Patent ID: 7899558

Claim:
A method for upgrading or expanding functionality of a sequence control of at least one control unit of a motor vehicle, comprising the acts of: reading a first data from a first control unit, and determining a version of the sequence control currently running in the first control unit based upon the first data, reading a second data from a second control unit, and determining a version of the sequence control currently running in the second control unit based upon the second data, determining, in a first check, whether the version of the sequence control currently running in the second control unit corresponds to a predetermined version of the sequence control or is more current than the predetermined version, if the result of the first check is positive, saving a more current version of the sequence control with respect to the version currently running in the first control unit or a version which expands the functionality, or saving an additional sequence control or saving additional data versions in the first control unit, and releasing the more current version of the sequence control, the version which expands the functionality, the additional sequence control, or the additional data versions for use in the motor vehicle only after receiving a payment for use thereof, wherein the versions of the sequence controls in the control units of the motor vehicle and a versions of the control units of the motor vehicle in the vehicle are determined periodically and stored in the vehicle.