As you’re well aware, BMW charges extra for Apple CarPlay smartphone mirroring as part of a package. The corporate greed goes beyond this option, as in $80 more for a yearly subscription.
A lifetime subscription is also available for $300, which goes to show that someone at BMW isn’t in touch with the times. Blaming the higher-ups or bean counters will do no good, but nevertheless, have you ever wondered how Toyota and other automakers offer Apple CarPlay in the cost of the vehicle? Let that sink in for a minute…
Adding insult to injury, Engadget came with the sauce for this whole upheaval. “BMW says that this pricing model allows it to keep the initial cost price of the vehicle down,” which is a bonkers statement by all accounts given the price point of a BMW.
Over in the United States, the cheapest Bavarian model available for the 2019 model year is the X1 sDrive28i at $34,950 excluding destination. Moving over to Germany, make that 28,200 euros for the 118i hatchback with front-wheel drive, a big disappointing successor to the rear-wheel-drive F20 and F21 three-door hatchback.
A smarter move from the Munich-based automaker would’ve been to incorporate those $300 into the overall price of vehicles equipped with iDrive 7, and thus, no one would’ve raised an eyebrow. But no, these guys had to push a subscription onto the user even though Apple doesn’t charge a penny to use this app.
BMW is probably the best-known automaker without Android Auto support. Even Porsche decided to adopt Google’s mirroring system after years of resistance, following a wave of customer and prospective customer complaints.
The biggest reason BMW doesn’t want to integrate Android Auto into its vehicles is A2A, also known as Apps for Auto. A part of the ConnectedDrive platform, BMW is more excited about doing things in-house rather than letting customers enjoy Google’s services from behind the steering wheel.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?
Google News