Plenty. This thread is full of people trying various methods but there were too many forum posts on the topic in general posted all over this forum. It would be an injustice to call out one or two because each post offers some interesting nuances such as thermal shielding versus active heating. Just run a quick search for “chamber heater” and you’ll find tons of user mods.
You’re right. It’s not just red tape—Bambu’s pulled a complete 180 on direct X1E support as compared to the rest of their offering which as you know is a direct-to-consumer model. They are pushing everything through alternate sales channels. The X1E was always aimed at enterprise customers prioritizing low maintenance, reliability, ease of use, and most importantly, secure Ethernet connectivity. When IP is on the line, even the shape of a prototype part can tip off competitors. In cases involving ITAR-controlled designs, leaking a single mechanical feature could violate serious regs.
As for X1E parts availability? Forget it. While it shares a lot with the X1, try finding something like the Ethernet controller MC card on their site—it’s not there. That’s by design. Closed ecosystem. Channel control.
Honestly, if I were in the market for a new Bambu printer (which I’m not, thanks to Bambu screwing over early adopters), I’d go for the Qidi Plus4 over an X1C. It’s got everything the X1C has and more: bigger build volume, active chamber heater, 120°C bed temps, all for $800. What’s more, Qidi has embraced full support for Orca Slicer through a collaborative development effort giving the Orca volunteer team support to enhance the experience with their printers and providing regular updates. So if you like Bambu Studio, Orca is a better version and Qidi is making it possible that you don’t have to learn a new interface. Bambu on the other hand in case you haven’t been following, has essentially turned their back on the community by Blocking future network operability unless you go to their draconian bambu connect architecture as was discussed ad-nauseum in this 1,200 post thread.