I don't see the appeal of heated seats, I've never turned the ones in my cars on. OK, I suppose when you've left your car in below zero weather it's useful.

Heated steering wheel on the other hand; that's heavenly.

I suppose if I ever find a BMW attractive enough to buy one despite this consumer-hating behavior (their grilles help me stay away), I'd figure out if I can unplug the seat from the control unit, and just plug it straight to a different power supply to get the heat. Or will they use something like HDMI's Digital Content Protection to prevent "heat piracy"?

Anyway it's all theoretical, it seems they've given up trying to pick your pocket for heated seats, but for other features they're still going to mug you: https://www.drive.com.au/news/bmw-admits-heated-seat-subscri...

> when you've left your car in below zero weather it's useful

Yup. Getting back from any snow sport where you wiped out and all the snow decided your butt's where it's going to hang out sells the product.

If you do not have a garage and live in a cold weather climate they are fantastic. Heat up almost instantly when the engine might not warm up entirely to get the heat going for a good 15 min.

They are nice in cold weather to "hold you over" on short drives before the air heating warms the car up.

My Civic remote start with the key fob will automatically turn them on when it's cold.

> Heated steering wheel on the other hand; that's heavenly

Twice I tried it on rental cars it freaked the hell out of me. This is what I'd imagine people experiencing some exotic neurological collapse feel like - part of hands feeling warm, while surrounding bits feeling frozen. Mixed signaling, really bizarre dissonance. So now when I get a new car, I get pretty much every option except for the heated steering wheel.

I have some sorta skin condition that I can not stand either the heated seats and the heated steering wheel.

But my wife ... in winters, the first thing on entering the car is to activate the heatings seats. Some people like them. And yes I paid for the subscription (or a package that cost me a bunch but gave me everything all inclusive).

I see you did not grow up going out to the driveway to start the car before breakfast :)

it's quite useful in a convertible along with the heated steering and the neck warmer taking it roof down on a coldish day

Turn it on on the passenger seat to keep your take out food warm while you drive home.

Also good for those of us with back issues. I use mine even in the summer sometimes for that reason.