I’ll be honest, i don’t see the big deal there. If you want heated seats, pay for the option and you don’t need to subscribe. In other cars (including our GTE) you have to pay for it up front, in the BMW you get the option to decide after purchase.
It certainly isn’t a great solution, since i think that heated seats should be base spec in all cars, but in general? Not a big deal. It’s also incorrect to argue that the heating “is blocked” by software – it’s simply “not activated”. There’s a difference.
They’re using the same seat in models with and without the heated seats option, so while having heated seats as base spec would’ve been more consumer friendly, this isn’t anti-consumer. You don’t want heated seats, you don’t pay for the option, done. You want heated seats, you spec the option, done. Except that in this case, you can go for that option even after taking delivery of the car, which is good if you changed your mind. The arguments of “well it adds weight to have deactivated heated seats” is besides the point, since there’s no “lighter seat” available in the first place. The seats in both heated and non-heated models weigh the same.
Prior: SEAT Ateca Xcellence Lux 1.5 TSI DSG MY19, VW Golf GTE PHEV DSG MY23
Current: Hyundai Ioniq 6 Ultimate
Next: we'll see what's available in 2028.