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Originally Posted by ///ajd
Interesting. Is this 3 yr deal transferrable for a 2nd owner, or just for those that have bought new?
I would be surpised if BMW didn't offer this to owners who had had teh 6 months free already, and the car was less than say 18 months old.
I can see this will be a push from the marketing people to get owners really used to it to the extent that they can start charging from 2010 - they must hope it'll become so widespread & popular that you won't want to be without it.
Does the "online" function let you surf from the car? If so what, the whole web or just some "bmw prep'd" material, like a sort of old school AOL? £300 a year is too much, but I'd pay say £60 a year for the convenience. I wonder how BMW funds the GSM usage - this won't be free to them, or will it?
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I expect it is transferable, considering BMW Germany are now 'pushing' the system across Europe for free. Check with BMW Assist to be sure.
BMW Online is supposed to allow in-car access to email & BMW-provided sources for weather, travel etc. However, some members are saying they've been told it has been stopped.
I can't see why that is the case, considering the entire BMW ConnectedDrive package (Assist AND Online) is now free & that WHOLE package has been very heavily advertised at the Frankfurt Motor Show.
BMW will have a deal with their European GSM provider(s) (Vodafone?) providing them with a heavily discounted tariff across the continent. I'm sure the deal went something like '...we'll give you a little something for the next 3 years, then you get a nice cut of the subscription we'll be charging our huge customer base after 2010, fair deal?'
As SerJames says, Google must be picking up some of the tab for sending Google Map locations to Assist customers.
I expect they too are in on the post-2010 BMW Assist deal with the GSM network provider and must be in for a cut of all subscriptions from then on.
Viv