• by Tanya Gazdik , December 26, 2017

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BMW Group’s Mini brand is the first in the U.S. to offer customizable auto parts created by the customer and produced using innovative production procedures such as 3D printing, according to the automaker.

“Mini Yours Customised” allows customers to design personalized inlays for the side scuttles, trims for the passenger side in the interior, LED door sills and LED door projectors. Customers can select and design the upgrade parts online. The individualized products will then be manufactured using 3D printing and laser lettering.

The individually designed products will be delivered within just a few weeks. The parts have been designed so that they can be integrated in the vehicle by the customer or by the participating Mini dealer or service partner. The customer can use the service multiple times. This also ensures that if the vehicle is sold later, the individualized components can be exchanged. 

The offering positions the British brand as “a pioneer and trendsetter in the area of customer orientation, expansion of digital services and the establishment of innovative production processes,” according to the automaker. Individualization has always been highly valued in the worldwide Mini community. 

Customers can select among different colors, patterns, surface finishes and icons when designing products. They can also integrate their own texts and their signature into the design. 

“This unparalleled freedom of design allows customers to transform their Mini into a unique special defined by their personal style and their own creativity,” the company said in a statement. 

The driver can literally leave their own creative signature behind on the vehicle. The text field in illuminated door trims can be completed as the user wishes with name or messages using uppercase letters and in the form of the user’s own signature.

The 3D printers used in this process are all highly professional production facilities which were precisely configured for this purpose by the BMW Group through strategic partnerships with Hewlett-Packard Inc., Carbon Inc. and EOS GmbH.