this post was submitted on 15 Feb 2026
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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.

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[–] doingthestuff@lemy.lol 0 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

I like to fix or upgrade people's PCs here and there. I always tell people not to buy HP. There are 100 reasons, but one big one is they won't just use regular fucking screws.

[–] dandu3@lemmy.world 8 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

WTF are you talking about? They use Philips or torx.

[–] doingthestuff@lemy.lol 0 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

It's always torx. I don't need them for anything else. And yeah I own a couple of torx bits but I have a really nice selection of Philips I keep right at hand. But like I said, that's just one of many reasons.

[–] titanicx@lemmy.zip 2 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Don't start don't construction and commercial IT, torx all over.

[–] frongt@lemmy.zip 3 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Yup, torx are great. Nearly impossible to strip. Philips heads strip if you look at them wrong.

[–] dial_pootis@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago

I can say this is 100% true, I think it's a combination with it's mechanism, cheaping out on materials and the screwdriver itself.

[–] cactusupyourbutt@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

sorry, but torx is vastly superior to philipps, and my preferred style of screws

[–] doingthestuff@lemy.lol 1 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Ok but they were selling shitty laptops with 4g of soldered RAM very recently. I also had to deal with a 64gb soldered SSD, that piece of shit wasn't even that old, it was a Windows 11 PC . The torx still annoy me, but they're a garbage company. Don't even start on their printers.

[–] JasonDJ@lemmy.zip 1 points 2 weeks ago

Everything is going to be soldered except on some mid and high-end corporate laptops within a couple generations. Those, and desktops will use CAMM. My prediction.

Torx is a superior screw though. On low-torque applications, sure, Phillips is a bit more convenient.

Reason being, it's very difficult to cam-out or round a torx head if you are using the right size driver.

Torx are absolutely my go-to for general construction screw, when I'm using an impact driver and can zoom zoom zoom. Quite satisfying.

I think the reason torx wins in laptops and pre-built PCs is probably because they are much better for assembly-line or automated assembly. The right tools are always there and will always securely grab the screw.

If you slip with a screwdriver on a main board, you can easily destroy the main board. Making torx superior for large-scale assembly.

My dad wrecked his Abit BH6 back in the day, trying to secure the slotket for an upgrade (to a Malay Celeron 300A), due to the screwdriver slipping out. Managed to slice an SMD capacitor right in half. Good for him, even at like 55 he was able to hand-solder a replacement in and revive the board.