Welcome to the world of “digital personalization”, in which BMW expects owners to add or remove options to their vehicles through software updates. This could include technological features, such as adaptive cruise control or lane assist, or comfort elements such as a heated steering wheel.
Owners can purchase these options for fixed periods almost as if they were apps. In an example that BMW provided, an owner could pay for heated seats for three years, the period of time the owner expected to have the vehicle. The next owner could decide whether to pay for the seat heaters to work.
Features to be included among BMW’s new digital personalization offerings will vary from market to market. For example, heated seats would surely not be included as part of the plan in the U.S., where they are expected to be the norm in any luxury car, a BMW spokesperson said. Other features not normally expected, such as a heated steering wheel or some advanced driver assistance technologies, can be sold as options that can be turned on or off.
All of these features require built-in hardware that will already be in the factory cars. – such as sensors and cameras for lane maintenance assistance or heating coils for heated seats and steering wheels – but owners can purchase the software to make it work. Appropriate software changes can be downloaded at any time “over the air” without the owner having to visit a dealer to do so.
This would also allow owners to try out a feature for a period of time at no charge before committing to purchase it. This is similar to the way satellite radio is often offered. Free on new cars for a few months, then owners can decide if they should get a continuous subscription. BMW’s “digital customization” will allow a large number of car options to be offered in the same way.
BMW is currently testing this type of “digital personalization” in the United States with “BMW Driver Recorder,” a system that uses cameras built into the car as a dash camera. In the event of an accident, this system will keep a video recording of what happened outside in the 20 seconds prior to the accident. This can be useful in proving who was at fault.
Around 500 BMW owners are testing the feature in the US for a month, and if they want to keep it, they have the option of paying $ 39 a year, $ 99 for three years, or $ 149 to keep it permanently. Other features will be offered with similarly priced models.
The ability to do so will come in a new version of BMW’s in-car software that will begin rolling out this month, the company said. All features will not be enabled in all markets, said a spokesman for BMW North America.
In some markets, BMW owners may also pay for “authentic” BMW engine sounds that will come out of the car stereo. In many BMW cars today, the engine sound increases inside the cabin with prerecorded sounds from the stereo. These are tuned to match engine speed and performance to sound like real sounds coming directly from the engine. This is done so that the cabin can be quiet during normal driving, but occupants can still experience engine sound when they want, BMW executives said.
Adaptive suspension, which can automatically adjust the suspension stiffness according to the road surface and the aggressiveness with which the car is driven, is another feature that could be offered later via the “digital personalization” system, according to BMW .
The software update also includes a number of other new features, such as improved cloud-based navigation, better voice command systems, and Apple’s recently announced iPhone digital key.
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