Project: 2008 5 Sport

Oh boy they definitely are bright enough for me! Especially the driver side headlight that beams like a 2000 watt searchlight! :D I would love to have both of my headlights beam like that. Guess this is the really fun part about mods, the tweaking, repositioning, all the fooling around, and eventually getting it right. Please do post your results as it will help the rest of us get it right. :)
 
After fiddling with several ultrastars, I know how much fun it is to get both the bulb sitting like it should, as well as getting the wire spring clip to the correct second position.(drunk)
 
Yah the bulbs are slightly out of position... you really have to get the retainer clip to secure the bulb. It took me about three frustrating tries, but the end result should be a bright uniform light with not bright spots except a teeny one just around the centre of the cutoff. Good luck!!!

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Daryl, Welcome and whoa,
youve had some problems
already, whoaza.

And there is prolly NO way I could convince the GF to go that low, lol.

Whoa, okay my perverted
mind went off track there,
I was thinking are we talking
about cars or what we wish
our wives and GF will do, man
I need to get some tonight,
ya think? :)

I see some pretty cool m5s on here.

Stickers makes mine go faster !

1008773l.jpg


Oh and the front grill
mod is one of my FAV
on mine:

1008836.jpg


Hmm.... I wonder if any[o]ne wants them?

Mail them for free, sure :)

the entire middle row was SOAKED with water. And now starting to smell a little mildewy.

Umm. DID YOU use a shop
wet/dry vac and suck all that
water out? ! !

Dude, youre going to have
one nasty smelling car in a
month or so, wait until the
floor boards start to rust out,
thatll be fun.

Id pull all seats out, lift out
the carpet and clean that out
and put a coat of wax on the
floor boards and NOT wipe off
excess, leave it there for protection,
put the carpet and seats back in.
THAT IS WHAT I WOULD DO, it's your
car.., so good luck in whatever you do,

Id buy company stock in those
little pine tree air fresheners. :)


images


The thing that bothers me is when I took it in he seemed like I was wasting his time, Kinda like, ya ya, ill fix it, get out of here, type of attitude.

LOL! Yeah, because he should
do what I described above and
its an ALL DAY project and so
hes just blowing ya off so you
dont THINK about what I said.
(attn)


Since this car is under warranty for 30 days from the Toyota dealer we bought it from, then it will transfer over to Mazda for the remainder. Ill just wait for anymore fixes.

WHAT?? !!

1. Id stick it to the Toyota
guys for all ya can, THEY sold
you the car and DID NOT check
it 100%, that water issue could
have been FOUND OUT if they
did a real road and drive test, etc.

2. Go to the Mazda dealer and
ASK THEM what they WILL and
WILL NOT cover, then go BACK
TO the TOYOTA guys and say,
hey, FIX THIS NOW.

[HID topic] Im a bit disappointed.

A bit? Id just chime in here and say,
You get what you pay for IMO
aftermarket HID are JUNK, that is
a major functioning item on your
car, and 10% off and free shipping
is NOT what you want to be relying
on when driving IMO.

So right after the shoot I decided to try and wiggle the Pass bulb and boy did it make a difference! It wasnt seated properly like I had thought. So as I was fooling around with it the bulb died. :( I hope I didnt fugg it up. Ill check it out tomorrow.

Umm how did it go? *cricket cricket* *Hello?*

Peace!(rei)
 
We got a little bit of an Emergency here....

It turns out that when we lock the car either key fob or any other way, the hatch DOESNT LOCK!

Anyone know how or WTF is going on here?
 
If the hatch is not completely closed, it will not lock, but likely, neither will any other doors.
 
This may seem kinda basic but I know I've had similar problems when I've had a small piece of fabric or shopping bag in the latch for the hatch. It allowed the door to close but not lock.
 
Thanks for the heads up. It has not happen to our mazda5. But I think it is a flaw. And a security issue. Mazda should have included a 'manual locking' mechanism to the hatch for emergency situations. Just like the manual lock lever on each of the doors.
 
OK, I fixed it.

I pulled off the back panel to access the locking mechanism and thank go dit was something simple.

The harness was unplugged. So I have come to the concllusion that sometimr in our 5s life the rear has been taken apart. I just wish I knew why.

I also noticed this...
1008-1.jpg


3 unplugged clips. I assume the one on the right is for the reverse camera?
As for the 2 on the left, Im hoping someone can answer that for me.
 
can you check the labels on the connectors?

Here's what I found so far from the wiring diagram:

===
connector 0920-310 is for backup camera

connector 0914-509 request switch(liftgate) (keyless entry)

connector 0914-506 keyless antenna (liftgate)

connector 0914-105 liftgate lock actuator
connector 0918-902 liftgate latch switch.

===
 
Ok Its been awhile since I have updated anything on here.

What I have done since the last update:

Fixed the HIDs so they sat correctly in the housing and know they are BRIGHT and even!

I removed the rear "MAZDA5" and flying M emblems. Blacked out the M and Not too sure what I wanna do with the "MAZDA5" yet so I have it off for now. There is 2 small alignment dimples for it so maybe I will see how much it cost to get those filled in. I like the clean No emblem look.

Got a letter from the DMV saying my custom plate was denied "5UPRMCY" because you cannot swap a letter with a number because it could potentially screw up a officer trying to read your plate. And unfortunately "SUPRMCY" was already taken. It was actually my gfs idea to replace the "S" with a "5" which I thought was very fitting for the vehicle. Its a shame it didnt fly. So now she is just running a normal plate until I think of something else.

Since my Nissan is out of comission right now and it shares alot of the same bulbs as the 5 I swapped the LED bulbs over.

So now the Map lights and license plate lights are Cool white LEDs(2thumbs)

Pics of said Mods will be posted at a later time.
 
Oh NO!

Car was broken into last night. Rear passenger door, small window broken. Nothing stolen.

Looks like it was pryed with a blade of some sort. tryed sliding it up to pop the glass out and it shattered. Alot of the glass was held together by the tint but the small amount that didnt stick to the glass went EVERYWHERE! Lame.

I also now realize that the keyless entry alarm thing on this car, isnt really an alarm at all.
If you press lock twice till you hear the horn, then open the door from the inside........ nothing happens! WTF?!?!?!

Time for a real alarm.
Bummed out.I feel like I owe the car an apology.
 
Update....

I installed new front pads and rotors today. Unfortunately the pads looked brand new still but the rotors were at the minimum thickness so I had to replace them. I figured Id replace them both since I was at it.

Also did an oil change.

Coming up on 60k, so Im wondering what I should tune up then. The Trans is acting a little awkward. The up-shift into 4th is rough 75% of the time. Real jerky. Im hoping its just time for a flush.

Anyone experience anything like this with the trans? I have the auto 5 speed.
 
Picture Update!!!

HIDs Fixed and operating perfectly!
03-10161.jpg


Bright White LED plate lights
03-10167.jpg


OEM Dome light compared to Bright White LED Map lights
03-10166.jpg

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Amplifier coming soon, So Im taking care of the wiring now. Power wire thru the firewall ( Im guessing this is where the clutch pedal would be)
03-10164.jpg


Side skirt mock up, this is still not complete
before:
03-10158.jpg

After:
03-10157.jpg


Blacked out trunk emblems
03-10155.jpg

And stoopid alignment holes
03-10151.jpg


Just seeing how much work is involved in Baking and blacking the head lights. This is also coming soon
03-10146.jpg


While I was at it I messed around with the grill and blacked out the emblem.
03-10148.jpg


I think I actually like the black grill, This might be another coming soon project.
03-10150.jpg


Anyway, I painted the emblem for now
03-10153.jpg



ANd thats all for this update.


Stuff on my mind at the moment:
Blacked headlights and tailights
Black roof
Black grill
Finish Side skirt install
Bump in the trunk:)
 
You bought from a Toyota dealer, right? If they warrantied the 5, they will fix what is covered, or pay to have it fixed.

My last car was bought from a Toyota dealer. 4 year old Mercury Sable that included a 3 year bumper to bumper warranty from Toyota Motor Company.

Had the thermostat and the rear calipers replaced under warranty. Just took it to service at the selling dealer and showed the manager the warranty. No problems.
 
This brings up a slightly off-topic question: Anyone know how to safely remove the chrome M badge from the steering wheel? I've been blinded a couple of times now by the reflection of the badge.
 
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