Quote:
Originally Posted by FactorX81
I don't understand how bolting a $1500 piece of hardware and then making the car cost 1500 more is saving bmw money. I am sure they spread the cost of sw development and testing over the cars they sell however it is surely not a simple thing to do. I do embedded real time systems for a living including sensor processing etc. and I know it always costs way more to do something than people think. I just don't think the complexity of a system which must be calibrated to an individual chasis(tonnes of data collection/ simulation/ and testing) involving many variables is cheap or trivial. I mean why try when bolting up an lsd does exaclty the same thing and can be stamped out quite easily. My guess is safety, before the days of traction control, stability control, and these eLSD hi-po rwd cars were alot easier to wreck. These cars even with traction control off spin like tops with moderate throttle input on a wet road.
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Hardware is a fixed cost, you need to find a source for the part, you still obviously need to do R&D, and of course failure testing.
The research you mention is a non issue since either solution requires R&D.
This means that the difference between the two is the fixed cost, the hardware. One has $0, the other say...$800 per car.
Why did BMW remove the rubber mat in the door pockets in 2009?
What is that worth? 10c?
Why did BMW no longer pre-wire the cars 2009-onwards for all electrical features like they did previously?
What is that worth? maybe...$30 in wires
Why did BMW remove the power outlet from the tray in front of the shifter in 2009 on most 1-series models?
What is that worth? $5?
Why did BMW stop installing the little metal hooks in the front of the trunk on some 1-series models?
the list goes on...
Bottom line, cost is everything, be it 10c or $800.