2016~2023 CX-9 How-To: Fog light adjustment

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2018 CX-9 GT
I have seen a lot of people disappointed with the fog lights. I have not tried this yet but adjusting their aim may be the solution. Here are the rudimentary steps how:

1. access the back of the fog light. To do so, you can partially peel back the front over fender and then the front mud guard. (Sorry, going with the instruction here, if someone can confirm in more details what these are for others that would be great. I assume this is the bottom plastic covers behind the fog lights.)

2. Rotate the adjustment screw.

3. Mazda recommends adjusting them by having the brightness borderline of the fog light 45mm (1.8inch) below the fog light centerline (height of the fog light counterpoint on the vehicle) at a 3 m distance.(Measured on a screen 3 m away from the front of the vehicle.) But feel free to experiment lining them up perfectly horizontal

Here is a diagram of the left hand side (driver side in North America) fog light adjustment screw

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You actually don’t even need to peel the fender liner back or remove the mud guard. Right under the fog light adjustment screw is an L shaped slit in the bumper. You can push a Phillips head screw driver up through that slot and adjust them
 
These lights really should have been named "edge of the road lights." While the CX9 version is especially weak, the real purpose of all fog lights is to illuminate the road edge to help guide us.
 
From the factory my fog lights on my 2021 cx5 signature were pointing literally at the ground. After adjusting them, I added Amber lens film to give the lights more visibility in poor weather. They don’t light up the world but are considerably more useful than before.
 
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