Updated: The latest feature to be deleted from the dashboard due to chip shortages is SiriusXM along with HD Radio in certain new BMWs.
Some vehicles (below the 5 Series) have headed to dealers without those services and with a $350 credit off the sticker price, said BMW dealerships.
Update: SiriusXM said BMW has resumed vehicle shipments with SiriusXM (see quote below).
For those cars shipped without SiriusXM and HD Radio, it is uncertain whether BMW will add the features later.
Several dealerships said the affected vehicles include some, but not all, 2 Series, 3 Series, 4 Series, X3 and X4 models.
When asked to confirm the above details, BMW Group said,
“Due to the limited availability of semiconductor components and the current general challenges in the logistics industry, we expect an impact on our production programme and on the availability of individual vehicle equipment of certain models beyond the turn of the year.
Together with our dealer partners, our declared goal remains to offer our customers alternative equipment variants and to deliver the vehicles according to the desired date…”
It appears the removal of SiriusXM and HD Radio is one of the “alternative equipment variants” noted above.
When pressed for specifics, BMW Group said, “Unfortunately we don’t go into details regarding the possible limited availability of individual vehicle equipment.”
Update: A spokesman for SiriusXM said, “As BMW has stated, industry-wide supply issues impacting automotive manufacturing around the world have resulted in temporary limitations on the availability of some options or equipment. The number of affected vehicles equipped with SiriusXM was limited, and BMW has been back to installing SiriusXM as standard equipment for a number of weeks.”
An Xperi (HD Radio) spokeswoman confirmed that while HD Radio remains standard on BMW, “our understanding is that due to the IC shortage, some cars are shipping without some advanced entertainment features.”
SiriusXM had not commented on our inquiry as of press time.
The news follows reports that BMW is removing touchscreen functionality in certain popular models to keep car production up during the widespread chip shortages.
BMW is of course, not alone in removing features due to semiconductor shortages.
In July, General Motors began shipping some 2021 Chevy Silverado and 2021 GMC Sierra models without HD Radio.
Tesla is also shipping vehicles without USB ports.
Mercedes-Benz is reportedly removing some audio systems and Nissan is shipping some vehicles without navigation systems, according to CarandDriver.
