That’s like paying a subscription to BMW for the seat warmers in your car because they provide value to you.
It's not at all like that. I pay a one-time fee to BMW to get a seat warmer feature, they're not constantly improving or updating them in my car. They're in my car and they're on or off. If they break and I value them, I pay to have them fixed.
MDN is updated often and I it makes my job easier. It makes constantly evolving spec much more digestible. I'd sorely miss it if it were gone tomorrow. It's a service, not a one-off feature.
No, the idea was to have all the cars equipped with seat warmers, but the software in the car would only allow you to turn them on if you paid a subscription: https://www.businessinsider.com/bmw-subscription-model-for-f...
I haven't heard anything about it since, so I assume BMW eventually realized just how retarded the idea was.