Just bought 2008.5 True Red MS3

[lei514]

Just bought a new 2008.5 True Red MS3 sport from the dealer, with about 100 miles from test drives.

Paid $19.7k + TTL. This may be a bit on the high side, but that included Lojack, tint, and bluetooth. Be careful buying from Galpin Mazda, those guys are slimy! They tried every trick in the book. If they weren't the only guys in LA with 2008.5 still on the lot, I'd gone somewhere else long ago.

Now I am a complete noob at car mods. But I am good at doing my research. I've lined up about $4k of accessories, and already spent $1k in 1 week lol.

Things I've done this past week:

Side strips delete
Full synthetic oil change (royal purple 5w30), dirtied up Rose bowl parking lot.
LED swap - map, glove, interior, trunk, reverse, rear turns.
Rear bumper plate
Brake Calipers - painted red
Rallyarmor Mud Flaps - Only put on the front pair

Orders in the mail:

TWM shifter bushings
CP-E 60 duro motor mount
Dashhawk
Colonite auto wax
HID kit from xenoneyes
Hella supertone

Future:
CAI, turbo inlet, BPV, TMIC, wheels, all season tires, etc.

I got some questions for you experienced people!

 

[Cataphract_40]

fire away!

oh..and congrats on your decision!!

 

[lei514]

questions

A few questions:

Brake calipers - The standard pepboys/autozone red paint kit is a darker red than the car color. Any of you guys noticed this? Seems like I have to go buy a brighter red to make it stand out.

Motor mount - I don't want the car to vibrate at ALL. I am definitely pro-comfort. It seems the CPE 60 duro is the only one that lasts and matches this criteria?

HID upgrade for sport headlights - I assume I have to remove the bumper for this, and it's a multi hour job. I didn't see an install/review guide anywhere, anyone better at search than I am?

LEDs - I ordered the standard ones from that other thread. However the LEDs seem DIMMER than the stock yellows. I will take photos with proof, but that isn't good.

Rear mud flaps - Rally armor looks good, but I'm in southern LA.... I want to keep gravel away from the paint but rear mud flaps overkill? anyone else have them in sunny CA?

Dashhawk - It seems the HP monitoring saves one a trip to the dyno? Anyone have one, and is it accurate with HP monitoring?

 

[Cataphract_40]

Brake calipers - Haven't painted mine, but I have heard very good things about the G2 paint kit, it seems to be a nice bright red.

Motor mount - Can't really give you too much info about this one, having only owned one aftermarket mount, the street unit one. I didn't really notice much additional vibration after installing it, only a slight tremor in the steering wheel.

HID upgrade - can't help you there at all, I have a GT. I would recommend looking for a FMIC install guide. You have to remove the front bumper to install a FMIC, so I'd say that is your best bet.

LEDs - All my interior lights are still stock, can't help you there.

Rear mud flaps - I think rear mudflaps would look great. Not a CA resident though.

Daskhawk - Don't own one, so I can't help you there. Neither the dashhawk nor Accessport's HP estimating software is any substitute for a real dyno run, though. From what I gather, it 'guesses' your horsepower by measuring your acceleration, and this can be thrown off by a number of things...for example, if you've got a lot of extra weight in the car.

I hope this helps - keep asking questions! And welcome to the boards and the Mazdaspeed world once more!

 

[ms3kar]

Check out the CorkSport inserts for your motor mount needs... They work well, they're super cheap, and probably the least vibrate-y option...

 

[Hank3]

LEDs - although they look white, they will seem not as useful as stock yellow bulbs. Part of the trade-off of having cool-looking LEDs.

HIDs - taking off the front bumper is takes 15-20 minutes. Hardest part after that will be finding the proper location to mount the HID ballasts. It's been done A LOT of times by regular Mazda3 owners, as well as Speed3 Sport owners. I couldn't envision it taking more than an hour to an hour and a half. I've taken off the bumper a handful of times now to work on my GT lights (baking them open and re-sealing) them.

Motor Mount - I was WAY Pro comfort and was hesitant on doing something to the motor mounts but the Corksport Inserts are the best choice by far. The vibrations are all but non-existent. They're easy to install/uninstall so that was my safety net. If I didn't like the end result, I knew I could take it off in a cinch. But it's been on for months now and I'd say 95% of the time I dn't even realize that there's any extra vibration. It's most noticeable when the AC is on - and even then, it's hardly noticeable. It's cheap and effective.

 

[dizzin9]

if you want bright LEDs, google v-leds. it's on ebay too. i even have a coupon if you want.

 

[lei514]

Great info. I ordered a CPe 60 duro motor mount already, hopefully that's comfortable enough, heard good things about that too.

I figure removing the bumper won't be too hard, as long as there isn't any other gotchas with a HID install.

if you want bright LEDs, google v-leds. it's on ebay too. i even have a coupon if you want.

I'll check that out, coupon would be great!

 

[bigdaddy]

Nice...me too, I just mine 2 days ago! Same color!

 

[lei514]

Nice...me too, I just mine 2 days ago! Same color!

2 days ago? And you already have the CAI and CBE on it? Done at dealer right? Otherwise you're fast lol.

 

[lei514]

As I promised here are some pics of before/after. I'll do the LEDs first.

Overall, the LEDs feel dimmer, because the white color seems cooler. However the camera shows more clarity with the cool led light. Also the colors of items are much closer to daylight lit rather than yellow lit.

First set: Mix of old bulb/new led on map lights: (7440 W6)

Second set: Old bulb and new led on dome light:

Trunk light:

Reverse lights: The white color is definitely better looking, but still it's dimmer in light area. Mix/old/new:

 

[Hank3]

Hmmm...don't know about the reverse lights. Always thought the stock yellow was fine and dandy.

 

[gonerogue]

Congrats! Welcome to the TR MS3 family

 

[sleeper3]

I'll tell you one thing... the LED trunk light makes your trunk look way cleaner.

 

[MaikuMS3]

I bought mine (Sport trim 2009) a few days ago in White. Paid about 22k included everything. Was gonna get a red one but didnt get the deal i wanted. But i love white too!

Question:
I am getting HID light for my headlights and each low, high and fog lights require its own ballast right? just want to make sure.

where do you guys put your ballasts at usually?

thx

 

[Captain KRM P5]

welcome to the forums!!! let me know if you need anything

 

[TRDMS3]

you just got it off the lot already with a huge list of mods in mind, nicely done

 

[03.5-dc-speed]

theres no reason of removing the bumper for H.I.D's! unless you have big hands but it took me 20-30 minutes to do mine!

 

[sleeper3]

I bought mine (Sport trim 2009) a few days ago in White. Paid about 22k included everything. Was gonna get a red one but didnt get the deal i wanted. But i love white too!

Question:
I am getting HID light for my headlights and each low, high and fog lights require its own ballast right? just want to make sure.

where do you guys put your ballasts at usually?

thx

you don't need high beam HIDs. Just do the headlamps and the fogs. And yes, each bulb will need a ballast.

 

[mazdaspeedster3]

Just bought a new 2008.5 True Red MS3 sport from the dealer, with about 100 miles from test drives.

Paid $19.7k + TTL. This may be a bit on the high side, but that included Lojack, tint, and bluetooth. Be careful buying from Galpin Mazda, those guys are slimy! They tried every trick in the book. If they weren't the only guys in LA with 2008.5 still on the lot, I'd gone somewhere else long ago.

Now I am a complete noob at car mods. But I am good at doing my research. I've lined up about $4k of accessories, and already spent $1k in 1 week lol.

Things I've done this past week:

Side strips delete
Full synthetic oil change (royal purple 5w30), dirtied up Rose bowl parking lot.
LED swap - map, glove, interior, trunk, reverse, rear turns.
Rear bumper plate
Brake Calipers - painted red
Rallyarmor Mud Flaps - Only put on the front pair

Orders in the mail:

TWM shifter bushings
CP-E 60 duro motor mount
Dashhawk
Colonite auto wax
HID kit from xenoneyes
Hella supertone

Future:
CAI, turbo inlet, BPV, TMIC, wheels, all season tires, etc.

I got some questions for you experienced people!

Welcome. Question for you: What blue tooth are you talking about that was available for your car?