Body Side Protection

[lateralg2]

The beautiful fender, door, and quarter panel sheet metal on my CX-9 appears to be very vulnerable to parking-lot damage. Its size increases the likelihood of occurrence.

Is anyone aware of a source for body side protection?

[sbmrinaldi]

I assume you mean body side moldings? I dont know of anything available for the Mazda.

[lateralg2]

I assume you mean body side moldings? I dont know of anything available for the Mazda.

Correct: Body Side Moldings.

Does anyone have experience with those that are generic, and the vehicle owner cuts to fit?

[Craig-CX9]

I'm looking for the same... door edge mouldings and body side mouldings..

Thanks,
Craig

[l-miwa]

Most auto parts stores (Pep Boys) have the generic stick on door edge mouldings for a few dollars. I thing I paid $7 for a pair.

[CX9 SportOwner]

there is another thread on this with a link to custom color matched side moldings for the CX9

[l-miwa]

there is another thread on this with a link to custom color matched side moldings for the CX9

I was hoping he would post pictures and his opinion about those...

[PsyDoc]

You can find them on the net and the cost, painted, should not run more than a couple hundred bucks. However, there is no place to put them that will protect from door dings from all vehicles. If you do not want dings, then you are going to need to park as far away as possible from the store or whatever.

[bill42]

Here is the link for the side moldings:

http://www.sportwing.com/catalog/displaycat.pcgi?fm_catid=22&fm_subcatid=103#

I got a door ding a few hours after I bought the car yesterday. The parking spots at my daycare center aren't wide enough for cars like the CX-9... And the mothers strapping in their toddlers really have my new car sheetmetal way down on their priority list... Oh well, such is life.
I just ordered a set of these moldings, and I was surprised to note that they dropped in price since I last researched them before I got the car- they are now $100.
Perhaps they won't stop all door dings, but the ding I got was exactly in line with where I would have mounted the molding.

[bill42]

** UPDATE **

OK, I finally put the trim on. It was easy but you need to have the car warm, like in a garage, for the glue to stick.
I think it looks totally factory. i don't mind the extra trim line at all.

http://homepage.mac.com/bill42/.Pictures/temp/cx9_trim.jpg

[ux149]

Sweet! Nice job bill42!

[AussieCX9]

bill 42,

Looks good....Is there a recommended height for the door trim to be attached or did you just decide where best to fasten?

[CX9ZoomR]

Looks good Bill! I did the same to my 2007 CX-9 last March. Mine's also the Stormy Blue Mica. The color match was perfect. If I remember correctly, I think I measured 11 or 12 inches up from where the black trim meets the metal part of the door. I used blue masking tape to indicate the lines and to make sure I installed the trim straight and level. Once I got over the initial fear of sticking these on my "brand new car", it wasn't too bad...

[o.c.cx9]

Looks great. I ordered mine yesterday for my Black Cherry Mica. Hope to get them soon and will post a picture if I can figure out how to.

Happy New Year to all.

Tom

[bill42]

Yes, the directions state that you mount them 12 inches from the black rocker panel. The color matches perfectly.
I just realized, since these will only deflect a door of a certain height, I can mount 5 more in parallel going up the door... and maybe it will look something like a Testerossa!
(Hahaha)

[CX9 SportOwner]

Being body color they create another detail line that reduces the broadness of the doors. I like it.

[o.c.cx9]

I just added the side molding yesterday. Hope the pictures turn out. Also added AWD to the rear.

Tom

Black/cherry mica

[tambeng]

That looks nice..., thank you for sharing.

Btw, where did you get the AWD emblem?

Thanks

[o.c.cx9]

That looks nice..., thank you for sharing.

Btw, where did you get the AWD emblem?

Thanks

Thanks, I like the way it breaks up the side. I know they are not for everyone.

The AWD emblem is from Volvo.

Tom

[AussieCX9]

I just added the side molding yesterday. Hope the pictures turn out. Also added AWD to the rear.

Tom

Black/cherry mica

That looks great Tom, I was wondering what it would look like on the Black Cherry Mica (Radiant Ebony in Aus)......I will need to get a set of mouldings shipped to Australia(drinks)

[Dalton]

Thanks, I like the way it breaks up the side. I know they are not for everyone.

The AWD emblem is from Volvo.

Tom

Well there is one from Mazda - used on CX7 on JDM market.

http://img253.imageshack.us/img253/4285/4wdtx3.jpg

And you can get your hands on it here...

http://mazda3online.web.aplus.net/ (http://mazda3online.web.aplus.net/product_info.php?products_id=881)

[CX-901]

not sure if this offers some sort of protection but i saw a chrome body side kit of the Porsche Cayenne and was wondering if a similar thing can be mounted on the CX9 -

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/24/Porsche_Cayenne-1.jpg/800px-Porsche_Cayenne-1.jpg

[ux149]

As we all know, Mazda does not offer body side molding on the CX-9. The tall smooth doors seem to be a current design trend in vehicles from Japan. So adding molding may, in fact, reduce the "fresh new look" of the CX-9 right now and make it look a bit more like an RX350 from the side. That being said, I still bought moldings and plan to put them on my CX-9.

Since Mazda does not offer molding, there is no official height at which molding should be installed. The instructions that come with the molding recommend 12" above the bottom of the door. That is their opinion, and only one opinion. Before you install them on your vehicle, decide where you like them best. Who knows, two years from now they may come from the factory installed at 10.75" or some other height the Mazda designers like, and all of us will be at various other heights.

SO... before you permanently install them, try them out at various heights. Take 1" blue painter's tape and put two small pieces on the door, with the tops of the tape at the height that you are considering for the bottom of the molding. Now roll up pieces of tape and attach to the back of the molding. LEAVE THE MOULDING MANUFACTURER"S TAPE ON THE MOULDING! Put your temporary tapes every 6" +/- along the back. Tape the moldings to the doors and remove your two guide tapes from each door.

Stand back and take a look. Maybe take a photo or two. Now you can easily remove the moldings and try them at different heights. (When you take the moldings off, the blue tapes stick to the vehicle, but you can just peel them off and put them back on the back of the molding.)

IMHO, 12' was too high on my white GT. Here are photos with no molding, molding at 9" and molding at 10". I'm rotating the photos as wall paper on my computer until I decide on which height or perhaps what other heights I should photo - 9.5"? 10.5"? Other mods: My GT-AWD came with mud guards, I removed roof rails, wired fogs as DRL with 80 watt bulbs, and had front windows tinted 38, rear side windows 15, moonroof and back window 20. I'll probably remove the rear badges later.

[broomco]

I'm going to play the waiting game to see if Mazda comes out with their own. Plus after I acquire a nice collection of door dings, they will tell me where I should install the moldings ;)

[bill42]

indeed, it is a gamble where to put them. As I said in a post way above, you would need 5 of these to keep door dings off your doors. The door ding that I had removed was right at 12 inches, but it could have been anywhere. However there is another type of dent that the molding can protect you from- the rare pole that grandma doesn't see when she opens the door. If you have the molding too low, it will not be the furthest point of the door curve, and you could get a dent that way. Of course, this is a very rare type of dent so it doesn't matter much. Still 9 inches is pretty low- there aren't too many doors that are going to hit your molding if you go that low. I think the people who made the molding for the CX-9 picked a good height for the average ding.

[ux149]

I saw a neighbor drive by just now in a white BMW X5 with black side molding. So I just had to Photoshop a CX-9 with it.

[YardDog]

FYI, The side molding @ 12" will NOT protect you from a Yukon door!

Dont ask me how I know :-(

[ceric]

I found the 12" height to be perfect because, after just 1 month, I found a paint chipping on the molding. It could have been a ding there, but the side molding saved it. A simple touch up fixed it nicely.