E30 Cup Holder Interest Gauge

[jdance30]

Hey guys, I hope you are all doing well.

I am gauging the interest of custom 3D printed cup holders for the E30. I know, I know, ANOTHER cup holder on the market for the E30. But I ran into a few dilemmas when shopping around for cup holder for the E30.

1. Too expensive. I understand, CAD modeling and injection molding is not cheap. It makes an extremely nice piece, but too much for my thin wallet.
2. Not big enough. I was thinking and the only real drink I drink in my cars is the Quiktrip Big Q. Well, only one cupholder on the market is big enough to fit the Big Q, but it doesn't fit well and I have concerns about it tipping over while driving.

Here I am, a mechanical engineer, with the full capabilities of CAD modeling and 3D printing my own cup holders. So I did exactly that. I modeled the cupholders as shown below to fit in the cubby of the rear center console, with double sided 3M tape or velcro, and fit specifically two Big Q's cups from QT with a slot for coins in between the cups. The material is PLA (polylactide) which is a biodegradable thermoplastic and is sufficiently strong to work as cupholders and very cost efficient. I couldn't be happier with the results.

**NOTE: The Big Q is one of the largest drink cups on the market behind 7-11's Big Gulp.**







Sorry for the weirdly compressed pictures. I had to resize them to work on r3v.

I wanted to get some feedback from the E30 community about potentially selling these cupholders. The great thing about 3D printing is that I don't have to mass produce one single model of the cupholders. Instead, I could customize the cupholders to your desired cup, size, or color, giving you a customized cup holder for your E30 just the way you want it. For example, just one cup holder and a storage area for your phone or wallet, two large McDonald's cup holders, or a soda can holder with a Big Q holder. The possibilities are endless. Tell me what you want and I can do my best to make it happen (requires a lead time, of course). I would likely sell the units between $25-$40 shipped depending on the amount of material, time to print, and CAD modeling complexity. If I do end up doing a production of these, I want them to be as affordable as possible, because let's be honest, $100 for cupholders is a little steep.

Please leave any positive or negative feedback you have for me and I would like to see how many of you would be interested in this. You can message me directly about the unit, I would like to keep discussions about the unit in this thread. Thanks for stopping by!

[325e '87]

Seems okay to me. I have a sedan and this location might work for my kids in the rear. I would choose to have the size smaller for just 18oz bottles.

Oh, and the orange is a “no-go” so I’d choose black. I’m a Georgia graduate so all things orange raise my blood pressure.

[jdance30]

Seems okay to me. I have a sedan and this location might work for my kids in the rear. I would choose to have the size smaller for just 18oz bottles.

Oh, and the orange is a “no-go” so I’d choose black. I’m a Georgia graduate so all things orange raise my blood pressure.

I can understand the hatred for orange (my parents were UGA grads so I was a fan when I was a kid), but now Clemson is my school.

I would imagine black is the ideal color to avoid the cup holders sticking out like a sore thumb in the interior. I can definitely size it down for 18oz bottles, making the overall cupholders smaller or a size the cupholders up and fit three bottles instead of two.

I have the sedan as well and the cup holders could almost work better for those in the rear than in the front. Thanks for the input!

[jdance30]

Here some additional models I made for different beverages.

A few things to note:

1. The part shown is just the top piece of the design, the bottom part is modeled to fit in the center cubby. I do this for simplicity of modeling and printing prototypes.

2. The two cup holders don't have to be the same, I can mix and match. Want a 12oz soda can holder with a 20oz bottle holder? No problem. A Big Q and 20oz bottle holder? Piece of cake.

3. For the 20oz bottle and 12oz can, I could potentially eliminate the center coin storage and add another cup holder. This would add some, but not much, length to the overall cup holder.

4. Cupholders are 60mm deep to best avoid tipping. So far, I had a full 32oz Big Q in the cupholders and it did not tip.

12oz Aluminum Can:



20oz Plastic Bottle



32oz Big Q



The outer shell can also be modified to not look so much like a box, but I personally thought it was aesthetically pleasing with the rear center console as the console is boxy itself. If you would like a minimal design or something "one off", I can really do anything. For example,

[roguetoaster]

E30s already have a functional cup holder, right between the passenger seat and the console.

[jdance30]

E30s already have a functional cup holder, right between the passenger seat and the console.

This is what I do now and it functions fine until: a passenger is sitting in the passenger seat or the cup squeezes too much and pops the lid off.

[roguetoaster]

This is what I do now and it functions fine until: a passenger is sitting in the passenger seat or the cup squeezes too much and pops the lid off.

Isn't that what a back seat is for?

Something nice you can make might be sport seat handle delete plates for sedan owners. Clip in deletes for the vents could be nice too, both for track cars, and people who want more gauges.

[superj]

I would love to get one or two of these from you. I need the model that holds the two large cups, like a mcdonalds or wataburger large drink. I would imagine similar to your q cup large.

put me on the list though

[fenwick]

I'll take two!

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[Lester12]

Yeah I’m down for one!


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[george graves]

Not to be an ass, so I hope you don't take it that way, but how did you not google for this? Someone is already selling them, and in fantastic carbon fiber filament, that's temperature, UV stable, and all that jazz. (Did you know the inside o a car can reach 220F?)

https://www.gearswitch.us/products/gearswitch-e30-cup-holder

It's also kinda seen as a "bad thing" to basically sell the exact same thing as someone else. I'm not saying that is written in stone, or that you have to follow it, but as a general rule, it never works out for the person that copies. Intentionally or not. Again, no hard feelings - it's just how things work.

[jdance30]

Not to be an ass, so I hope you don't take it that way, but how did you not google for this? Someone is already selling them, and in fantastic carbon fiber filament, that's temperature, UV stable, and all that jazz. (Did you know the inside o a car can reach 220F?)

https://www.gearswitch.us/products/gearswitch-e30-cup-holder

It's also kinda seen as a "bad thing" to basically sell the exact same thing as someone else. I'm not saying that is written in stone, or that you have to follow it, but as a general rule, it never works out for the person that copies. Intentionally or not. Again, no hard feelings - it's just how things work.

Absolutely no hard feelings taken.

I have seen the Gearswitch and it is one of the best cupholder solution on the market, but I have a few problems with it that led me to design my own. First, the price of course, but that is around what every E30 cup holder is selling for so it is what it is. Second, the whole "interchangable" design. I don't want to have additional pieces rolling around in the car when I have a big cup in the cupholder. Last, it won't fit exactly what I want it to fit. I know I am picky when I only want my cupholders to fit one size, but unfortunately, a "one size fits all" will not work for me.

I was not looking to rip off Gearswitch for a quick buck, but rather appeal to those who are in the same boat as me that want a specific, custom designed cupholder, rather than a one size fits all. I appreciate your feedback and I did not take any offense to what you said. In fact, I am glad someone brought it up for me to explain my reasoning behind the design and potential sale.

[Mazdayasna]

You could consider adding other features such as a small change holder or a phone slot between the cup holes, I haven't seen any products like that around.
I miss the giant shifter surround my E34 had, it was perfect for putting your phone on.

[MrBurgundy]

I always set my drink in between the door and the seat. Never split a drink :p

I think I would knock a drink off that with my elbow