3D Printing: AC Face Plate & Console Vent Covers

[Gary Knox]

Markos,

My compliments on both a great development job and a business 'simple' approach for both you and customers. This procedure results in only one 'shipping cost', plus eliminating the need for inventory etc. JOB WELL DONE.

Gary

 

[Markos]

Markos,

My compliments on both a great development job and a business 'simple' approach for both you and customers. This procedure results in only one 'shipping cost', plus eliminating the need for inventory etc. JOB WELL DONE.

Gary

Thanks Gary! Also - I can send the file to a European or Australian printer as well. I can comment on how their pricing and shipping will compare to Shapeways, but it's an option.

For the Face Plate, I plan to print, paint, and sell "Buy It Now" on Ebay.

 

[nosmonkey]

Some great work here! I've been doing some 3D printing over summer and it is great fun, even if it is a bit time consuming. We managed to 3D print an inlet manifold and a battery box as well as some scale models, I can't wait to see how that centre piece comes out when it's revised as needed and fitted in the car.

 

[aearch]

when you paint anything flat
you then apply mequires 40
and it produces the perfect sheen

 

[Markos]

Thought I tiptoed about this quite nicely compared to other ads, but apparently not. The ad is now extremely vague.

Mark,

I am sorry to have to be the bearer of bad news, but unfortunately we have received a trademark infringement notice for your listing of E9 AC Console Grille - Driver

The notice claims that your product title and/or description infringes the rights of Bayerische Motoren Werke AG and BMW of North America, LLC (“BMW”), who own the trademarks related to BMW automobiles. The notice does not claim that your model itself is infringing.

BMW requests that you change your listing and/or description in order to avoid suggesting a formal affiliation with BMW. For example, a listing of “BMW widget” can be revised to state “Widget for BMW” to make it clear that the widget itself does not come from BMW directly.

Please reply to this notice within seven (7) days to confirm that you have modified your listing and/or description accordingly. If we have not heard from you within that time we will be forced to remove the model from your account.

 

[Gary Knox]

Mark,

Highly paid BMW gumshoes at work. They are diligent 24/7/365,25 (comma used to identify the proper Deutsch designation). Of course their keeper "WON'T" make it, but that doesn't matter.

Keep up the good work and make lots of 'Widgets for BMW'.

Gary-

 

[Markos]

Update: Finally had time to take some measurements and send the corrections to my modeler. I suspect that changing the overall dimensions will screw with the hole alignment or the side profile of the part. If that is the case I'll need to print two, otherwise this will be my last print before they go to market.

Also, mailing a relay base today. I'll spend my online time researching materials. The polyjet printer that my buddy operates is a good option because the melting point is very high on the material that they use. Also, the parts are small and inexpensive to print, which was the big detractor for using his printer in the past.

Lastly, the parking brake handle will be ready for a test print soon. The only tricky part with this one is getting the slip-fit taper correct. There may be some iterations. Kudos to Mark99 for modeling. I traded some OEM carpet for a parking brake model. This part should feel hard and smooth, but be flexible enough to stretch over the parking brake handle. I'm thinking that Nylon will be the material of choice, same as the AC Face Plate.

 

[RMP]

The PB handle looks great. Another idea for you in a PM.

 

[Markos]

More samples from Mark. I know this is just an e-brake handle but I just think this stuff is so cool!

 

[Honolulu]

Is there an economic opportunity to supply these to the more established parts vendors (W&N come to mind)?

Not every coupe owner is on this list (horror! sacrilege! but likely true).

 

[Markos]

Is there an economic opportunity to supply these to the more established parts vendors (W&N come to mind)?

Not every coupe owner is on this list (horror! sacrilege! but likely true).

So far 3D printing is a good and inexpensive way to work out the kinks with the model. I along with others that fabricate parts have observed that interest seems high but purchasing is low. Stan's tail lights seem to be a hit (I bought a set myself), but other parts seem hard to move.

You are correct that there are some economies of scale that could happen. This could be a group buy or a a vendor order. You can print in aluminum and stainless steel, but the price point isn't where the average member wants to head. If the group is large enough, it would make sense to look into using the model to create a mold. Xometry offers this as a service and then you can have parts molded instead of printed. This is also how solid gold and silver rings/jewelry is made on shapeways.com.

 

[JohnFBD]

Thanks Gary! Also - I can send the file to a European or Australian printer as well. I can comment on how their pricing and shipping will compare to Shapeways, but it's an option.

For the Face Plate, I plan to print, paint, and sell "Buy It Now" on Ebay.

Hi Markos,

I have access to a decent 3D printer, how would you go about providing the file, obviously thinking of your costs

 

[Markos]

Hi Markos,

I have access to a decent 3D printer, how would you go about providing the file, obviously thinking of your costs

Hi John,

I am not ready to make the file publicly available. I need to recover my investment before that could ever happen. That means that I need to work with printing companies. The good news is that I can work with printers in the EU, or Australia to cut down on shipping costs. So far I have stuck with XOmetry.com for the face plate. I may revisit shapeways acrylic for the faceplate as well.

I ordered a shapeways print of the E-Brake handle with the cheap flexible stuff for test fitment. If it fits I will print in dyed and tumbled nylon.

Shapeways notifies you at each step:

Hi Mark,

Exciting update: We are starting to 3d print the item(s) in your order that have passed our manual review!

We'll let you know when your order ships, and you can track the progress of your order here: XXXX

If you have any questions, please email us at [email protected].

Comm

 

[aearch]

hey markos whats the status of the oem finish for the ac panels

 

[Markos]

hey markos whats the status of the oem finish for the ac panels

I talked to my mother dealer about this last week. I'm going to send him a hi-res photo of the textured face. He will take a stab at using this to create a printable surface texture. I haven't received my ac face plate revisions yet so a i presume that I'm low on the priority list.

 

[Markos]

I talked to my mother dealer about this last week. I'm going to send him a hi-res photo of the textured face. He will take a stab at using this to create a printable surface texture. I haven't received my ac face plate revisions yet so a i presume that I'm low on the priority list.

I boxed up all my AC parts to be shipped tomorrow. I snapped a few more photos of the AC Grilles before shipping. For those that don't have AC yet, below is what we are after. Honestly I think I'm being a bit optimistic thinking that the average commercial printer can handle this texture, but we shall see. What is it with BMW and elephant skin?

I also boxed up my aluminum AC face plate. Before doing so, I traced the profile on a sheet of inkjet paper so that I may continue the revisions. If needed, I should be able to compare and contrast a print to a local member's face plate.

My biggest concern with the latest revision would be distorting the profile with all the adjustments that I submitted. This is how my trace aligns to the revisions. I sent this to my modeler and asked if he want the caliper measurements. Given that you can shoehorn an E3 face plate (which is significantly different than an e9 face plate IMO), these minor differences shouldn't really matter. However, I figure that we've come this far so it might as well be damn near identical. It is important to me that I get the mounting holes just right.

Lastly - I still don't know what I did with my spare relay base. I need to ship that off!

 

[Stan]

I was going to ask about the relay base!
I just sent my relays out for some attention (thank you HBChris) and historically have had problems with the old bases.
Something as simple as plugging in a relay often did not work without pulling the battery to be sure each of the pins (spades?) connected to the wire (female end)

 

[restart]

Lastly - I still don't know what I did with my spare relay base. I need to ship that off!

Last time I saw it, it was in th vice

 

[Markos]

Last time I saw it, it was in th vice

It's VISE people! I spell it wrong every time and have to go back and edit my Crockett and Tubbs references.

Perhaps when I powder coat the Wilton I'll go with pink and teal splatter. I can call it my "Miami Vise"

 

[Markos]

I received the e-brake handle prototype in the mail today. I chose the cheapest and most flexible plastic from shapeways, knowing that fitment could be an issue. Honestly it looks better than I expected. Obviously the extreme closeup view will show the stepping, but it's not really noticeable in the car. The gloss and smoothness of the plastic isn't right though. I'm targeting either a black acrylic or a black dyed nylon that is tumbled for smoothness. Those are both about twice the price of the cheap plastic though. This is the same plastic I used for the AC vents but it is surprisingly rigid. One change I can make is to modify the print orientation so that the stepping is vertical. Right now the handle prints from bottom to top. I would basically request that it is printed on its side. Not sure if they will let me but I'll try. That would create long stepping that matched the vertical ribbing that is native to the part.

As suspected the part doesn't fit easily. The halfway point seems to be the right spot for this part. Using a rubber work glove, I could twist the part on about halfway before it wanted to stop. I added some WD-40 and it didn't really help past that point. You want the e-brake to be snug, but you don't want it to crack on the way on.

If you look closely at the ribs in this pic, it looks like they start to bow about where the e-brake button lives.