Adafruit: From Ultimate Driving Machine to Ultimate Rent-Seeking Machine: The BMW Logo Screw Patent.
If you haven’t already heard, BMW’s R&D teams have been busy “innovating.” Unfortunately, they aren’t focusing on the things that actually matter—like stellar engine performance or the legendary driving dynamics that gearheads love. Instead, the C-suite execs decided that the best use of their engineering budget was to design a proprietary security screw specifically intended to prevent BMW drivers from fixing their own cars.
I don’t see how it could be effective. The brand specific things I mentioned are almost identical and none of them stop people from repairing their car. The BMW design is simpler than the ones I mentioned. A flat screwdriver with a gap cut down the middle would work.
Sure, I agree that it wouldn’t pose an insurmountable barrier for people, but it absolutely does cause friction - someone might have taken a crack at fixing something themselves, seen that it needs some proprietary tool, and decided “meh, fuck it, i’ll take it to the dealer”.
I can’t think of any other motivation than that.
What if it’s a torx instead? People have to buy torx bits to work on their car.