A water pump made from 3D printing used in BMW’s DTM cars
Under the hood of one of the BMWs competing in this year’s German Touring Car Masters (DTM) will be a water pump produced entirely from a 3D printer. The generative layering process is created by 0.05mm thin layers of metal powder fused together and the finished product passed all of BMW’s rigorous tests before being fitted.
In motorsport, components like the water pump will be placed under full load for 70 per cent of the time. 3D printing is viewed as the ideal method because no complex tools or molds are needed and that reduces fabrication expenses and time. With 3D printers. small design refinements can be made without much effort or retooling. These water pumps will be fitted to Z4 GT3 customer vehicles.
