BMW's Apple CarPlay annual fee is next-level gouging

[still_one]

"A pricey up-front fee to enable a service freely available elsewhere is a bit hard to swallow in the real world. However, in the heady, premium-package-rich realm of German luxury cars, such price gouging is the norm. Prefer dark silver to light silver? That'll be $1,500 extra. Alcantara inserts instead of leather? $750 at least. USB ports you can actually do something with? Better call your accountant.
If there's a positive to this system, and I'm admittedly stretching here, it's that you can get a car configured exactly to your needs, a car uniquely constructed to your exact specification. I imagine that's a very nice feeling indeed, though I confess I've never had the wherewithal to enjoy such a luxury myself.  
While GM and other manufacturers happily include Apple's CarPlay service for free even on their most attainable models, BMW and plenty of others have levied upgrade fees to enable CarPlay, or bundled the service inside pricey packages of widgets you may or may not want. That, sadly, is par for this margin-rich golf course, but when we learned this week that BMW would change from a single, up-front fee to an annual fee, in my mind that changed everything."

https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/bmw-carplay-fee-highway-robbery/

[RockaFowler]

1. I love my Apple CarPlay

But, I wouldn't pay extra for it. It's included in my car - Hyundai Elantra. What a shame that BMW doesn't have the same customer service as other car companies do!!

[Atman]

2. Our car salesman actually advised against Hyundais Bluelink service.

We have a Sonata with the Ultimate Tech package. He said Apple Car Play does everything BlueLink does, and you don’t have to pay extra for it. We kept the base package, but sure enough there is no need for BlueLink when you can just send maps and stuff to the screen with Siri. Car Play rocks!

[dixiegrrrrl]

3. What is Apple Car Play?

Our newest car is a 2004. I'm just thrilled to have a working heater now.

[ProfessorGAC]

4. Same Question As Dixie

I don't know either Dixie. My car is a 2010, my wife's in 2005 and my old car for winter is a 1998. I have no idea what Car Play is.

[dixiegrrrrl]

6. Found a very good explanation

Scroll down for gif illustration.

Essentially a tablet interface, so you can have hands-free calls, it also sends and receives texts, gets directions, cues up music and more.

https://www.tomsguide.com/us/apple-carplay-faq,news-18450.html

Wonder how hackable it is....

[crazycatlady]

7. I just replaced a 1999 with a 2010 and I feel brand new

I'm just glad this has an aux cord hookup as opposed to playing music through the tape deck.

[Le Gaucher]

5. The luxury car segment is ripe for disruption

They offer little more than branding and overrated driving pleasure ( which means diddly squat when you take into account the congested roads that are riddled with potholes)

People happily fork over 60 grand or more when you can get every single feature in terms of safety in a less sexy brand like Subaru or Honda.

[still_one]

8. I think they are counting on people who have the means to buy these luxury cars not caring to pay a

Last edited Fri Jan 19, 2018, 03:52 PM - Edit history (1)

little extra for a feature that should be included..

Going to be interesting if BMW reverses this decision, and if other car manufacturers add this as an add-on like satellite radio

[dixiegrrrrl]

9. Hope the trend does not trickle down to less expensive cars.

OTOH, having to pay for "packages" just to get 1 feature you want is a long time ripoff.

[still_one]

10. I don't think it will because of the competition out there