Bosch and Nikon SLM print a one-piece V8 block demonstrator

The metal block sits in a different category from a printed bracket. At Bosch’s Additive Solution Center in Nuremberg, Germany, Bosch Industry Consulting and Nikon SLM Solutions produced a complete V8 engine block as a single piece, in aluminum and without tooling or casting, using Nikon SLM’s NXG XII 600 system.

The material was AlSi10Mg, a standard aluminum alloy for structural automotive parts. The part was built from a digital file, avoiding the tooling development and validation that a cast cylinder block normally requires—work that can take weeks or months before production starts. A design change can otherwise mean revising that tooling again.

The geometry is the point. Metal additive manufacturing can place material where structural analysis says it is needed, while allowing integrated cooling channels, topology-optimized structures and several components to be consolidated into one assembly. The companies say this design-for-additive-manufacturing approach can produce parts lighter than cast equivalents without sacrificing performance, particularly for motorsport and high-performance powertrains.

Nikon SLM’s contribution went beyond supplying the printer. Its team worked on material development and qualification, process parameters, data preparation, quality-assurance software and application engineering; Bosch brought automotive manufacturing expertise. The companies present that combination as necessary for moving from a striking one-off demonstrator toward repeatable production. The project follows another NXG XII 600 application by Fundamental Motorsports, which produced a single-piece IN718 shock housing for off-road racing.

So what changes in practice? For automotive suppliers, the immediate opportunity is not replacing every cast engine block. It is making complex, low-volume or performance-critical parts without waiting for dedicated tooling, while exploring lighter designs and integrated cooling. Bosch’s Nuremberg facility is positioned as the first European Tier-1 automotive supplier running metal additive manufacturing at this scale, but the V8 build itself remains a demonstration; the next test is repeatable production and qualification.