hot Wheels German automaker BMW wants you to spend $18 a month to keep your heated seat subscription, as [spotted by *The Verge*](), in yet another consumer-hostile choice in the high-end auto space. To be clear, customers who can access the feature already physically have seats installed that can keep their butts toasty in the winter. The feature just blocks the functionality via software and asks owners to shell out a subscription to remove the block. For now, the feature is limited to customers in South Korea, and BMW has yet to announce any plans to bring the same concept to a broader market. But even in a limited setting, the gimmick has consumers' hackles up as a matter of principle. "Welcome to microtransaction hell," [tweeted]() investor Joe Pompliano. ## Paywalled BMW is also paywalling other basic features, like heated steering wheels for a whopping $12 a month. Want to keep the recordings from your BMW's cameras? That's another $235. It's not the first time the automaker tried to pull such a stunt. The news comes after BMW tried to [charge its customers $80 a year]() to enable Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a feature considered standard in most other cars, especially at this price range. The stunt failed, however, with the carmaker [reversing the decision]() quickly following widespread outrage. In short, it's microtransactions for cars, an unfortunate future in a world where new cars are [already selling for way higher than MSRP]() due to a persistent global supply chain crisis. [Sky high fuel costs]() only add to the conundrum. Locking basic features, particularly in BMW's price bracket, is not only annoying to consumers, but it could be setting a precedent for even more annoying features to plague drivers in the near the future. **READ MORE:** [BMW starts selling heated seat subscriptions for $18 a month]() \[*The Verge*\] **More on BMW:** *[Meet BMW's Shape-Shifting "Car of the Future"]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()