BMW Is Now Selling Heated Seat Subscriptions For AUD$29 A Month

BMW is streaming towards an automotive world of microtransactions after announcing they will be selling subscriptions for heated seats. 

Netflix, Spotify, Amazon Prime, and now heated seats - all incredibly reasonable subscription services. 

For a cool AUD$29 (US$18) a month, you can have your bottoms premium heated in the front seats of your luxury car. 

If you can handle the heat and want a warmed backside all year round and beyond, you can extend your subscription service for a year ($289, US$180), three years ($19, US$300), or subscribe for ‘unlimited access’ ($589, US$415).

According to 7News, the features won’t be available on the current range of BMW Australia vehicles, however, there is a wide array of new iterations and models arriving this year.

There will be updates to the 3 Series and X7 and new models for the 7 Series and X1 as well as their i7 and iX1 electric vehicle counterparts. 

BMW has been slowly incorporating microtransaction type subscriptions since 2020, with options to include a High Beam Assistant, a heated steering wheel, and the BMW Drive Recorder. 

All can be activated and subscribed to, provided your vehicle has the hardware. 

So in saying that, it does give the customer the option to just have heated hands through the winter rather than an additional heated backside. 

However, with these vehicles already having the software and hardware implemented inside the vehicle, you have to assume BMW is just attempting to milk their customers for as much money as possible. 

Perhaps having heated seats will become the next indicator of high-rolling status.

You know that one friend that doesn’t have Spotify Premium, and how you tend to question your friendship with that person?

Well, owning a BMW and not having heated seats may become that next equivalent. 

It’s just the next example of microtransactions seeping their way into our day-to-day lives. 

One Twitter user equated the move to a real-life example, saying: “Imagine buying a house, with a fully working stove in the kitchen, but you have to pay a monthly fee that does nothing but unlocks the stove software. If not, you're stuck with a technically working but non-functional stove in your kitchen.”

I mean, you do pay for an electricity bill every quarter.

While another user threw out a concerning question, asking: “So, what else can they disable in your car remotely?”

Whereas some people seemed to be okay with the move.

One person tweeted: “Some people may actually like this because if you only need them during the winter, you can end up saving money versus buying the ‘unlimited’ version if you don't plan on having the car for more than a couple of years.”

Either way, expect microtransactions and subscription services to become more commonplace in the next few years.