[P1]

Originally Posted by 10"

So it's $999 with insurance included? It's not horrible if someone drives A LOT (heavy commuting) now that it's unlimited mileage.

Especially when you drive a lot for work and you get to bill your employer at 55 cents a mile...

[jd_perspective]

I mean when I look at the cost, right now I'm in at $450/mo lease. ($0 down) plus $120/insurance. So $570. It's a lease so no real maintenance. Let's factor in $750 for used-tired + installed towards the end, plus the $200 I spend on every lease for tint...

Lease Pmt = $450
Insurance = $120
Maintenance = $750+$250 / 36 = $28mo.
TOTAL = $598.

Lowest tier is $998. So that's a hell of a convenience fee of $400.

My last lease was $559, so that brings the gap down around $300...

I dunno, I think I'd pay maybe $150 for the convenience of having a new car on demand, washed and prepped. Not having to deal with a dealer. Not sure I'd cough up $1k.

Maybe others don't have my lease payment so it's a smaller gap?

[jd_perspective]

I do love that I googled "Access by BMW" and the first thing was an ad for CARE BY VOLVO (their version of this program - but theirs seems to be an annual model, like 1 upgrade a year)

[Germanauto]

Are these subscription services going well for any manufacturer?

[M2Cmtl]

I think it only make sense if you; only need a car part of the year (you can put the program on hold for extented periods of time); have a business; can charge you employer for milleage.

In Canada, Volvo's program has a 2 year commitment and doesn't include insurance...very pointless.

[Ex_Stig]

Are there any restrictions about how the vehicle is used? For example... off road (race track/HPDE) use?

[Stepback3]

Originally Posted by GNALUZU

Are there any restrictions about how the vehicle is used? For example... off road (race track/HPDE) use?

You can't take it to the track. Pretty sure off-roading is also frowned upon.

[Stepback3]

Originally Posted by Germanauto

Are these subscription services going well for any manufacturer?

Not yet. They are moving at the speed of car companies... not tech companies. I think it will ultimately be viable but no one has cracked the code yet.

[Stepback3]

Originally Posted by Matt@EuroJerks

How many people are in the program in Nashville?

Roughly 100 if I had to guess.

[BM dnobagaV]

Since when are the 340i and M3 considered "coupes"?

[Stepback3]

Originally Posted by BM dnobagaV

Since when are the 340i and M3 considered "coupes"?

Wow. Big miss on my part. Thanks.

[Germanauto]

Originally Posted by Stepback3

Not yet. They are moving at the speed of car companies... not tech companies. I think it will ultimately be viable but no one has cracked the code yet.

I just don't know who the market for these services is. How many individuals feel the need to switch between sedans, coupes, SUVs, etc.?

[clee1982]

Originally Posted by Germanauto

I just don't know who the market for these services is. How many individuals feel the need to switch between sedans, coupes, SUVs, etc.?

I think that's highly price dependent question...

[Ex_Stig]

Originally Posted by Germanauto

I just don't know who the market for these services is. How many individuals feel the need to switch between sedans, coupes, SUVs, etc.?

I would love to! Porsche just started their program here in Phoenix and it is very interesting. I'd like it if BMW did it here. Although, I would want an ///M car tier.

[Germanauto]

Originally Posted by GNALUZU

I would love to! Porsche just started their program here in Phoenix and it is very interesting. I'd like it if BMW did it here. Although, I would want an ///M car tier.

I could see it working for Porsche since their vehicles are so exclusive. But they can't be handing out base V6 Cayennes.

[John-M007]

Great article, thank you! it is way to expensive, given the fact the choices are limited and these cats are not fully loaded with options and packages. I live in US, heart of Silicon Valley minutes away from Apple Computer and 20 minutes away from Intel, Yahoo, Google, and Facebook to name a few. No one is going to pay that much for any plan. You can lease a fully loaded M5 Competition for about $1,400 dollars a month and drive the car everyday and everywhere you go. Mercedes, Porsche, and Volvo have the similar plans. There is a lot of money here, but people are smart, do the math, and competitions with other other automakers is very high. BMW has to do better and live up to their slogan, "Ultimate Driving Machine ". They need to be the Ultimate program provider. If thos is thier start in a plot status to see how people respond, well, they have failed.

[CLABRO]

Great write up!

I think the idea is very cool and attractive to car enthusiasts or those who just switch cars often. However, that is not the majority of people and thus their target consumer is a very small population. Furthermore, at this price point, some people in the target consumer base simply won't do it because it's not financially worth it for them (I'm in that category. It looks cool and would be fun to switch from cool car to nice car, etc., but not worth the price.) That dwindles the consumer base even further.

So you're left with a cool and attractive service, but only utilized by a very, very small population of people. I think this is the case with any of these car subscription services that other manufacturers offer. In addition, these services seem to have been rolled out half ass. It's been really sloppy and lacks advertising and information/details. This isn't specific to BMW, but all of the manufacturers offering this- Ford, Volvo, and whoever else. In their defense, they're relatively new I guess. They need to step their game up and start running more efficiently and listening to their customers like you if they want to improve/continue this service.

Lastly, and this could be one of the biggest hurdles; you have to let the consumer adapt to this new way of life (not owning a car and just paying for a car subscription). That doesn't happen overnight so this process is going to continue to be a slow build up of customers. This isn't as simple as talking someone into requesting an Uber via their phone for the first time instead of going outside and waiving down a taxi like they've always done. That's a $10 scenario and thus people adapt more quickly. A car subscription service of $1,000/month on the other hand is much more significant and will require much more education and information from the car manufacturers to consumers before you have droves of people subscribing to these car services.

It sort of reminds me of gesture control that BMW put in. It's a cool and unique experience and everyone who has it will surely try it one or two times, but 98% of people don't ever use gesture control again after that first or second try. The added benefit of gesture control simply isn't worth deviating from the way I've always turned up the radio which can be done with the reach of your arm.

With all that said, I hope BMW continues to press forward with this service and listens to what the OP said. I agree that they need to run like a well oiled machine and have better line ups/options across the platform so people don't feel like they have to keep the car so long. I believe all of these services need to be priced competitively (i.e. ~ $800 instead of $1,000 for the "Icon" or entry level BMW subscription would be much more attractive). It's still a relatively new service so I hope to see improvements and further information being passed along to consumers.

[jd_perspective]

yeah i posted my financials - i think it's very CLOSE. Maybe some put more value on the convenience and luxury of the service than I would. Like I would love to grab an SUV for road trips or Home Depot runs... maybe the convertible for when i drive to south florida to visit family. otherwise it's like just give me the coop on the regular.

I would almost find more value in a cheap "rental" type subscription. So I can drive to my dealer, park my coupe and take the SUV for whatever period of time. (short- not long) but like have a primary car type of thing with options for short term rentals to be free/subscription based.

[Matt@EuroJerks]

Originally Posted by jd_perspective

yeah i posted my financials - i think it's very CLOSE. Maybe some put more value on the convenience and luxury of the service than I would. Like I would love to grab an SUV for road trips or Home Depot runs... maybe the convertible for when i drive to south florida to visit family. otherwise it's like just give me the coop on the regular.

I would almost find more value in a cheap "rental" type subscription. So I can drive to my dealer, park my coupe and take the SUV for whatever period of time. (short- not long) but like have a primary car type of thing with options for short term rentals to be free/subscription based.

I would buy into that. I have a coupe now but in the winter it would be nice to have a suv for hauling my stuff to the ski mountain for two days.

[ano0oj]

Wow, if this becomes available in Houston I will likely jump on this. I drive easily 25-30k miles/year. How much does it cost to be able to get M-Cars?

[clee1982]

well, it's car maker's version of trying to beat ride sharing, hard to make price work out I suppose

[quackbury]

They should roll this out in SW Florida, the snowbirds would eat it up. Right now their choices are drive their DD down from Boston, Toronto or Chicago (what a pain!), pay well over $1,000 month to Hertz or Avis, or buy a separate car to keep at their home / Condo in Naples.

(In theory you could also pick up a lease assumption on Swapalease to get you through the winter, but those tend to be fairly high mileage cars, you need to provide your own insurance, and there's a high probability you'll wind up paying for tires at lease end).