BMW finally makes Apple CarPlay free

Apple CarPlay in BMW vehicles is finally going to be free. Hallelujah! Autocar reported that BMW was eliminating the subscription charge for folks in the U.K. earlier today, but we just heard confirmation from BMW that the change applies to U.S. BMW owners, as well.

A BMW spokesperson told us that they “can confirm that this change does also apply to the U.S. market.” When we asked why the sudden change of heart, the same spokesperson sent us this statement: “BMW is always looking to satisfy our customers’ needs and this policy change is intended to provide BMW owners with a better ownership experience.”

To that we say, took ya long enough. BMW was the only manufacturer to make folks pay to use Apple CarPlay on a recurring basis. A 12-month subscription was billed at $80 for BMW owners. A 240-month subscription was $300. Now, those charges are going away. The decision to make folks pay for a subscription service that comes free of charge in every other CarPlay-equipped car has always felt like an affront to luxury. This was only amplified by the usability issues that wireless BMW Apple CarPlay products have given us in the past. Making Apple CarPlay wireless was a great idea, but the implementation proved to be problematic.

There are still a few questions to be answered when it comes to free Apple CarPlay in BMWs. The timing for when folks will be able to stop paying is unclear. And then there are the poor folks who shelled out hundreds of dollars to use the software for months on end. We’re guessing some refunds are in order, and we have questions out to BMW to clarify how the company will go about this switchover. Once we have answers, we’ll update this story with more information.

For now, it’s all great news for BMW owners with iPhones. Android users are still out of luck, as Android Auto functionality wasn’t part of today’s announcement.