Having bought several BMWs, it should be noted that BMW (and other brands) have had a "design studio" long before Tesla came around with the Model S. For years you've been able to select and fully configure a new BMW on their website, very similar to how the Model S Design Studio works, right down to every possible package, option, and feature.
What this announcement says is that BMW is now adding the complete online follow-through to include purchasing, financing, and delivering the car without the need to go into a dealer, which is the part that Tesla has spearheaded (which really is not part of the "Design Studio" but rather the "My Tesla" page which handles all of that). The article mentions that BMW still needs buy-in from some dealers, because ultimately, BMW can't side-step the dealers (in the US) and sell cars direct-to-consumer, so the sale still has to go through a dealer.. but the dealer now doesn't have the chance to rip off... uh, I mean "upsell" consumers with extra "doc fees" or pinstriping or undercoating scams.
It's certainly a step in the right direction, but Tesla is not the first car maker to have a "design studio" to spec out a car configuration, which is just the first step in the process.
