The MINI Yours Customised service is no more. What started off as a promising experiment in easily-accessible automotive 3D printing has now come to an end: take a quick look at their website, and you’ll be see a message stating the service has been discontinued.
BMW-owned MINI first introduced the service in back in late 2017, as part of an effort to give owners more customization options for their vehicle. It arrived in 2018 for customers in European and other large markets, and relied mainly on 3D printing to make the personalized pieces.
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Some of the custom accents features that customers could choose from were LED door sills and projectors, interior trims, and exterior side turn signal inlays. There were four different colors to choose from and customers and could opt to personalize their MINI with a signature or motif on the online platform.
The basis for this customization service was 3D printing and laser engraving, and to bring it to life, BMW was working with 3D printing suppliers Carbon, EOS, and HP.
The process went as follows. First, the customer would place an order for their personalized piece. Then, it would be manufactured in Germany and sent out within a few weeks. Finally, the customer would receive their piece, and could easily install it in their car. Additionally, the pieces were interchangeable, so you could remove them and swap them out.
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While it’s somewhat unpleasant to see this neat little service go away, it was nice that such a thing existed in the first place, and hopefully it drives other manufacturers to create more customer-friendly personalization services like that in the future.
