Just think to post this msg here in hoping it will be helpful for some members here.
I have compiled a HOW-TO for the Oz mazda forum and for RHD. But hopefully it should give you a hint or two. Also need to thank Donny for supplying me the replacement inverter in no time and no question ask to fix my oneside DDE car rather quickly.
For those who wants the Beemer looking front and thinking of doing the mod, the task seems a bit daunting but after starting it, it seems to be not as bad.....so here I hope it helps you to make the move as it is well worth the effort. Just one note I will like to make is, due to the silicone involves, please allow the whole weekend ( 2 days ) for your project.
First of all, the tools you need:
8mm socket
10mm socket
medium socket extension
long socket extension ----the longest you can find :smile:
philips head screwdriver
TORX 20 bit ( this is the most unusual item, but not sure exactly the type of the tip as I got a set of these tips around, but I have seen someone report it to be different ( 25bit ? ) but failed to find the thread that I saw it. But regardless plese make sure you have a set ready to use)
flat head screwdriver
long nose plier
cable/wire cutter
plenty of zipties
hair blower/heatgun ....if you have one
cotten glove
drill
small drill bit....about 2-3 mm
clear silicone glue
Now let's start the very first step which is to remove or lower the front lower bumper bar in order to remove the headlight assembly. I didn't take any pic whilst doing this but since there are already lots of infos on the net, so I just link you to one of this and there are lots of others with the same topic on the net, and one with video as well, just do a search.
This is one useful link
courtesy of mazdatech)
http://www.mazda6tech.com/index.php?option...7&Itemid=49
The basic is, there are 4 screws on each side under the front part of the car which attachs the lower cover, 2 screw/plug attache the front wheelwell cover on each side, 2 screws at the middle lower front under the car which attach and hold the front bumper bar in place. And lastly the hidden single screw just behind the front wheelwell cover which hold the bumper on either side of the car. Also there are 4 screws on the front top part which hold the grill in place. Once you undo these screws, the bumper bar can be lowered ( don't have to remove it as it requires the unplugging of cables and such ) onto some lower support like a small stool or some towels to protect the bumper, and this will be sufficient to remove the headlight assembly. Here is what it should look like:
Once this is done, then it is time to undo the bolts that hold the headlight in its place. There are 2 screws on top of the headlight, 2 screws between the headlights and the bumper bar, and 1 screw on the side, here are the pics for example shows the left front, just reverse this for the other side:
Once the headlight assembly is removed. The foremost is removing all the light bulbs and they are lowerbeam, blinker, highbeam and lastly parker light bulb. Put these in a safe place. Here are some pics for reference. ( For some reason I left out the pic of the blinker, but it is very easy to get to as no cover, just need to twist the handle and it will come off. But please note the original position as it is tricky when putting it back in, if insert it the wrong way, it may be hard to pull it back out to put it back in properly... you have been warned :smile: )
Next is to remove the lower bracket from the headlight unit as this pic shows:
Next is to remove the clips that holds the front and back part of the housing together, there are about 8 or 9 of then around the housing. Using a flat head screwdriver to prise it off one by one. Take care not to chip the clear front lense.
NOW this is the most tricky and scary part. You can bake the headlight housing in the oven or use the hairdryer/heatgun to soften the silcone glue. I chose the later way due to the HID ballister on it.
Using the hairdryer will require tow persons as it is a bit tricky to do it by yourself, but I think it is managable but with lots of cursing by yourself :smile:
I got my son to aim the hairdryer at the seal whilst I am using my arm with cotten gloves on to insulate from the heat and my mouth ( cursing at the damn thing :smile: ) bit by bit, from the pointy end of the housing, and slowly it is coming apart. I notice once you manage to pull apart the pointy end, the other end pretty much come out very easily. So be vigilant at the start as once it let loose, it will fall apart just like that.
Once it is done, you are almost over the hardest obstacle :smile: and you will have this:
Next is to seperate the inner light housing so to install the DDE rings on. There are 5 screws but 2 of them ( the bottom ones ) requires the
TORX 20 bit to undo
One more metal clip is holding the insert in its place and need to prise it off.
Once this is off, the insert will come off in no time.
The DDE kit consists of 1 large ring and 1 small ring for each side. The big ring will fit to the highbeam light opening from behind the insert and sits tightly with silicone glue and its cable route from behind with ease. The small ring however is to fit from the front ( between the insert and the headlight lense ), due to this position and rather small area, ( it depends where you want it to be on, either on the blinker's or the foglight's, but either case, the placement is really small and tight. So to be sure if it will fit securely on it, use plenty of silicone to secure it, as you don't want it to come loose in future.
Here are the pics for reference:
I would suggest when the silicone is applied and you are happy with the placement and all gaps are filled on the DDE ring, leave this overnight so to be sure the silicone is set the next morning at the earliest.
Once the silicone is set, put the insert back into the headlight lense in the reverse to the removal. Taking care particularly to the cable protruding from the small ring sitting between the insert and the headlight lense, is not getting jammed in anywhere. Then re-assemble the light housing back into its place also taking care of the cable from the inverter and the inverter itself sitting securely and not wedging between the edge of the housing and the insert. Once you are happy with everything, re-insert all light bulbs and all covers, except the retangular shape cover which covers the parker and highbeam, we need to drill a small hole to feed the cable from the inverter through this cover for connection to the power source from the supplied relay with the kit. Also on the left headlight, we need to splice a long wire onto the grey/white wire on the parker bulb holder, this will connect to the relay wire to activate the DDE when the parker is switched on.
Also test the lights are working correctly before installing the headlight unit back into the car.
When the headlight are installed back to the car. We need to wire the relay to the power supply. I install a switch between the power supply and the relay of the DDE kit, this way I can disable the DDE if I need to in case of something go wierd on the DDE, but this is not neccessary at all.please
DISCONNECT THE NEGATIVE BATTERY for safety sake.
I driller a small pilot hole on the fuse compartment which is to attach the relay with a small self tapping screw, also this holds the switch in place as well.
Then the positive red wire goes to the battery. The negative black wire connects to the common earth connection on the engine bay.
Overall view for the relay and switch
Once the relay is secured in place and positive/negative connected. Next is to wire the two power supply (RED & BROWN) to the DDE light inverter one for each headlight. And lastly the activation cable (there are two of them, but only need to wire one up in most case, this will enable the DDE comes on when the parker is turned on. The other one is to connect to others like interior light when you left the car is on, the DDE is turned on the sametimes.)
Also run the cable along the front part of the engine bay and secure them against the plastic moudings to tidiness.
Here is the overall view of cable and relay mount..etc.
Hopefully it is time to check all the connections and secure points, and happy with them :smile:
Time to switch on the parker, and it should light up as shown here. ( pic with all lights on which includes DDE, 6000K HID lowbeams and foglights)
I have tried my best not to miss anything in this HOW-TO, but chances are there may be, so please don't hesitate to post, and I will try to answer the best that I can. Hope this is helpful and will persuade you to make the move as it is all worth it.
