It seems that some BMW owners in Malaysia will still have to pay for Apple CarPlay on their cars in the form of a one-off RM1,299 activation fee, following which there will be no charge for any further subscription fees.
This then is the updated story from BMW Malaysia, which had originally informed us on December 5 that there would no longer be any need to pay subscription fees for models equipped with Apple CarPlay in the local market, following a query over reports indicating that the automaker had pulled the plug on the subscription fees for Apple CarPlay in global markets such as the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom.
What was not communicated at that point was that a one-time payment is still needed to enable CarPlay on a BMW vehicle capable of running the standard, if the vehicle isn’t already enabled with Apple CarPlay.
At this juncture, all locally-assembled models are not, nor will they be in the future. As such, those with CKD models wanting CarPlay access will need to pay for the Preparation, which is available from the local BMW ConnectedDrive Customer Portal and on-board ConnectedDrive store for RM1,299. Current CBU models come with Apple CarPlay enabled, meaning that there is no need for owners to pay anything for CarPlay access, and this will continue moving forward.
What has been completely eliminated is the four-tier subscription, which was announced at the point of Apple CarPlay Preparation’s introduction in Malaysia back in July. Pricing started with a trial option for RM5, renewable for up to three months and meant for those wanting to try out the feature before committing. A 12-month plan was priced at RM513, while a 36-month/three-year plan went for RM799 and unlimited access, for RM1,899.
These have all been dropped as part of the axing of the subscription fee. Essentially, the updated scenario now shapes up to be a discounted rate for unlimited access on vehicles needing Apple CarPlay Preparation to be performed – instead of paying RM1,899, users only pay RM1,299.
The automaker initially said that it had nothing to gain from the decision to impose a subscription fee, and that the move was actually a global directive from Apple, later explaining that the subscription was due to wireless connectivity adding complexity and incurring extra cost in integration.
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BMW Malaysia still want to milk off their customers eh? Bet it’s gonna be the same when Android Auto comes along in 2020.
Well. BMW owners are a gullible lot indeed….
Clever people in Malaysia don’t buy BMW because once a company starts charging subscription for their safety features, this means the company gila duit only.
Better to just buy Mercedes. At least they don’t charge subscription for their safety features.
Malu Malu Malu. Typical GLC Sime Darby mentality. Just want easy money with less work done
How about CKDs that are already enabled with Apple CarPlay? Still need one time subscription?
So can I assume the Apple Car Play is a RM1299 optional equipment?
“What was not communicated at that point was that a one-time payment is still needed to enable CarPlay on a BMW vehicle capable of running the standard, if the vehicle isn’t already enabled with Apple CarPlay. At this juncture, all locally-assembled models – even moving into the future – are not, and as such will need that one-off Apple CarPlay Preparation, which as listed through the local BMW ConnectedDrive Customer Portal and on-board ConnectedDrive store is priced RM1,299. “ – hoo boyy you need stronger copy editors. Your run-on sentences are confusing even for Alanis Morissette.
Just ditch this car!
Sales agent can just deduct from their commission and give it to their customer for free lah
i give you free gift, i give you petrol card, then i give you my comm, you think i am running charity ka? please dont step in my showroom or i would personally run you over with my test drive car. please dont reproduce.
It shows BMW very calculative. If I were them, I would not change the policy. Now a half baked change will result in backlash from consumers as it has come to attention of many. It does leave a sour taste to many of the loyal BMW owners. If one is paying premium prices, it is expected that some of these nice of have stuff come along with the car to justify the premium pricing. Even many mid range cars already came with this CarPlay stuff.
Car DLC
Any shop that can do BMW coding can do this right? If yes, the price might be much cheaper.
In this article, it said all CKDs model need to pay one time for Apple Carplay preparation. How about for G20 330 CKD? It already has the latest iDrive system 7 with Apple Carplay enabled.. what else to “Prepare”?