Important questions regarding differences between NA and EU 2016 CX-5 (export)

[Lovski]

Hi!

I am planning to buy a 2016 CX-5 GT with the Technology and i-Activesense packages in New Jersey either this week or the next. I am also planning to export it to Europe at some point (selling the NA car and buying it in Europe is not an option).

I would really appreciate some insight from experts on the following items. I believe the things I will need to "fix" upon exporting the car are the following:

Navigation: Will it be as easy as replacing the NA SD card with an EU SD card?
Radio: Does the NA Radio support RDS or European frequencies? If not, is it easy to replace the radio with an EU radio?
Speedometer: I understand the speedometer reads out KPH and MPH. If I choose to replace the instrument cluster with an EU version, will the display on the right of the cluster still work and will my miles traveled automatically convert to kilometers traveled?
Climate control: The temperature will show Fahrenheit. Is it easy to change this to Celsius?
Rear fog light: This must be installed in order to have the car approved for the European roads. I have searched the forums but have not found anything on a successful install in a bottom rear reflector. Could anyone point me in the right direction?
Front orange light permanently on: In Europe the front lights cannot be orange. They must blink when the indicators are on, but when the indicators are off, the orange light should be off. Does anyone know how to change this on the 2016 LEDs?

Many thanks in advance for your help! I can't wait to join your ranks !

 

[boandlkramer]

Many global vehicles are prepared for the rear fog light. I know that for BMW it's a simple as replacing the light control switch. VW as well.

I'm not sure about Mazda though. Sorry I couldn't be of more help.

If you're going to Europe as a DoD civilian or Military, you don't have to change anything.


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[Lovski]

Many thanks for your swift reply! I am also hoping it is as easy as installing a bulb in the reflector housing, but where would the switch on the steering wheel be...

I'm not going as a DoD civilian or military, so the vehicle must really meet all requirements.

 

[boandlkramer]

plus they will screw you on taxes at the zoll/customs/import

I bought a NA CX-5 and had it shipped to me in Germany.

To add to the radio/navi question.

I was quoted >400€ for the Europe Nav data. I even tried in this forum to get it for cheaper. No luck

The radio works fine, but the only bug is the "genre" apparently, almost ever station is "country" in Germany. [emoji23]


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[yrwei52]

I am planning to buy a 2016 CX-5 GT with the Technology and i-Activesense packages in New Jersey either this week or the next. I am also planning to export it to Europe at some point (selling the NA car and buying it in Europe is not an option).

Unfortunately with Mazda's "penny wise and pound foolish" attitude on NA/US CX-5, you're not going to find any extras or pre-laid wiring for any features not offered for the region.

I would really appreciate some insight from experts on the following items. I believe the things I will need to "fix" upon exporting the car are the following:
Navigation: Will it be as easy as replacing the NA SD card with an EU SD card?

I'm not 100% sure but should be.

Radio: Does the NA Radio support RDS or European frequencies? If not, is it easy to replace the radio with an EU radio?

If you're talking about the Bose system, it does have RDS for NA/US version. But the FM frequencies are different in some EU countries than the US. I would stay with a base audio system and replace the head unit in Europe.

Speedometer: I understand the speedometer reads out KPH and MPH. If I choose to replace the instrument cluster with an EU version, will the display on the right of the cluster still work and will my miles traveled automatically convert to kilometers traveled?

NA/US version CX-5 does have a vehicle setup screen to change the instrument/HVAC displays between standard/British/US system and metric system. You should be able to change every display from miles/Fahrenheit to Kilometer/Celsius with proper conversion from old data. The only thing you can't change is the larger miles/small kilometer scale on speedometer.

Climate control: The temperature will show Fahrenheit. Is it easy to change this to Celsius?

Yes, it's easy. See above.

Rear fog light: This must be installed in order to have the car approved for the European roads. I have searched the forums but have not found anything on a successful install in a bottom rear reflector. Could anyone point me in the right direction?

There is a reason why you couldn't find anything for adding rear fog light on NA/US CX-5 because it's very difficult to do. There is nothing on pre-wiring for rear fog light. You have to get the rear fog housing (available), lay the wire (not easy but doable), and get a complete Euro headlight stalk switch with rear-fog light capability (expensive and not available in the US). The OEM rear fog switch embedded with headlight stalk switch is not a simple on/off switch. It's spring-loaded so that it's defaulted to off position according to EU regulation. In other words, you can't use an aftermarket stand-alone on-off switch to control the rear fog.

Front orange light permanently on: In Europe the front lights cannot be orange. They must blink when the indicators are on, but when the indicators are off, the orange light should be off. Does anyone know how to change this on the 2016 LEDs?

Yeah not many people in the US aware this regulation in EU as most car manufactures use the same location for front parking/turn-signal/side-marker with a multipurpose dual-filament amber bulb for NA/US market to save cost. The result of this the front amber turn-signal is in bright-dim-btight-dim fashion when parking lights are on, which makes the turn-signal flashing less distinctive as in on-off-on-off fashion. This is against the Euro standard because the amber turn-signal has to be in on-off-on-off fashion even during the night. In some countries even the DRL needs to be off when the turn-signal is flashing. Put in the simple way, DRLs, parking lights, and turn signals have to be functionally independent and not to interfere each other.

If you have LED headlights, you have LED DRLs. This LED DRLs also serve as parking lights in other regions as they don't have amber parking lights. You can easily convert the NA/US parking/turn-signal/side-marker by cutting 7444NA dual-filament bulb contacts off for parking light and side marker. This disable the US front amber parking lights as well as side markers, and the turn-signals will always be functioning in on-off-on-off fashion to meet EU standard. I did this conversion on our CX-5 and it works perfectly.

Of course you can use switch-back 7440 LEDs to achieve the similar result but with white parking lights. In addition to hyper-flash issue, the concern I have is CX-5's 7444 bulb socket is a little different from 7440/7443 and you can't plug in the single-filament 7440NA which was my original plan to do this conversion.

In summary, I wouldn't consider transferring a NA/US CX-5 to Europe, as all the conversions required to meet EU regulations, and we haven't mentioned different emission standards, even if it's possible, may cost too much to you!

 

[Lovski]

Wow thank you for your amazing reply! I will read it again in further detail later today. The advantage of buying it in NA as opposed to Europe is that the CX-5 I'm looking at is roughly USD 31,000. The exact same car in Europe would cost USD 50,000. I do not have to worry about taxes.

On the rear fog lights, perhaps it is possible to "attach" the rear fog light wire to the front fog light wire so the rear fog light is turned on whenever I turn on the front fog lights. I'll look up if it is allowed under European regulations whether the fog lights should be able to be operated separately.

As far as the front orange lights (sorry if I did not use the correct terminology ) :

You can easily convert the NA/US parking/turn-signal/side-marker by cutting 7444NA dual-filament bulb contacts off for parking light and side marker. This disable the US front amber parking lights as well as side markers, and the turn-signals will always be functioning in on-off-on-off fashion to meet EU standard. I did this conversion on our CX-5 and it works perfectly.

This seems like I would be able to disable the "always on" functionality, but still be able to have the orange indicators turn on and off when they need to. That sounds exactly like what I need!

 

[boandlkramer]

Why not just lease? I get mailers from the German Dealership where I get mine serviced. They have some pretty enticing deals.

 

[yrwei52]

Wow thank you for your amazing reply! I will read it again in further detail later today. The advantage of buying it in NA as opposed to Europe is that the CX-5 I'm looking at is roughly USD 31,000. The exact same car in Europe would cost USD 50,000. I do not have to worry about taxes.

Cars in the US are cheap comparing to most other countries in the world. Depending on which country you're going to, like boandlkramer mentioned, you're going to pay heavy taxes/customs in addition to expensive conversion costs, unless you smuggle the CX-5 into that country.

On the rear fog lights, perhaps it is possible to "attach" the rear fog light wire to the front fog light wire so the rear fog light is turned on whenever I turn on the front fog lights. I'll look up if it is allowed under European regulations whether the fog lights should be able to be operated separately.

I believe you have to have a separate rear fog light switch with the default to off position whenever you turn off the car. Actually there is another issue. There is no front and rear fog indicators in the instrument cluster on NA/US CX-5 due to Mazda's "penny wise and pound foolish" attitude. I believe these indicators are required in EU too.

As far as the front orange lights (sorry if I did not use the correct terminology ) :
This seems like I would be able to disable the "always on" functionality, but still be able to have the orange indicators turn on and off when they need to. That sounds exactly like what I need!

Yeah, this one is easy to convert if you have LED headlights. In non-US markets where the turn-signal has to be stand-alone, the CX-5 uses single-filament 7440NA bulb at front to serve one purpose, turn-signal. The LED DRLs are served as parking lights. So cutting off the contact of dual-filament 7444NA bulb used on NA/US market to disable the amber front parking light and side markers is the easiest way to do. Just to make sure you cut the correct contact which is for thinner filament (less wattage) served as parking light and side marker.

 

[Lovski]

Tax really is not an issue, as I can import the car tax-free if I have owned it for at least six months in the US. As it stands, I need the car this week as I will return in August.

Many thanks for all your replies, I'll be sure to check back in if I have other questions .

 

[boandlkramer]

You're right about the light control. You can see additional options on the Euro control. I'm not sure how hard it would be to change out the control stick.

EURO

NA

 

[Lovski]

Thanks for that!! I'm already planning to install paddle shifters (just for the heck of it), so mayyybe this would not be such a difficult addition if the wiring is properly set up. Thanks again!!

 

[yrwei52]

You're right about the light control. You can see additional options on the Euro control. I'm not sure how hard it would be to change out the control stick.
EURO

The Euro version speedometer should look like this without any mile scale. You can barely see the rear fog position beneath the front fog on the headlight switch stalk. You have to turn on the front fog lights before the rear fog, and it's spring-loaded so that the switch can't stay on the rear fog position, hence the front/rear fog light indicators are needed in the instrument cluster so that the driver can tell if the front or front/rear fog lights are on as the switch position can't tell.

 

[yrwei52]

Tax really is not an issue, as I can import the car tax-free if I have owned it for at least six months in the US. As it stands, I need the car this week as I will return in August.

Yeah I know some people doing this kind of business by importing a "used" vehicle to avoid heavy new car taxes. But most I've seen is for luxury car segment otherwise with all the costs the profit margin becomes very slim. For example imported top-of-line CX-5 diesel sold by Mazda in Taiwan costs about US$40K. So there is not much left for all the transportation, certification, conversion fees, as well as customs and used taxes.

I'm already planning to install paddle shifters (just for the heck of it), so mayyybe this would not be such a difficult addition if the wiring is properly set up.

You can inquire the headlights switch with rear fog from japanparts.com. They can get whatever parts you want with reasonable price such as the non-US spec low-profile rearseat headrests. Heck may be the tall US rear headrests are illegal in EU?!

It's a good idea to do the paddle shifters and rear fog switch at the same time; and getting both parts from the same source. Make sure to take some pictures and do a write-up as you'd be the first to do the rear fog light here!

 

[mriber]

Out of curiosity, which country are you travelling to? The tax rules does differs between the different countries.

For example in Denmark it would be unavoidable to pay taxes on the car if you import it (150% of the value) - even though you have owed it for x months.

 

[Chris_Top_Her]

You can also just buy the LED rear fog light (available in OEM color) from Taiwan. There is nothing special about wiring or installing it. The OEM reflector is held in with 3 Philips screws. Easy access to it by removing the rear wheel and opening a compartment. You don't need to buy a special stalk or anything. You can simply wire it directly to the rear light (wire tap), or wire it directly to a front fog light. There are multiple grommets in the rear (and above the fog light location) for running wiring into the car, so if you choose to tap the fog light wire, you can run it through the inside, and though the firewall, or under the car above the underbody cover. You could also just add a $2 toggle switch if you want them independent.

 

[yrwei52]

You can also just buy the LED rear fog light (available in OEM color) from Taiwan. There is nothing special about wiring or installing it. The OEM reflector is held in with 3 Philips screws. Easy access to it by removing the rear wheel and opening a compartment. You don't need to buy a special stalk or anything. You can simply wire it directly to the rear light (wire tap), or wire it directly to a front fog light. There are multiple grommets in the rear (and above the fog light location) for running wiring into the car, so if you choose to tap the fog light wire, you can run it through the inside, and though the firewall, or under the car above the underbody cover. You could also just add a $2 toggle switch if you want them independent.

This is fine in the US as there is no regulation for rear fog light. But the OP is transporting his CX-5 to Europe where the rear fog light regulation is different.

 

[Lovski]

Yeah I know some people doing this kind of business by importing a "used" vehicle to avoid heavy new car taxes. But most I've seen is for luxury car segment otherwise with all the costs the profit margin becomes very slim. For example imported top-of-line CX-5 diesel sold by Mazda in Taiwan costs about US$40K. So there is not much left for all the transportation, certification, conversion fees, as well as customs and used taxes.

He, I'm not in it for the profit. Just a beautiful car at a discount from EU prices . I plan to keep it for a long time.

Out of curiosity, which country are you travelling to? The tax rules does differs between the different countries.

The Netherlands. If you are outside the country for at least 12 months and own the vehicle at least 6 months prior to returning, you can import it tax free. You must keep the vehicle at least 12 months after returning to the Netherlands, but seeing as I want to keep this car for a long time, that won't be a problem!

Now to make more calls to NJ and NY dealers...

 

[Chris_Top_Her]

This is fine in the US as there is no regulation for rear fog light. But the OP is transporting his CX-5 to Europe where the rear fog light regulation is different.

The regulation is that he needs a fog light.. the light itself is nothing special and the bulb isn't either. Some people just add cheap ebay rectangle lights to vehicles that dont have them to be compliant (tacky). A toggle switch serves the same function as the oem stalk.

 

[Lovski]

True, and maybe I'll even take it off after the inspection is over. I'll research some options.

 

[bmninada]

I asked around for you. Double check your country you're going to. But imported car has some leeway in terms of regulations. Also - some other laws. For example - you may be okay for some XX months NOT to have rear fog lights, as its an US imported car where this is NOT a mandate. The idea being - US dealer can not know how or what to install and if forced you'll jimmy it / ghetto it and that'll cause more issues. Thus, the idea is to give the importer a chance to import as-is and then do it using the now local dealer who's well aware of what's involved. Also, if the local dealer in EU determines its not possible, for example the wiring's not there, the bumper itself is different and can't hold the housing, etc., then you'll get a document stating likewise and then you can go to after-market/ghetto/jimmy solutions, again you'll have time to implement it.