absolutely. I can print in wood, metal and pretty much every kind of plastic
caveat, the wood is also partly plastic.
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Repro Tail Light Lenses
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caveat, the wood is also partly plastic.
Impressive ! What would it end up costing for a full set (L and R) of lenses (approximately)?
Turn indicators in amber
Brake lights red
Backup lights clear
Another consideration is the UV resistance properties of the 3D printing media, as well as the resolution. The lenses are "glass smooth", and I don't know that 3D printing can get anywhere close to that.?. But it would be pretty amazing if these two hurdles could be overcome.
Im not equipped at the moment for something like that, I'm definitely a "learning hobbyist" but I know that you can get UV resistant translucent filament. And I also know of a process that uses acetone "fogging" to make the prints glass smooth in the finishing process.
I would want to buy a proper 3d scanner for the parts before I ever tried to model them myself. a $400 scanner can be run at 10microns resolution so it would be more than sufficient for making a correct sized model.
There is price point sensitivity. If you could print them you could probably charge some people up to $400 a set but most folks have not been willing to go that high. Just wondering what the cost of amortizing the scanner and then buying various colors of plastic, plus value of your time?
I was talking to one of our 3D printing experts and was told the range of materials has grown considerably in the last 3 years. He showed me UV stable synthetics suitable for gaskets, powered metals that can be fused into structural elements, etc. I would be surprised if there were NOT translucent colored 3D printable plastics which are UV stable.
I am going to regret posting this, but it seems to me that if the technology exists to successfully make durable, accurate, correctly transparent, beautiful lenses, someone would already be doing this. The E9 market alone would pay for the equipment. Add to that any number of other B models, P car lenses, F car, any vintage car really... Unless there are licen[]ing issues to overcome which would significantly the equation. Perhaps I am talking myself into a new line of work... 
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I think part of it comes down to price of the finished product. @Markos can speak to the number of iterations to get a piece correct. After it is dialed in, I think the replication is just a matter of hitting print. But while watching Bitchin Rides I saw their machine taking at least an hour to make a small piece. Also, the brake light has a clear piece embedded into the red. If that can be done then awesome!I am going to regret posting this, but it seems to me that if the technology exists to successfully make durable, accurate, correctly transparent, beautiful lenses, someone would already be doing this. The E9 market alone would pay for the equipment. Add to that any number of other BMW models, P car lenses, F car, any vintage car really... Unless there are licensing issues to overcome which would significantly the equation. Perhaps I am talking myself into a new line of work...
Unless there are licensing issues to overcome which would significantly the equation. Perhaps I am talking myself into a new line of work...
By including the "BMW" and "licen[]ing" or "prin[]ing" in the same thread, it increases the odds a BMW lawyer or enforcement troll will be reading this at some point. They likely won't make an issue of it so long as it stays in the hobbyist range, but scaling and business planning might make them twitchy. Not to suggest any particular use is OK, but if anyone receives a cease & desist letter, I'm happy to do a bit of pro bono. Responding to cease & desist bullies is one of the perks of my job. Of course, every now & again the bully is right, and I don't know the contours in the world of 3-D printing. I'll ask one of my IP partners for guidance.
(Firm makes me say I'm not anyone's lawyer here and not providing legal advice, etc. by having a discussion.)
I am going to regret posting this, but it seems to me that if the technology exists to successfully make durable, accurate, correctly transparent, beautiful lenses, someone would already be doing this. The E9 market alone would pay for the equipment. Add to that any number of other BMW models, P car lenses, F car, any vintage car really... Unless there are licensing issues to overcome which would significantly the equation. Perhaps I am talking myself into a new line of work...
I'm not 100% up to speed on the latest and greatest materials. The last I saw, PolyJet was the only printer capable of producing good transparent plastics. They are for prototype purposes only, and not UV stable. People also tend to forget that much like an old dot matrix printer, 3D printers still suffer from resolution issues. FDM prints of ABS plastics are the worst, with visible "stepping" that looks like contour lines. The Vinyl stuff that I print has a much much higher resolution, but it is a porous material that I almost always sand and paint.
You can 3D scan the lenses. 3D scanning iteslef usually requires modeler intervention post-scan to "clean up" the file. They won't show you that on Jay Leno's garage. Also, a 3D scan creates a mesh file much like what you would see when watching the making of a movie with heavy CGI. You can print these files but as soon as you start cleaning them up, you are converting to a traditional 3D drawing. That takes time and precision. 3D printing is very handy for making molds however. If you think about traditional casting, you only have X iterations before you need to make a new mold. With 3D printing, you can spin up your next mold before your first one wears out. I can certainly look into it whether the shop that I use can do translucent urethane casting. I have already received quotes for other cast parts including the roundel base.
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They have already sent cease and desist letters to one printer that I used, and the pulled my free parts from www.thingiverse.com. I honestly don't understand how ebay can have thousands of unlicensed Chinese roundels yet a few hobbyist parts are shut down.
They are in China so they do not care about no stinkin cease and desist!!
Thank you for the "discussion". Although it only makes me have a more bleak outlook on the world we live in. :confused: I am plenty busy with the work I am actually licensed to participate in, and doubt I would actually endeavor to start making car parts that are NLA anywhere else. But it is an interesting topic of discussion, none the less.
(By the way, my firm allows me to speak freely about architecture, but I will generally not give out free design or engineering services.
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Hmmm, I may have just bought a few of those for some new wheels for my E90. I thought they seemed much less expensive than I'd seen on some other websites.
I have no doubt that a 3D printed lens would need additional clean up and polish steps. I continue to believe a two part mold is the right way to make these, even in small quantities. The clear onset inthe big lens is a simple hand assembly operation.
The argument that there should already be someone making repro e9 tail lights doesn’t jive with my experience. First of all, there have been multiple requests on this forum to measure interest in professionally reproduced tail light assemblies. Generally speaking the interest and willingness to pay has been very low. So I’d say it’s no surprise that a for profit classic car parts business is not making repro tail light assemblies or lenses for E9’s ... because the car is too rare and the owners have historically been too cheap.
The argument that there should already be someone making repro e9 tail lights doesn’t jive with my experience. First of all, there have been multiple requests on this forum to measure interest in professionally reproduced tail light assemblies. Generally speaking the interest and willingness to pay has been very low. So I’d say it’s no surprise that a for profit classic car parts business is not making repro tail light assemblies or lenses for E9’s ... because the car is too rare and the owners have historically been too cheap.
In looking quickly, BMW is super aggressive about the roundel. They actually won a case in China: https://www.motor1.com/news/131604/bmw-wins-trademark-infringement-lawsuit/ I actually bet they've licensed more than we think. It is too easy for BMW to issue take-down notices to ebay or Amazon and they wouldn't stay up long. Licensing is easy cash for a luxury brand, and they may have broadly licensed in the past when they were in financial straits, and those licenses might persist where they now wish they didn't. For example, they might have issued sloppy, transferable licenses at some point that they now regret and can't clear.
I don't know whether they would have a design-type claim on repro taillights, but if you include the "Hella," roundel, or BMW on the part and try to sell it, you're likely going to hear from them.
My comment was only in the context of if it were so easy to hit "print" on a 3D printer to generate a high quality item. Given the reality, I agree with the scarcity that we find ourselves in.