What have you done to your Mazda5 today?

Yup. Both Motorcraft and Mazda oil filters (for MZR engine) are made by Purlator; same part with diff label/price. Thanks to platform sharing, a lot of identical parts (different catalog part number, dealer can cross check) are shared and the Ford labeled parts are always cheaper.
 
Got Precision LED interior lights and license plate lights for the 5. Map lights and dome light were barely illuminating anything that wasnt directly 2 inches below it. Made it a little rough when doing deliveries at night and trying to read tickets.

0bqf17m.jpg

sakPqUb.jpg

eQhKtUN.jpg


After:
C97jsmy.jpg

Nael1S8.jpg

5a9j32g.jpg


I think I still want to get some footwell lighting. I had it in my Corolla and it was great. I have noticed when driving at night in this car it is like I am in the abyss of endless darkness.
 
I had to replace the left rear wheel bearing today, old one was getting quite noisy. Pretty challenging getting the 4 bolts out... just a hard area to access while laying on your back.

155k miles
 
I had to install a new window. I have a black 2013 with a dark factory tint and someone broke into my car, so the one I took off the black 2.3L '07 was a little lighter colored but I'm getting a retint soon because the glass fit perfectly!
 
Got Precision LED interior lights and license plate lights for the 5. Map lights and dome light were barely illuminating anything that wasnt directly 2 inches below it. Made it a little rough when doing deliveries at night and trying to read tickets.
<..>
After:

Nael1S8.jpg


I think I still want to get some footwell lighting. I had it in my Corolla and it was great. I have noticed when driving at night in this car it is like I am in the abyss of endless darkness.

May I suggest an easy mod for the cargo area lighting?

Just wanted to share mine:
Got a silicone led strip (12v) from aliexpress for really cheap, like $5-6 including delivery. link
Then, soldered a wire directly to the strip, added some connectors, and soldered receiving connectors to the cargo light bulb (so that the switch would work). Removed the original light bulb (I also had LED there and it was not very convenient).

Installation is quite easy - just carefully tuck the led strip under the trim, it has a kind of groove for that. Use double-sided sticky tape if you wish, but in my case, it was not even necessary. Fish the wire to the connectors at the original light bulb section. You don't even need to remove the plastic trim for that, you can do this by wiggling the wire carefully.

As a result, when I open the cargo hatch at night, I don't have this super bright light shining into my eyes, but rather a soft white light covering more area. See attached pictures.
 

Attachments

  • PXL_20220325_025758189.jpg
    PXL_20220325_025758189.jpg
    66.3 KB · Views: 175
  • PXL_20220325_025810318.jpg
    PXL_20220325_025810318.jpg
    62 KB · Views: 176
May I suggest an easy mod for the cargo area lighting?

Just wanted to share mine:
Got a silicone led strip (12v) from aliexpress for really cheap, like $5-6 including delivery. link
Then, soldered a wire directly to the strip, added some connectors, and soldered receiving connectors to the cargo light bulb (so that the switch would work). Removed the original light bulb (I also had LED there and it was not very convenient).

Installation is quite easy - just carefully tuck the led strip under the trim, it has a kind of groove for that. Use double-sided sticky tape if you wish, but in my case, it was not even necessary. Fish the wire to the connectors at the original light bulb section. You don't even need to remove the plastic trim for that, you can do this by wiggling the wire carefully.

As a result, when I open the cargo hatch at night, I don't have this super bright light shining into my eyes, but rather a soft white light covering more area. See attached pictures.
Great idea! Did you buy the 1M (39") length? The dim trunk has always irked me and this is such a cheap and clever solution!
 
Last edited:
Great idea! Did you buy the 1M (39") length? The dim trunk has always irked me and this is such a cheap and cleaver solution!
Yes, the 1M length is enough. I actually had to cut it a little bit - make sure to cut at the markings between LED units, not the units themselves. I also used some glue gun stick to seal the openings instead of the plastic plugs that the strip came with.
 
So my 2013 M5 Sport is severely lacking in the options for electronic power ports. I would like to have something around the second row to plug into.

Do the higher end 5’s have accessory outlets around the second row??? I only ask because I would be more than willing to install my own if the wires are relatively close.
 
I ran an accessory port on our 2012 to the back of the center console, below the AC vents. I grabbed power from the lighter socket on the dash.
 
New rear shock mounts and shocks as it was all apart anyway. Heard a clunk and rattle after hitting a very minor bump in the road on my way home from work.

Mounts: KYB SM5619 $14.83 ea
Shocks: Monroe 5607 $35.53 ea
Both from Amazon because they were available for next day delivery.

157,700 miles.
mount.jpg
mounts.jpg
 
A few weeks ago I went around and replaced all the shocks/struts & mounts since one was definitely blown and leaking and they all felt a bit on the sloppy side - it looks like they were all still OEM parts at ~122k miles. Anyway, they all got replaced with Bilstein B4 shocks - slightly stiffer than new OEM but still appropriate for stock spring rates & ride height. They were notably stiffer and more controlled than the worn out shocks that were there before, but still provide a good ride. At the same time, I greased up the bottoms of the front springs and both sides of the rears where there was a little bit of abrasion, slid some fuel injection hose over a coil, and reinstalled into new mounts. This should better protect the ends of the springs and slightly increase the ride height (maybe 1/4" in front, 1/2" in back with two hoses) so that the van is a little more level when loaded up with a cargo carrier hanging off the rear rack.

After doing all of that, the driver's side front wheel bearing got loose (I suspect I may have caused that since I had to remove the driveshafts from the hubs to rebuild the struts on the car), but this time the drive axle nut needed to be cut off the drive axle - it had completely seized up. Then, when using one of the on-car wheel bearing pullers that you rent from auto parts stores, the wheel bearing was so rusted in place that the puller broke one of the caliper mounting ears off of the suspension knuckle!
AM-JKLVJMvg25r0fuqt5ysBy0DoABRIX93MUJYVeEN_e0pFFZ98Fcc7ZOdkHW4y5tzqmFHVl_M3bQUiTH-5Sh-oR9KGZKvv7vNoazq2he7PgTjYwwe5rrdNtCCTfIsyhrmF2J8MeY2KuAeZjWl4AHGlW3HAB=w920-h690-no


So, that's where she sits now, waiting for a new knuckle from Mazda (car-part.com didn't have any within 100 miles to pick up)
 
newly purchased 2012 Sport MT. Fresh tires, tint, and a double din touchscreen head unit *which made me rethink my life after pulling apart THE ENTIRE console and dash assy*

slapped some LEDs into the interior dome lights, sure makes the whole experience nice and fresh losing that icky yellow interior lighting.
 

Attachments

  • 20220606_084519.jpg
    20220606_084519.jpg
    184.7 KB · Views: 83
Back