New Mazda5 Owner Checking In

Hey there Mazdas247 and Mazda5 owners!

I recently came into ownership of a 2006 Mazda5 manual *Sport?* after insurance was writing off my 2005 Toyota Corolla. My Corolla I got back in 2007 after high school, and have been my loyal daily ever since, with over 350K miles.

The Mazda5 has just 100K miles on the odometer and is in very good shape overall. It did require some work to get it to my liking. Initial test drivers I heard a horrendous clunk upon acceleration, brake pedal vibration when depressed, and clunks over the smallest bumps. I had ordered fresh new tires for it since the Cooper CS5 on the car we're 5 years old and the car had sat for at least 2-3 years. So when I had it at Firestone I took a look under it when they had it lifted and pretty much confirmed that 3 of the engine mounts were shot, control arm bushing were shot as well, and outer tie rods need some addressing too. So while they finished up mounting the new tires I had ordered the parts needed, since I still had my Corolla at the time.

Since replacing the faulty parts, I have put on just over 1000 miles over this past month. Car has been great and drives smooth. Took some getting used to the shifter and gearing for the Mazda5 compared to my Corolla.

Also I do have one major issue I need to fix with the car, and was wondering if anyone else has had this happen. The headlight have a motor that adjust the low beam housing, apparently mine is either broken or short out. So my low beams are fixed pointing down. I was looking at replacement headlamps, new ones are around $500-600 a pair, or I can get used ones for $250-300.
Is there a way to test the motor in the headlights? Also do they make any headlights that dont have the adjusting motor?
 
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You must have the HID lights, and the self leveling is broken :(

I'm sure there has got to be a way to manually move them, but I've never seen the setup up close, so I can't speak as to how to do it.
 
The car is missing OEM fog lights, it looks/sounds like the previous owner put in a pair of OEM HID headlights that come in the GT package. Car looks really good for 2006.

Have another look at your dash for a rotating dial switch that goes from 0-4(?), should be above you left knee. Hopefully the person also installed the manual switch, which controls the HID light aim, it uses manual leveling.
 
Zedebra: do you have leather seats?
No leather seats, full cloth interior. That's also why I have been curious about what trim level this is. It seems like it's the most basic model with limited options. Not sure if side skirts were a upgrade option for the 5.
 
The car is missing OEM fog lights, it looks/sounds like the previous owner put in a pair of OEM HID headlights that come in the GT package. Car looks really good for 2006.

Have another look at your dash for a rotating dial switch that goes from 0-4(?), should be above you left knee. Hopefully the person also installed the manual switch, which controls the HID light aim, it uses manual leveling.
Yeah all the switch panels on the left side of the steering wheels are blanks. So your assumption may be correct. I am also pretty sure this car had a minor fender bender in the front. Bumper is too good of a condition for how the previous owner drove. Also bumper has never been drilled for front plate.
 
No leather seats, full cloth interior. That's also why I have been curious about what trim level this is. It seems like it's the most basic model with limited options. Not sure if side skirts were a upgrade option for the 5.
It looks like the basic Sport trim to me. Judging by the cloth interior, no moonroof, no rear spoiler.

Welcome to the club!
 
Welcome and congrats on becoming a Mazda5 owner, @zedebra! Please keep us updated if possible, always great to see older Mazdas still being well cared for and enjoyed..😁
 
Welcome and congrats on becoming a Mazda5 owner, @zedebra! Please keep us updated if possible, always great to see older Mazdas still being well cared for and enjoyed..😁
Will do, gonna see if I can either hunt down a set of regular HID housing head lights, or maybe even looking into retrofitting my car with proper switch/relay from a GT trim for the head lights.
Gonna replace spark plugs, air filter, cabin air filter, Seafoam, and oil change today. She is getting the works.
 
Yup, if the headlight housings have the motors it means someone swapped them out with the OEM HID housings. Don’t get rid of those, they’re actually good projectors. You can manually level them, though I can’t remember how. I know years ago there were people with Mz3’s that releveled their OEM HID lamps so that they gained a higher position. Basically marked where the “level” position of the beam was on a wall, then dialed the adjuster knob down one setting, then manually changed the position until they were level again with the previous marks. That way they could aim them up when driving out in the country vs. using the halogen high beams.

It’s possible the wire up the motors and put the switch inside. If you decide to buy all OEM parts it will likely cost you more, but it is doable.
 
Yup, if the headlight housings have the motors it means someone swapped them out with the OEM HID housings. Don’t get rid of those, they’re actually good projectors. You can manually level them, though I can’t remember how. I know years ago there were people with Mz3’s that releveled their OEM HID lamps so that they gained a higher position. Basically marked where the “level” position of the beam was on a wall, then dialed the adjuster knob down one setting, then manually changed the position until they were level again with the previous marks. That way they could aim them up when driving out in the country vs. using the halogen high beams.

It’s possible the wire up the motors and put the switch inside. If you decide to buy all OEM parts it will likely cost you more, but it is doable.
Good to know, I will do some research and see if I find anything. I will post some picture tomorrow of the headlights currently on the car to see if yall can offer any feedback on them as well.
 
Okay, those are regular headlights, not HID.

I will bet you dollars to donuts that whomever installed the bulbs failed to correctly snap the holder in place. For someone who isn't used to them, it can be tricky.

Correctly fasten the bulbs, I bet that solves all of your issues!
 
Okay, those are regular headlights, not HID.

I will bet you dollars to donuts that whomever installed the bulbs failed to correctly snap the holder in place. For someone who isn't used to them, it can be tricky.

Correctly fasten the bulbs, I bet that solves all of your issues!
I will take a deeper look when I get home. The rubber housing was off a little bit and I snapped it back on. Do you have any reference photos or diagrams by chance? Never dealt with HIDs before, so not entirely sure the origin the lights should be fastened.
 
Again, those aren't HID burners. Those are regular old H7 halogen bulbs.

Look at this website. Replace the Headlight Bulb on a Mazda 3
Not sure why my dad said he couldn't adjust them. I got home after work and got a screwdriver out and just kept turning the adjustment dial, lights eventually went up. After a few attempt I got it to a nice even level.
Photo was from the first adjustment. They were now aimed a tad too high, so I lowered the level down a tad and did another lap around the neighborhood, much better.
Also saw on the Mazda3 forums some had swapped the halogens for a LED headlight kit, would that be better with these halogen projectors?
 

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As to what theblooms said the 1st gen Mazda 5 (and Mazda 3, and probably lots of other Mazda models) had a really terrible low beam lamp retention system. I refer to it as Satan’s headlamp retention clip. The common errors which occur are:
- not having the tab on the H7 lamp base lined up with the notch on the projector which can make the lamp stick into the projector at an angle
- not getting the retention clip all the way seated……. The trick is to hold the lamp stable with the tab in the notch, get the end of the clip seated over the adapter/spacer on the lamp, then quickly push the locking end in (towards the front of the car), and up. If you try to do it slowly or carefully it’s damn near impossible. Gotta go in like you mean it.

So double check the lamp position because if the lamp was pointed wonky in the housing then you want to fix that, and not just aim the projector upwards.

Back to your adjustment question, obviously you can adjust the lights up. There are two adjustment bolts you can turn, one of them being the big goldish one in your pictures. If you didn’t do it this way just note you can stick a Phillips screwdriver into that plastic slot and turn the toothy washer vs. getting a socket or wrench onto the head of the bolt.

Not sure why my dad said he couldn't adjust them. I got home after work and got a screwdriver out and just kept turning the adjustment dial, lights eventually went up. After a few attempt I got it to a nice even level.
Photo was from the first adjustment. They were now aimed a tad too high, so I lowered the level down a tad and did another lap around the neighborhood, much better.
Also saw on the Mazda3 forums some had swapped the halogens for a LED headlight kit, would that be better with these halogen projectors?

Headlight swaps are a bit of a loaded topic. You can do a kit install of either HIDs or LEDs. Please note however that halogen housings aren’t designed around the light production of either of those types of lamps. Doesn’t mean they’re terrible (sometimes), but you won’t get the same results you would out of a real HID or LED system. The halogen projectors Mazda uses aren’t bad. My ‘05 Mz3 I did some modifications to my halogen projectors, and installed a HID kit. (Swapped the frosted lens for a clear lens, cut off a tab on the projector shield which caused light spill above the cutoff, painted the shield black to reduce above cutoff glare, and spaced the projector from the lens to give a little more optical blue flashing from the angles). It provided for some pretty impressively improved lighting, but still not anywhere the same solid light distribution of a HID projector.

My only experience with swapping LED lamps into a halogen housing is on my wife’s prius C. She had one winter where it seemed like I was replacing a headlamp every other week. I was being super careful, not touching anything, etc., but they just kept blowing. It was the time of year where she was commuting in the dark twice a day, and I didn’t want her to have both lamps blow while she was driving an hour. Stuck a set of Morimoto LEDs (with an active magnetic fan) in specifically to try and get better longevity. The light is whiter, and is very slightly brighter. Also a little better light distribution in the light beam. But again, those got installed for the purposes of not burning out all the time. I’ve had them in for a little less than two years with no issue.
 
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