My 2002 model year E46 330 had the warning. So at least for bmw it has been on the cars for a while. I only see it half a dozen to a dozen times a year. Now if it had the "hotter than hades" chime of over 100 then yes, I would definitely want to get rid of that chime, since I would see it 4-5 months a year (or so it seems).
