Calibry 3D Scanner helped BMW upgrade for dAHLer

Briefly: CHROMOS Group AG, a developer of innovative solutions in the industrial sector, shared an example from the practice of its client, a design agency designunity. ch, who in turn developed the project for dAHLer. The end customer (dAHLer) has upgraded the BMW M240i and BMW G80 series, improving the aerodynamics of the vehicles by adding a splitter to the front bumper. The project was carried out using 3D technologies, where a Calibry scanner was used to digitize the front of the car.

Task: The task was to obtain a high-resolution model of the bumper, which can later be used for reverse engineering. At the same time, the project costs should not be high.

Tools: Calibry 3D Scanner, Calibry Nest software, Rhino software, 3D Printer

The result: With the help of 3D technologies, solutions were found that best meet the customer’s requirements: high-quality scanning data suitable for subsequent reverse engineering, while maintaining low costs by optimizing costs. The upgrade has already been successfully implemented for the m240i. The G80 is currently in line.

The Swiss company dAHLer has been manufacturing parts and accessories for BMW since 1996. dAHLer offers a wide range of tuning products for fans of the legendary brand: tilt-adjustable suspensions, sets of lowering elements, high-performance exhaust systems, forged wheels, interior details and much more. dAHLer prioritizes speed and power. As stated on the company’s website, its goal is to "turn your production car into a real top—class car."

When we talk about maximizing speed, aerodynamic drag becomes a key issue that needs to be considered. Here, dAHLer specialists offer their customers to purchase body parts such as splitters, rear fenders, side skirts, diffusers and rear-view mirror covers, which allow the car to smoothly cut through the air.

The last two upgrades carried out by dAHLer were performed for the BMW M240i and BMW G80, where a Calibry 3D scanner was used to manufacture the front splitter.

The first part of the project, scanning, took place in the dAHLer showroom. A matting spray was applied to the front bumper of the car. This was enough for the Calibry 3D scanner to capture the geometry in high resolution. No markers were needed. The scan lasted about 40 minutes, starting with unpacking the scanner and preparing the workplace.

Several single bumper scans were performed. The post-processing of the data, combining the scans into a single model, took about 1.5 hours. After the work was completed at Calibry Nest, the second part of the project, modeling, began.

The design was designed in the Rhino program and included many stages of editing and adjustments. At the final stage of the design, 2−3 of the most successful works were selected. These prototypes were printed out on a 3D printer so that they could be "tried on" to a car and choose the most successful option. All the design solutions looked good on a computer screen, but dAHLer wanted to choose what would look best in real life.

After careful selection of prototypes, the final version was painted and attached to the bumper to take pictures of the car for the press.

After the final approval of the design and mounting fixtures, the drawings were sent to the factory to produce carbon fiber parts. The planned production volume is about 30 parts per year.

The BMW M240i already has a carbon fiber splitter, and the M4 model is temporarily equipped with a 3D-printed part.

According to the project participants, Calibry was chosen "because of its ease of use, accuracy, fantastic software, portability, robustness, and finally cost compared to other systems."

High-resolution scanners turned out to be expensive, which increased the cost of production beyond the planned. Most of the affordable devices did not meet the quality requirements. Calibry was chosen for the optimal balance of these two factors.