What have you done to your Mazda5 today?

[Foolish]

Alright, here's pictures from the weekend:

How the bumper cover arrived:

I re-used all the grills, as there was only a tiny bit of damage to the biggest one, and the rest were fine. I did move the license plate bracket down 3/4" so it doesn't overlap the painted part, it was trapping a lot of dirt behind it on the old one. This means more holes in the big black strip at the top of the grille, but they're all behind the plate, so who cares?
Before and after installation:

The dog would like to know if we're ready to go:

The dog has plenty of room, even with the bike, luggage and kid, though of course she chooses to lay behind the dog bed cover we put down for her!:

 

[Rockin03mp5]

What happened? Were u forced to take it off?

Yup. One city around here doesnt have anything better to do.

 

[Sounbwoy]

wow... that's interesting..the person doing the tint told me that the factory tint on most vehicles is 20% which I didn't know, so I went with that. I could have probably gone darker, but I'm cool with the 20%. NC requires 35% on the front windows
On another note, the car had it's first decent long distance trip this Monday..2 hours one-way. Still waiting to calculate mileage, but other than that, it went well. The A/C coped well with the 94F degree heat, the car was decently quiet, and I'm still surprised at how the car feels like it's more powerful than it actually is. The trip had some elevation changes and it hardly ever downshifted. We encountered a heavy rainstorm most of the way back home, and the car was stable and predictable and we were all comfortable and relaxed. Wipers worked well at high speed. A good trip overall and I'm glad I have this vehicle.

 

[Rockin03mp5]

MI law is no tint on the front windows. Well, they do allow a 4 inch strip on the top, but that looks stupid. I had 20% on the fronts.

 

[DKaz]

Paint slightly mismatches. I don't know how they manage to do that, it's from the factory for cripes sakes.

 

[mpvue]

paint pigment is always changing, it's just the nature of it. I remember when my Mom would knit, and when she bought yarn, you had to match the 'dye lot', so that each skein(sp?) of yarn came from the same batch.
the only way paint will match is if they either came from the same day, or a trained painter had the opportunity to custom mix it to match.

 

[Foolish]

Paint slightly mismatches. I don't know how they manage to do that, it's from the factory for cripes sakes.

Well, this isn't from the factory, this is a stock-replacement aftermarket bumper cover (much less expensive) bought on Ebay, painted off the car and shipped. Honestly, it's close enough, and I can't even see a difference in most light. It may also look better once I get a chance to wash the car, as it sat for 2 months and is pretty dirty.

Normally, when a bodyshop does the work, they paint the bumper on or off of the car then blend from the bumper back into the hood and fenders to hide the change of color.

 

[BPboiler3]

had some lamin-x laying around from some old projects...so I put yellow lamin-x on the fogs today and lamin-x tint on my clear rear bumper reflectors...still need to do the tails at some point

im surprised how yellow the 6k fogs are now...I wasnt expecting that much of a difference

 

[Silentnoise713]

had some lamin-x laying around from some old projects...so I put yellow lamin-x on the fogs today and lamin-x tint on my clear rear bumper reflectors...still need to do the tails at some point

im surprised how yellow the 6k fogs are now...I wasnt expecting that much of a difference

Can you post some pics? I'm very interested in trying out laxmin-x to tint my tail lights to all red. Is there another way to buy them besides directly from Lamin-x? Kinda pricy if they are the only option.
http://www.lamin-x.com/Mazda-5-05-10-Tail-Light-Covers-p/m221.htm

 

[BPboiler3]

ill def post pics when I end up getting them installed (might be a few weeks)...I did buy the pre-cut for the tails...usually I buy the bulk sheets for fogs/etc...but with the size of the tail lights its cheaper to just buy the pre-cuts....fingers crossed!

 

[nftyper]

Swapped out my rear progress springs for MS3 springs, and now i have an even drop with the front progress springs. No more butt sag.

 

[j3nsmz5]

An upgrade on interior lighting to an otherwise poorly lit and very dim interior stock lighting...LEDs!! Now I can see what's on the seat or on the floor @ night!! Also clipped on a Broadway wide angle rear view mirror to help minimize blind spots. It really makes a dramatic difference.

 

[wmzda5]

Swapped out my rear progress springs for MS3 springs, and now i have an even drop with the front progress springs. No more butt sag.

I have the same setup progress on the fronts and ms3 at the back. If you compare the 2 the ms3 spring is bigger than the progress. i added some spring spacers to compensate when I am loaded.

 

[twintrbo]

It might be you, but which "these" are you talking about? lol

 

[markuszoom5]

Washed and waxed.

Washed my car with Turtle Wax soap and applied Turtle Wax ICE polish (sythetic wax) everywhere including trim and rims. Looks pretty OK.

 

[coolmazda5]

An upgrade on interior lighting to an otherwise poorly lit and very dim interior stock lighting...LEDs!! Now I can see what's on the seat or on the floor @ night!! Also clipped on a Broadway wide angle rear view mirror to help minimize blind spots. It really makes a dramatic difference.

Nice, looks good on one of those rare 07 Grand Tourings with Espresso interior

I got a 2011 Chrysler T&C as a rental the other day. LED lit interior really makes a difference

 

[KBrian]

My wife and I drove to Juneau (as much as one can 'drive' to Juneau) for a three day holiday. Took the Alaska Marine Highway (ferry) from Skagway, through Haines, and on to Juneau. We managed to drive 125 miles on the 46 miles of road that serve Juneau.

Best coastal small city we have ever visited

 

[DKaz]

^^^ Nice, quite pricey though isn't it?

My clutch is nearly gone.

 

[wmzda5]

installed a hitch for bike rack

 

[00bluees]

well for one i bought one. picked it up friday night actually. 2007 GS 5 speed in Strato Blue Mica. 114,000 km's on the clock. got it cheap so i am happy. lots of room for the 2 year old twins. and room to carry more than just 1 passenger since nobody could fit between the car seats in my protege5.

so far i have replaced the rear dome light and front interior lights with led's. the front ones i actually modified slightly with a dremel so more of the bulb poked into the housing. big difference over the old stock bulbs.