New BMWs Come With Actual Microtransactions For Standard Features

There are cool cars, like the recently announced DeLorean EV, and there are cars like BMW's latest microtransaction-powered range which I’m going to go out on a limb and say will prove to be slightly more controversial.

In all my years on this earth, I've yet to encounter someone who’s a fan of microtransactions but bafflingly, they must exist because microtransaction-heavy game Diablo Immortal is raking in the dollars. In just two weeks, Diablo Immortal earnt a whopping $24 million via in-game transactions and whilst we’ve got used to hearing about such features in the gaming world, let me introduce you to the realm of in-car transactions.

Check out this guy's incredible real-life recreation of the DeLorean car below.

BMW is locking a number of basic car features behind a paywall, and I can’t believe that that’s a sentence I’m writing. BMWs are luxury cars that will set you back a pretty penny so naturally, you’d assume that they’d come complete with bells and whistles but you’re going to have to subscribe to several paid services if you want a fully-functioning car.

A new initiative has been rolled out by BMW in South Korea which means that customers now have to pay for heated seats. The subscription costs $18 (£15) a month, or you can make a one-off payment of $415 (£352). It’s not the first microtransaction BMW have come up with. Previously, they charged US customers $80 (£68) for the ability to link their Apple phone to their car’s display and audio system which in today’s world, you’d assume would be a given feature in most cars.

As pointed out by PC Gamer, the BMW UK store lists a number of Connected Drive features. UK customers can pay £15 a month for front seat heating and £10 a month for steering wheel heating and if you’re too lazy to switch your high beams on and off, there’s a subscription for that too. Grab yourself a high beam assistant for £10 a month.

The thing is, BMWs have these features pre-built in. They’re simply not activated until the subscription is made so I’m not sure how this is going to go down with consumers. Time will tell.