Yikes, BMW

[Nick M3]

Originally Posted by SCA

More info via BMW Blog: BMW Releases a Statement About Functions on Demand Option Subscriptions https://www.bmwblog.com/2022/07/14/b...subscriptions/

BMW Blog: No subscription for BMWs ordered with heated seats from factory https://www.bmwblog.com/2022/07/15/n...-heated-seats/

I kind of wonder if some of this is about CPO future proofing.

[wdc330i]

Originally Posted by Terri Kennedy

I haven't found anything I'd prefer for most uses. I got the itch for "something a lot more fun and a lot less practical" scratched when I had my Atom for 5+ years.

And with more and more stuff moving into software, it would likely be impossible to add all the stuff I did to the wagon in a new car, even if things like having 2600+ full CDs worth of music onboard is a lot less unique now than it was nearly 20 years ago.

Here's a blast from the past:

How many miles now, Terri?

[wdc330i]

Originally Posted by Nick M3

I kind of wonder if some of this is about CPO future proofing.

Now that the cars have more functional computers with OTA updates, there’s a lot of potential for new features to sell owners—and potential for obsolescence as we move through the years. So, brave new world.

[Jeff_DML]

Originally Posted by wdc330i

How many miles now, Terri?

Good question

[Terri Kennedy]

Originally Posted by wdc330i

How many miles now, Terri?

140K-ish. It has been some pretty wild places. I drove it up to the top of a mountain to photograph it in the same spot as a bunch of car manufacturer publicity shots. I got an email from an automaker's PR person about that. They said "But we always use a helicopter to get the car there".

I wanted to drive it on the lowest (-282 feet, Death Valley) and highest (14,260 feet, Mount Evans) roads in the country. I managed to do the first in the wagon, but I did both in my Atom. I put 34K on my Atom in the 5 years I drove it, mostly driving all the way across the country many times.



I'll probably be taking the wagon cross-country again, out in October and back in November.

As someone who remembers when cars rusted out a few months after the 3-year warranty ran out*, the reliability of modern cars is amazing. Even with all the cost-cutting that manufacturers do (like the "expected" cooling service on the wagon when it started leaking around 110K, which involved replacing everything between the engine block and the grille) the underlying car has been quite solid. BMW has had their ups and downs - I know someone who had a Nikasil engine failure that soured him on the brand. But the E46, IMHO, may have been one of the pinnacles of BMW.

I hope that all these subscription and cloud-based services last for as lon as the physical cars do. Past events leve me doubtful - Hive is dropping support for a number of products in 2025, even models still sold as new today, and all they'll be good for is e-waste. Insteon's smart home products stopped working when the company shut down unexpectedly. Google regularly pulls Darth Vader-ish "I Am Altering the Deal, Pray I Don’t Alter It Any Further." stuff.

* My first car (that I actually registered and drove instead of just wrenching on) was a '65 Impala station wagon (do you sense a pattern here? ) that was given to me in 1974 for free in exchange for getting it off of the tree growing through its rear bumper and towed off the former owner's property. It was parked 4 years after new when it developed a good case of rust and the engine failed. I pulled out the 327 and put in a 427 out of a later 'vette. Just in time for the tail end of the 73-74 energy crisis. I ran it on paint thinner for a while because it was way cheaper per gallon than gas. It worked fine except for the occasional fireballs coming out of the carburetor .

[robg]

Originally Posted by wdc330i

Now that the cars have more functional computers with OTA updates, there’s a lot of potential for new features to sell owners—and potential for obsolescence as we move through the years. So, brave new world.

Could go either way. One positive thing I’ve seen with Teslas is that it’s still possible to update a nearly 10 year old model S with the latest software. And for around 1500 you can upgrade the infotainment computer to the latest hardware. And a whole cottage industry has sprouted up to come up with aftermarket solutions that Tesla never bothered to address. So I dunno - it’s possible that todays cars will be on the road longer than ever. Modifying your car will require different tools and skills than in the past but people always find a way. What seems complex today will be something a 10 year old can tinker with in a decade.


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[wdc330i]

A good walkthrough of the 3 series LCI, with iDrive 8 and the new shift lever:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8rY3lI...GlA5ACAQ%3D%3D

[wdc330i]

And here's the Alpina B3 LLCI...

https://g20.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1946648