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3D printed parts are now official

Started by ptashek, 29 December 2018, 11:15 AM

ptashek

1993 "Pearl Blue" W124 280TE
1988 "Arctic White" W124 200T
1979 "Icon Gold" W116 450SE

daantjie

I don't think we should hold our breath for any 116 parts being done by MB any time soon...
Daniel
1977 450 SEL 6.9 - Astralsilber

Max-NL

Being a tech nerd I'm going to say awesome! But I do wonder if the price of these things will be reasonable or expensive.

I doubt they're going to do W116 only parts soon, but items used on multiple platforms will probably be done soon.
1971 R107 350 SL
1972 W108 280 SEL 3.5
1975 W116 280 S
1975 W116 450 SEL 6.9 #140
1977 W123 230
1992 W124 230 CE
2001 Ducati Monster S4

floyd111


ptashek

I too bet they will focus on multi-platform parts first, and ones that are worth it. But as the process matures, and cheapens, we'll see our cars covered as they share a lot of items with W123, W126 etc.

In the meantime folks like myself will continue with open sourced reproductions for the fun of it.
1993 "Pearl Blue" W124 280TE
1988 "Arctic White" W124 200T
1979 "Icon Gold" W116 450SE

rumb

Their spark plug holder was only @$22. I didnt look up the other parts they mentioned.
'68 250S
'77 6.9 Euro
'91 300SE,
'98 SL500
'14 CLS550,
'16 AMG GTS
'21 E450 Cabrio

Harv

Like mentioned, they take care of their high dollar cars first. Starting with the Gullwing. Our lowly W116s can screw off.
1980 300SD
1983 240D
2000 E55 AMG
2002 G500

UTn_boy

As 3d printing becomes more and more widely used and cost effective, they may not ever offer anything for something like a W108/W109, W116, or R107.  I'd imagine that the status quo will not change, and that the 300SL, 190SL, and Pagodas will remain the top interest models for Mercedes. 
1966 250se coupe`,black/dark green leather
1970 600 midnight blue/parchment leather
1971 300sel 6.3,papyrus white/dark red leather
1975 450se, pine green metallic/green leather
1973 300sel 4.5,silver blue metallic/blue leather
1979 450sel 516 red/bamboo

Max-NL

Eh I'm a bit more optimistic than that. It's logical to do the high dollar cars first. You want to return a bit of your investment quickly and that's easier to do that with high dollar cars because you can have a bigger markup (generally speaking). I mean who is going to pay top dollar for a spark plug holder for a w116? Almost nobody. For a 300SL? Probably a lot of people.

So after they've done a few items for the high end dollar cars I'm sure they are going to start on the normal classic cars i.e. w108/w109,116, 107 etc. There is just a too big demand for parts for them that they can not ignore it. And let's not forget that they are already reproducing parts for the regular classic cars (most are multi-platform items).

So are they going to produce parts for the "regular" classics? Yes. Soon? no. In a couple of years? I'd say so.
1971 R107 350 SL
1972 W108 280 SEL 3.5
1975 W116 280 S
1975 W116 450 SEL 6.9 #140
1977 W123 230
1992 W124 230 CE
2001 Ducati Monster S4

floyd111

With corporation's present-day "effort/investment vs attainable margin" standards remaining unchanged, there is a logic to presuming nothing much will change for the W116, as long as the costs of designing, mass-forging and/or mass-extrusion does not change in an impressive way.
3D, the newborn, has found a niche and a customer base in this market, but we are not likely to see 3D take over from forging and/or extrusion any time soon. Until we see mass-output, high-speed 3D machines that function faster and cheaper than the conventional machines, there is no "corporate policy" change to be expected. For the moment, 3D merely offers MB yet a new way to achieve that "margin vs effort standard", by serving top dollar clients with 3D  in small volume.
A massive spike in the supposed "demand volume" from the likes of us would/could change things, but is not likely to occur.
I think that the future changes we want are happening, but not at the offices of MB. They are happening right here, where passionate people use regular 3D machines to build parts for friends, customers and for themselves.  Corporations must be aware of this and thus likely to adapt their policy, and would want to stay clear of investments in that "supposedly profitable" secondary niche.

UTn_boy

I wish myself and the majority of the forum had your optimism, Max.  Stan's commentary essentially hit the nail on the head as far as the point I was trying to get across.  History has a bad habit of repeating itself.  In light of that, I doubt very seriously that Mercedes will give a second thought to making parts for a chassis that they know people won't pay top dollar for.  See, they know that people pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for a 300SL, and thousands of dollars for a Pagoda.  They also know that people pay, in general, less than $3,000 for the overwhelming majority of W116 cars.  Because of that, the majority of average Joe W116 owners won't pay top dollar for a reproduced part......not that most of us wouldn't, but because most of us, myself included, can't.  This status quo isn't likely to change for many many years to come.  Think about it.....should Mercedes reproduce something that we all would like to have new and fresh on our W116 cars......such as door panels or roof rail panels.....they may offer a new door panels at $800-$1,000 each.  Out of 100 people, only 10% or less would actually pay that price, and then they're stuck with the rest of the parts for years until they offer them at a significant discount just to get rid of them.  Even then it'll take years to deplete that stock.  It's an absolute headache for Mercedes, and they are going to go where the money is.  Though, with over 50% of Mercedes share holders being in the Middle East, I secretly hope that will eventually have some influence on offering parts for other chassis because Middle Eastern people absolutely love the W116, as well as W114/W115 and W123 cars.  All of those models are staples in their lives, and they hold them very close to their heart.  On the other hand, it's really hard to get Middle eastern people to spend their money, too, so who knows what will transpire.  Conversely, a door panel for a 300SL or Pagoda....those would fly off the shelves.  People think that just because the car is expensive to buy that parts will also be expensive.  It's one of the oldest tricks in the book, and people follow like sheep.  Even though we W116 owners are hurting for certain parts, I believe that we're better off living with what we currently have until a more pragmatic solution comes about.  Otherwise we'd be paying $1,000 for a part that cost $50 to make.  I, for one, like not being taken advantage of......but that's not to say that I haven't ever given in to the hype before when I really wanted something. haha
1966 250se coupe`,black/dark green leather
1970 600 midnight blue/parchment leather
1971 300sel 6.3,papyrus white/dark red leather
1975 450se, pine green metallic/green leather
1973 300sel 4.5,silver blue metallic/blue leather
1979 450sel 516 red/bamboo

ptashek

#11
I was recently replacing the 25-year old AC condenser on my W124, and it turned into a proper proving ground for my own 3D printed parts.

Calliper in hand, Autodesk Fusion 360 on the laptop, some patience, some PETG and flexible filament, and in (for most parts) just a few prototypes I've managed to reproduce the vast majority of what I needed. Yes, it would take me less time to just order the parts, but the long term benefit is that I can print them a moments notice at a fraction of the cost (I think the most expensive part cost ~0.30 EUR, all said and done).

This is indeed the future folks!

And if anyone needs some inspiration, or a copy for their stash, all of my designs are open sourced :)
https://www.thingiverse.com/ptashek/designs
1993 "Pearl Blue" W124 280TE
1988 "Arctic White" W124 200T
1979 "Icon Gold" W116 450SE

marku

Quite an achievement not much for the 116 though any plans? I see MB are to 3D print the rollers for the sliding roof but only for the 114/115/123.
1974 450SE silver green/bamboo velour/green vinyl roof