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Tuesday, February 17, 2026
BMW patents logo-shaped screw to block DIY repairs
Boing Boing: In the latest blow to right to repair, BMW has patented a screw which incorporates the automaker's iconic logo design into the head. The screw head design patent filing was spotted by Autoblog
I think it is interesting how the patent can either be a cool aesthetic touch, or a target objective to make it more difficult to repair their own equipment. I think that the idea of having unique touches on your vehicle like this screw with a logo is potentially interesting, if a little bit cheezy. That being said, this looks a lot more like a way to keep people from actually using these screws for what screws are supposed to do, screw. I think that anything that a company does to make their equipment intentionally harder to service is probably not a good thing. That being said, I do think that it is a more nuanced conversation about whether serviceability is a good thing. There is a lot of safety-critical equipment in the world that you really only want qualified technicians to service. While there may be situations like that, I think the majority of companies fighting right-to-repair is for their own profit, not for the good of the customers.
Imagine going as far as forcing a patent just because you hate people being able to repair their own car that much. It's almost ridiculous at this point how much companies are starting to get away with purposefully making their products either more difficult to repair or degrade faster so you have to buy a new one. The saying "They used to make them better" isn't a lie. There's a real trend in BMW cars, and even other products such as the iPhone that shows that they are lasting less and less time. Why could that be? Because it's engineered that way to force you to either get an upgrade, or to goto get the phone repaired at... Apple. BMW can't do this as easily because cars are much more centered around being serviceable. But the problem still exists. It seems BMW has found a solution. Just make all the parts solely manufactured by BMW then they have to goto BMW to get their car fixed. It's really scary how much we are letting companies get away with this predatory behavior.
For as neat of a gimmick these bolts seem to be, I think it is actually quite predatory behavior by the company. While I don’t completely oppose the use of custom hardware for elevating a design or product, I do think the fact that they use a completely unique and patented design is an active attack on people's ability to repair their own belongings. I think this is reflective of a larger societal and economic issue that has been emerging over the past few decades of planned obsolescence. This idea that in order to continue to grow profits, having products that require replacement will always financially out perform one time purchase items. However this model doesn’t work as well for extremely expensive items such as cars. Therefore, in order to keep customers spending money, they make it so that customers are required to go to the company and pay for the service even if it could be done by themselves. I believe this is what is happening here.
3 comments:
I think it is interesting how the patent can either be a cool aesthetic touch, or a target objective to make it more difficult to repair their own equipment. I think that the idea of having unique touches on your vehicle like this screw with a logo is potentially interesting, if a little bit cheezy. That being said, this looks a lot more like a way to keep people from actually using these screws for what screws are supposed to do, screw. I think that anything that a company does to make their equipment intentionally harder to service is probably not a good thing. That being said, I do think that it is a more nuanced conversation about whether serviceability is a good thing. There is a lot of safety-critical equipment in the world that you really only want qualified technicians to service. While there may be situations like that, I think the majority of companies fighting right-to-repair is for their own profit, not for the good of the customers.
Imagine going as far as forcing a patent just because you hate people being able to repair their own car that much. It's almost ridiculous at this point how much companies are starting to get away with purposefully making their products either more difficult to repair or degrade faster so you have to buy a new one. The saying "They used to make them better" isn't a lie. There's a real trend in BMW cars, and even other products such as the iPhone that shows that they are lasting less and less time. Why could that be? Because it's engineered that way to force you to either get an upgrade, or to goto get the phone repaired at... Apple. BMW can't do this as easily because cars are much more centered around being serviceable. But the problem still exists. It seems BMW has found a solution. Just make all the parts solely manufactured by BMW then they have to goto BMW to get their car fixed. It's really scary how much we are letting companies get away with this predatory behavior.
For as neat of a gimmick these bolts seem to be, I think it is actually quite predatory behavior by the company. While I don’t completely oppose the use of custom hardware for elevating a design or product, I do think the fact that they use a completely unique and patented design is an active attack on people's ability to repair their own belongings. I think this is reflective of a larger societal and economic issue that has been emerging over the past few decades of planned obsolescence. This idea that in order to continue to grow profits, having products that require replacement will always financially out perform one time purchase items. However this model doesn’t work as well for extremely expensive items such as cars. Therefore, in order to keep customers spending money, they make it so that customers are required to go to the company and pay for the service even if it could be done by themselves. I believe this is what is happening here.
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