2015 DRL Daytime Running Lights repair / bulb change

K

keegs

Member
:
Madza CX-5 2015 Revolution 2.5
Hi all

I've been reading on here about some known issues with the DRL's flickering, not working or not being bright enough. The resolution to these issues found in this forum varied a lot though, so I wanted to ask and clarify before I have another look tomorrow. Some threads mentioned that the whole headlight assembly needs to be replaced (~$1200) as the DRL are LED (?) and the circuit board is built in.

Yet the 2015 service manual talks about replacing the "DRL bulb" as if it were a simple task. The manual has a section "DRL (DAYTIME RUNNING LIGHT) BULB REMOVAL/INSTALLATION" with some instructions and diagrams. A copy of this can be seen here.

I'm sure that some models have/had different DRL's to other models. Maybe some with bulbs and some with LED circuit boards.

My specific questions:
* Do the DRL's have replaceable bulbs and if so which year?
* To access the other headlight / headlamp bulbs do you need to remove the entire headlight assembly?

Here's a short video showing my flickering issue.

Thanks in advance.

Bonus question:
* Does anyone know how the build years e.g. 2014, 2015, 2016 relate arcross the globe? I've noticed that a "2014" in Europe with the TomTom navigation is equivalent to a "2015" in the USA, and similarly the 2015 in Europe is the facelift model probably equivalent to the 2016 in USA.
 
You have the $1,200 all in one unit, sorry to be the bearer of bad news. What country are you in? The Touring and Sport from 15, in the US at least, have normal bulbs.
 
7eregrine said:
You have the $1,200 all in one unit, sorry to be the bearer of bad news. What country are you in? The Touring and Sport from 15, in the US at least, have normal bulbs.
Click to expand...

Bugger. Thanks for the info. I'm an Aussie living in Switzerland. I just got the the car 2nd hand and it has the 6 year guarantee (so still just under 2 more left) so hopefully headlights are covered!! Is there a TSB for this?
 
6 years? The factory warranty? If so then yes, it's covered.
 
7eregrine said:
6 years? The factory warranty? If so then yes, it's covered.
Click to expand...

Yeah it has the factory cover and the original owner opted for the "plus 2" option to get it increased. I know it had the first registration in April 2015 and I have 2 more years left, so I guess it must have been a 3 year factory plus 2 setup (5 years, not 6).

Cheers
 
keegs said:
Hi all

I've been reading on here about some known issues with the DRL's flickering, not working or not being bright enough. The resolution to these issues found in this forum varied a lot though, so I wanted to ask and clarify before I have another look tomorrow. Some threads mentioned that the whole headlight assembly needs to be replaced (~$1200) as the DRL are LED (?) and the circuit board is built in.

Yet the 2015 service manual talks about replacing the "DRL bulb" as if it were a simple task. The manual has a section "DRL (DAYTIME RUNNING LIGHT) BULB REMOVAL/INSTALLATION" with some instructions and diagrams. A copy of this can be seen here.

I'm sure that some models have/had different DRL's to other models. Maybe some with bulbs and some with LED circuit boards.

My specific questions:
* Do the DRL's have replaceable bulbs and if so which year?
* To access the other headlight / headlamp bulbs do you need to remove the entire headlight assembly?

Here's a short video showing my flickering issue.

Thanks in advance.

Bonus question:
* Does anyone know how the build years e.g. 2014, 2015, 2016 relate arcross the globe? I've noticed that a "2014" in Europe with the TomTom navigation is equivalent to a "2015" in the USA, and similarly the 2015 in Europe is the facelift model probably equivalent to the 2016 in USA.
Click to expand...
You're in Switzerland and your 2015 CX-5 is equivalent to our facelift 2016 CX-5 which started selling in February 2015. Based on your video you have LED headlights with LED accent strip DRLs. The factory service manual you quoted is for standard halogen headlights in lower trims which use high-beam HB3/9005 (US) or H15 (non-US) halogen bulb with lower wattage.

In any event if the DRLs are required in Switzerland your choice is very limited and expensive. To fix the LED flickering problem you have to get the whole headlight assembly which would cost about $1,200 MSRP each and you're also going to have mis-match issues on light output and color temperature between new J version and original headlight on your right side. A friend of mine is having the same issue with one month over the 3-year warranty and Mazda North American Operations are only willing to help partially. My advice to him is to just let them go without the LED DRLs as they're not mandatory in the US.

Your right side LED DRL WILL fail after your left one. At this stage if in Switzerland the DRLs are mandatory, your best option is to find an aftermarket DRL kit incorporated with your fog lights which will be much cheaper than replacing your factory LED headlights.

Daytime running lights dim/flickering
 
keegs said:
Yeah it has the factory cover and the original owner opted for the "plus 2" option to get it increased. I know it had the first registration in April 2015 and I have 2 more years left, so I guess it must have been a 3 year factory plus 2 setup (5 years, not 6).

Cheers
Click to expand...
If your 5-year "factory warranty" is bumper-to-bumper, then you're in good hands. You want to pray your right-side LED DRL would fail as soon as possible so that you can have a matching "J" version LED headlights.
 
Did you notice that your video is categorized "comedy"?
The nerve! Nothing funny about it. :)
 
Your friend, Yrwie, was offered to replace it for $400 if I'm not mistaken. That's a 66% discount. He should do that. I would in a heartbeat.
 
7eregrine said:
Your friend, Yrwie, was offered to replace it for $400 if I'm not mistaken. That's a 66% discount. He should do that. I would in a heartbeat.
Click to expand...
Well that friend is not willing to pay anything more for his vehicles including maintenance. Actually he's offered $400 for both LED headlights but he refused to do it as his CX-5 still can pass annual stats safety inspection without DRLs working. He's getting his next new vehicle, after a Mazda6 and CX-5, all under my suggestions, and it won't be a Mazda this time.


BTW, how is your LED DRLs doing? ;)
 
Mine are fine. I know you just can't wait for me to have a problem with mine. Jerk. [emoji16] LOL
So Mazda is discounting your friend 2 GRAND...and he's saying no? $400 for one? That's nice. For 2? That's a deal and a half. Thats very generous of Mazda. No offense to him but that's just dumb. I'd take that in a heartbeat. Unless he's getting rid of it.
So what's he buying? And what is he getting rid of?
 
It seems to me the friend is being penny wise and pound foolish. I think he'd recoup that $400 very easily when he trades in or sells outright when buying his next vehicle.
 
7eregrine said:
Mine are fine. I know you just can't wait for me to have a problem with mine. Jerk. [emoji16] LOL
So Mazda is discounting your friend 2 GRAND...and he's saying no? $400 for one? That's nice. For 2? That's a deal and a half. Thats very generous of Mazda. No offense to him but that's just dumb. I'd take that in a heartbeat. Unless he's getting rid of it.
So what's he buying? And what is he getting rid of?
Click to expand...
I think that since I told him before that several CX-5 owners got free replacement even with 60,000 miles, he's not happy he has to pay $400 for his CX-5 with only 19,500 miles. He's most likely getting a Lexus RX350 trading in his older Mazda6.

Actually if I'm in the same situation I'd also leave the failed DRLs alone and I don't think it'd affect any trade-in value as DRLs are not required in the US. Besides, who knows the latest "J" version would last as long as it supposed to be!
 
Absolutely would affect trade in. That's a $2400 repair for the next guy. $400 is a bargain.
 
I'm sure it is. They were thinking LEDs last a ridiculously long time. They really should outlast the car.
 
What gets me when I read one of these “dummy out of the pram” stories is that when they go off and get in bed with another manufacturer, they think it will be different. As for the cost of replacing these things, it’s a fact that lighting sells vehicles and stylish lighting is expensive. You could build in replaceable modules to a headlight but then the cost goes up. No doubt this guys new car will have fancy headlights and wheels and and.........

I’ve dealt with or know people that have dealt with other than Mazda and my previous cars, Toyota. The policy of most others is when that warranty ends, it’s up to you now, your on your own. At least Mazda and Toyota look at service history and mileage etc and will consider out of warranty claims.
 
7eregrine said:
I'm sure it is. They were thinking LEDs last a ridiculously long time. They really should outlast the car.
Click to expand...

LED lighting in vehicles is relatively new and only recently has it been good enough to install in cars where it’s subject to vibration and weather. These poxy Chinese things you buy for the garden look lovely for a few weeks then the go quite literally on the blink. Now ramp it up a bit and the LEDs on cars are being used in headlights as super bright DRLs and headlights. These are diodes! The later Mk1s had the super bright “predator” lights that are the ones popping up faulty now. The 17s on, have lowered the intensity of the predators and utilised a low intensity headlight which if I had to hazard a guess and it is a guess from dealing with warranty cost when I was in the motor industry is to extend the life of those fancy predators. I don’t quite know what is going on with these decorative LEDs. The 16s were banks of singles ganged up into the shape but the 17s look more like many LED rear lights that appear all one stretched light. Is it one LED stretched or is it prisms and fibre optics? Don’t know, maybe somebody can enlighten me (no pun intended).

Anyway, my point is that I’m not surprised they can play up and not surprised that given the intensity of some of these things, they last as long as they do and don’t really expect them to give ultra long life...... at the moment. They will, given the benefit of development.

As a slight aside, my ALH headlights at home are much better than the standard LEDs on this rental I’ve got. They have considerably longer range and while these dip instantly like mine, they also go to beam instantly where mine fade up unless I flash them. I can’t get over the fact that these are not bulbs, they are light emitting diodes - astonishing to my tiny brain.
 
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Just reading up a bit and it seems that the biggest enemy of a LED is heat. They don’t get hot at the front which is why our headlights don’t de-ice. They get hot at the back and are typically installed on some type of heat sink. That might explain why we see very few failures in the UK. A hot day to us is 80f and it’s very infrequent at the moment. On the other hand, summers in the US see much higher temps than this so if you throw in crawling in traffic with the A/C and the engine cooling fans running at full tilt, the temperature under the bonnet gets unbearable to the point you can’t touch it. Not a good home for LED DRLs. Food for thought.
 
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