For Sale 3d printed trim pieces

[Perfectjake]

I've been messing around with 3d printing recently and looking at making smaller trim pieces for the Z3.

I've just finished modelling and printing a couple of the covering caps for the edge of the roof seal. part no 51718401844
They're a little bit more black than the trim, but then the trim is 20 years old! It fits perfectly on my car, and I've got some comparisons of the 3d part compared to the original.
Printed with PETG so it is UV, water and heat resistant.



I was thinking about selling for £16 with free P+P, compared to the OEM from lithuania on ebay for ~£25

I'd be happy to hear peoples thoughts and maybe ideas of other parts that could be printed.

 

[Richardrix]

I got one of those trim pieces from the dealer for around £12. That was including a 10% car club discount.

 

[Perfectjake]

Ah, good to know. Will check with local BMW to find out how much they charge. Still interested in finding other bits to print that are quite expensive to buy but could be made relatively cheaply

 

[david suller]

Hello
That's a great idea, I would be intersted in some of those.
Hope to see you make some more pieces if you can.
Dave

 

[petecossie]

Back in 2016 I realised that one of my roof rail inserts, a small plastic section about 25mm long, which slots into back end of roof rail was missing. Enquired with dealer at the time and the insert could only be purchased with a complete roof rail - £125 back then - no way!!!
Found a guy in the States who was 3D printing the inserts and would post them to UK. So another owner from the Z3 M Coupe Forum and I purchased a pair of inserts each (Left and Right hand) worked out at £16 per set. So 3D printing is definitely the way to go, just need people to come up with the ideas of what to print and have an original part to scan.

If I recall there was a company on one of the Salvage Hunters episodes on the earlier series where they were refurbishing a Renault Clio Williams and there was a little plastic trim piece no longer available which they got 3D printed. Needless to say they got a slack handful made so Paul Cowland could sell that to other owners.

 

[Pingu]

IIRC, Wheeler Dealers 3d-printed a small part for a Ford Capri sunroof.

My son wants a 3d-printer. Mine broke during COVID while we were making masks for the NHS. I went for a £250 replacement, as I didn't have the time to make a PRUSA. A waste of £250. Next time that I get one it will be much more expensive than that.

 

[Perfectjake]

I'm fairly happy with the printer I got. May get a resin printer too, but although their visual quality on tiny parts is higher, the durability of the prints are a bit lacking.

Anyone with any suggestions for parts that could be good to print?

 

[david suller]

one maybe, the sqaure boot blanks, the ones that cover the screws are very expensive that might be a good one
think i paid £30 for 4 so if you could make them at a better price that would be good.

 

[Perfectjake]

This part? Looks simple enough, I'll take one off my car and see if I can get it printed.

 

[david suller]

Thats the one they brake easy and coat a lot.

 

[Witchsilver]

IIRC, Wheeler Dealers 3d-printed a small part for a Ford Capri sunroof.

My son wants a 3d-printer. Mine brole during COVID while we were making masks for the NHS. I went for a £250 replacement, as I didn't have the time to make a PRUSA. A waste of £250. Next time that I get one it will be much more expensive than that.

I have just bought the Elegoo 3d pro - fantastic!! Prints straight out of the box (takes 15 mins to assemble), does its own levelling etc. Really am please with it - even printed a fully working adjustable spanner - no assembly required!!
(I have had other printers, but am very pleased with this one!)

I printed my own cup holder for my zed - saved me £40 - and fits perfectly! (I may even make another one to match the green interior of my car!) lol

 

[spurs fan in a coupe]

Very few of the small trim covers are more than £5 each used, but of course they are all 20+ years old, rare things like hardtop trims are expensive and would be well worth printing

 

[GazHyde]

I can think of a few things for the Z4 which are stupidly expensive or difficult to find. Has the tech got to the stage where you 3D print in opaque/translucent materials yet?

 

[Pingu]

I can think of a few things for the Z4 which are stupidly expensive or difficult to find. Has the tech got to the stage where you 3D print in opaque/translucent materials yet?

The Best Transparent & Clear PLA Filaments of 2023

If you want to easily 3D print lampshades or other clear items, try PLA transparent filament! Check out the best brands.

all3dp.com

Yes, but you will still see the layers. I suspect that there is some clear ABS resins that will allow you to print in a resin printer. They are the ultimate at the moment for accuracy. They don't print in layers, but by firing a UV-laser into a resin and the model can be almost flawless. They say they are built in layers, but they are acttually built by pixels, and many pixels form a layer.

The downside is resin prints are not as strong as layered prints. Also, a resin printer is three times the cost of a layer printer.

https://www.cdw.com/content/cdw/en/articles/hardware/resin-vs-filament-3d-printer.html

Things are improving all the time.

 

[mMark]

I can think of a few things for the Z4 which are stupidly expensive or difficult to find. Has the tech got to the stage where you 3D print in opaque/translucent materials yet?

I am 3D printing some parts for the Z4 E85. Will put some online soon. Translucent, yes, that is possible. What are you looking for?

 

[GazHyde]

What are you looking for?

I found the things I was looking a while back but I know requests come up for "clowns noses" which is the small red dome under the rear view mirror. It's common missing or broken across a lot of BMW's.

Then there are the small covers that cover the screw behind the door pull. Those are stupid expensive!

 

[mMark]

The clown nose geometry itself is quite straightforward. The tricky thing is the lips that lock it in place: 3D printed parts have a lower strength than injection molded parts (original clown nose). Especially the strength between the layers is lower. Hence, the design needs to be optimized for 3D printing to make sure the lips won't break.

In my 2003 Z4 E85 I don't have an auto dimming rear view mirror. You can switch to dimming mode by rotating the clown nose (which is more transparent grey), hence the part is also loaded somewhat.
Is the clown nose displayed above for an auto dimming mirror? And I suppose the clown nose for auto dimming mirror is not touched (loaded) during normal usage?

The small covers behind the door pull; do you mean OEM number 51417053791 (left, black) and 51417053792 (right black)? These are available for 2.85 Euro a piece on Hubauer shop (https://www.hubauer-shop.de/en/plug-door-opener-inside-right-51417053792.html)

 

[Dxbolton]

Z3 plastic trims for when the hardtop fittings are in place.

 

[Dxbolton]

 

[Dxbolton]

I think you’d sell a good few of these. I need a set if anyone has some