135i 1 Series M Sport - Only 6,050 Miles - On Mso - Never Titled on 2040-cars

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Car subscription services: A slow, expensive start — but the potential is huge

Americans are used to paying for subscriptions — to magazines and cable television, for instance — but experience shows they'll cancel when the price of admission gets too high, or there are more tempting alternatives. Cord cutters ditched nearly 1.5 million pay-TV subscriptions in 2017, according to a survey by Leichtman Research Group. Cable TV started out cheap with basic offerings, and then got expensive. The auto industry's subscription offerings are new, but they're starting out costly, and not price-competitive with traditional leasing. The upside is that they take the hassle out of car ownership for busy people by letting the service take care of maintenance, insurance, licensing and taxes. And they give consumers choice, often allowing relatively painless switches between different cars in the automakers' lineup. Subscription services also point the way toward an ownership-free auto experience, and offer an easy transition to a potential world where ride- and car-sharing will be dominant. Subscriptions are here to stay, but consumers may take a while to "get" them. Lincoln's subscription service for lightly used 2015 to 2017 models, offered through the Ford-owned Canvas beginning this year, got off to a slow start. Many early subscribers canceled. Last month, Cadillac announced it would " temporarily pause" its $1,800-per-month Book subscription service for "adjustments" as of December 1. According to the Wall Street Journal, "Snags with the back-end technology used to support the service made some customer-service functions tedious and time-consuming, adding costs for the company." The challenge for automakers is to come up with a strategy that offers consumers a compelling, affordable option to regular ownership, and one that can also make a profit. I think they'll find that sweet spot, but they're not there yet. Jack Nerad, former executive editorial director at Kelley Blue Book and author of " The Complete Idiot's Guide to Buying or Leasing a Car," points out that "A lot of people expected that subscriptions would be very valuable for people who wanted inexpensive transportation, but the reality is quite the opposite. Subscriptions are offering more choices for the wealthy.

Are future vehicular hacks inevitable?

Before the hack of the Uconnect system in a Jeep Cherokee resulted in a 1.4-million vehicle recall, the potential software vulnerabilities in vehicles were already a hot topic with Congressional inquiries and even proposed legislation in the US. As cars' interconnected systems gain the ability to go online, they become open to a host of new threats. Automakers are trying to stop this, but it might be too late to put the genie back into the bottle. Throughout 2015, the issue of software security in vehicles has become increasingly vital. For example, the recent Jeep case wasn't even the biggest hack this year. In February, a major flaw was discovered in the BMW Connected Drive service that allowed researchers to remotely lock and unlock the doors and potentially affected 2.2 million cars. The fix was an over-the-air patch for the problem. Automakers are actively working to fix the issues. Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Audi reportedly are using encrypted connections and firewalls in their vehicles to prevent hacking. "Absolute, 100-percent safety isn't possible," Daimler spokesperson Benjamin Oberkersch said to Automotive News Europe. "But we develop our systems, tested by internal and external experts, so they're up to date." These vulnerabilities seem to be popping up more often. A successful hack took $14 in parts from Radio Shack in one case. There was also a 60 Minutes report earlier in the year about DARPA's ability to hack into OnStar to take control of a Chevrolet Impala. Experts aren't so sure companies can contend with hackers' advancement. "The difficulty for the carmakers at the moment is the question whether they can keep pace with advances in technology, and especially hacking technology," Rainer Scholz, executive director for telematics consultant EY, said to Automotive News Europe. "We seriously doubt they can." At this point, vehicle hacks are coming more from researchers looking for holes than from those with malicious intent. Still, the vulnerabilities are definitely there. It's up to automakers to keep patching the problems before they become dangerous to drivers. Related Video: News Source: Automotive News Europe - sub. req.Image Credit: Bill O'Leary / The Washington Post via Getty Images Audi BMW Jeep Mercedes-Benz Safety Technology Emerging Technologies hacking cyber security

Upgraded BMW 230i and M240i get more power, new badges

A few months ago, we got our hands on a report that claimed that BMW would ditch the 28i and 35i monikers for both the 2 and 3 Series. BMW already dropped the 335i designation in favor of the 340i badge, but the 328i is still hanging around. In the 2017 2 Series, the old badges are out. Meet the new 2017 230i and M240i, in both coupe and convertible flavors. If you're already confused about all the badge changes, here's the important part: the 2.0-liter inline-four and the 3.0-liter inline-six, both turbocharged, get more power than the engines in their 2016 counterparts. The 230i will get 248 horsepower and 258 lb-ft of torque, and be smoother than before. Those are increases of eight hp and three lb-ft of torque over the 2016 model. The M240i replaces the M235i. There's more power here, too: 335 hp and 369 lb-ft of torque, available from 1,520 rpm to 4,500 rpm. Those are increases of 15 hp and 39 lb-ft of torque, by the way. All-wheel-drive models are eight-speed automatic-only; a six-speed manual is a no-cost option on the 230i, and available on the M240i. These models will launch later this summer, and pricing will be available closer to that time. We reached out to a BMW spokesperson for a better understanding of what hardware and software changes are responsible for the increased output, but this information isn't yet available. Related Video: BMW Convertible Coupe Luxury Performance 2 series bmw m240i bmw 230i