TORTURE TESTING 3D PRINTED CAR PART FILAMENT
If you've ever wanted to make your own 3D-printed car parts but worried they might fail, you're not alone. So we put a ton of filaments to the test to find out which is the best…
3D PRINTING CAR PARTS | CAR PART FILAMENT SELECTOR | 3D PRINTER FOR AUTOMOTIVE | SCANNING & 3D PRINTING CAR PARTS
We put various filaments through the ultimate torture test—printing interior, exterior, and even engine bay parts—to find out which is the strongest for your next car project.
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THE SETUP, BAMBU LAB X1C
To prevent warpage during 3d printing our car parts with higher end filaments, we used the Bambu X1C. It’s a fully enclosed 3D printer with hardened steel parts.
This setup allows us to print with tough materials like carbon and glass-reinforced fiber filaments as well.
The X1C makes setup simple, and you can even manage prints wirelessly from a mobile device.
But before printing, it’s also important to dry your filament to eliminate any moisture from the factory. We use a dedicated heated dryer, but the X1C also has a filament drying feature.
INTERIOR CAR PARTS…PETG vs ABS vs ABS-GF
PLA (Polylactic Acid) is a common filament, but it’s terrible for car parts. We previously printed a vent gauge in PLA, and after just a few hours in a sunlit car, it started to melt. So, we moved onto testing a few different filaments.
PETG (Polyethylene Terephthalate Glycol-Modified): Our first test print was a door frame for a BMW E30 printed with Bambu Lab PETG HF. It’s easy to print, offers decent strength, and can handle temperatures up to 134°F. When we tested the door frame clips the PETG had some give.
ABS (Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene): The same door frame was also printed in ABS, but the door frame clips snapped pretty easy. ABS is much more heat-resistant at temps up to 134°F, but definitely more brittle than PETG.
ABS GF (ABS Glass Fiber): This variant includes glass fibers for increased strength and provides temperature resistance up to 210°F.
The ABS-GF door frame held up much better, with the tabs being as strong as PETG.
✅ INTERIOR CAR PART FILAMENT WINNER: ABS GF
WHICH PRINTER SHOULD I BUY?
Use this tool to help you pick the best printer for 3d printing automotive parts:
3d Printer Selector Tool v1
EXTERIOR CAR PARTS…PETG vs ABS vs ABS-GF vs ASA
For exterior durability, we printed a couple of trailer hitch covers for our F-150 in four different filaments and tested their strength after submersion in water for three hours.
STRENGTH TEST RESULTS
PETG: Cracked third under jack lifting load
ABS: Cracked first under jack lifting load
ABS GF: Cracked second under jack lifting load
ASA (Acrylonitrile Styrene Acrylate): Didn’t crack under jack lifting load
✅ EXTERIOR CAR PART FILAMENT WINNER: ASA
To make our hitch plate even more stylish, we used the X1C’s multi-color filament system to print it in black and white ASA filament.
3D PRINTED ENGINE BAY PARTS:PETG vs ABS vs ABS GF vs ASA vs PC
For high-heat 3d printed engine bay applications, we printed some custom hose clips to attach to the upper radiator hose, where temperatures can reach over 200°F
3D PRINTED CAR PART HEAT RESISTANCE TEST
PETG: Severe warpage
ABS: Severe warpage
ABS-GF: Minimal warpage
ASA: Minimal warpage
PC (Polycarbonate): No warpage
✅ ENGINE BAY FILAMENT WINNER: PC
FINAL VERDICT
While PC is the strongest for 3d printed car parts in our test, it’s also the most expensive at ~$40 per spool, compared to $20 for PETG/ABS and $30 for ASA. We recommend you choose your filament based on strength needs and budget. Here’s a comparison table:
| Filament | Strength | Heat Resistance | UV Resistance | Best Use Case |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PLA | Low | Low (134°F) | Moderate | Not recommended for car parts |
| PETG | Medium | Medium (156°F) | Moderate | Interior and some exterior parts |
| ABS | Medium | High (188°F) | Poor | Interior parts, but brittle |
| ABS GF | High | High (210°F) | Poor | Stronger interior parts |
| ASA | High | High (212°F) | Excellent | Exterior parts |
| PC | Very High | Very High (442°F) | Good | Engine bay parts |
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