People complain about this, and with good reason, but some features I do see this as a somewhat good idea. Take carplay, maps and infotainment.... On bmw cars, maps are updated every 3-6 months, but you need to pay... Even my 9 year old 5 series can get map updates... The infotainment system does not get updates, cause it's not paid updates... In the newer cars with paid updates, there is more of a chance of getting updates for stuff like newer carplay, newer android auto and newer Spotify stuff... Yes, there may be a cost, but at least it's updated... It also means that you buy an older vehicle that was a bogo standard comply car, you can get extras after the fact...

maybe all their cars can ship with 12 actual cylinders. base model gets to use 4. pay for more cylinders. pay for turbo. pay for higher turbo pressure. pay for hybrid regenerative braking.