2008 LED headlight bulbs installation.

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Mazda 5 Sport Nav
Hello forum

As mentioned in the other thread, I recently fitted LED bulbs to my 2008 UK Sport Nav 5. This is a simple step by step of what I did and how it worked out. It is for your information only and your responsibility if and how you use this information yourselves. I accept no responsibility for any outcomes of trying to replicate my installation. BUT if you want to know any details about what I did, feel free to ask.

(In meetings so might take a while to write this up)

To begin, my car is UK spec with halogen projector dip beams and halogen reflector main beams. I used NightEye LED bulbs in original fitments, bought from Amazon. The performance of my system is based on these factors.
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Well this is taking a while, sorry folks...

Firstly, remove the bumper and then headlights. We then need to remove the bulbs and unscrew the bulb holding clip and bracket. Quite simple:

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Then this is how the LED bulbs will fit. The H7 adapter is removable from the bulb, which is really handy. This is the adapter in the headlight.

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Next we need to remember that the rubber weather cover has to fit between the bulb and it's heat sink. Again, thankfully the adapter is removable so we can slip the cover between them. But to do so we need to trim the cover a little by removing the last ring from the cover as below:

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TBC...
 
Now the piece de resistance! We need a bracket to hold the bulbs in. I fabricated a simple bracket from 3mm aluminium, 2mm would be easier or thinner stainless steel. Below are some pictures of the dimensions and final product. Not the prettiest due to tool handling marks etc but it's totally hidden on the headlights.

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Then it's assembly time.
Remove the adapter from the bulb and insert it below the bracket.

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Screw down the bracket with the original headlight screws. DON'T cross the screw threads in the aluminium headlight housing!

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Then slip the rubber cover onto the headlight and present it down fully. The hole should roughly align with the adapter but don't worry if it doesn't.

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Then roughly align the big and small tabs of the bulb to the adapter and press it in and turn it to lock the bulb into the adapter. It will require some pressure to compress the cover but don't worry about that.

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Now the bulb is in, the only other job is the wiring. Unfortunately the connector on the Mazda is not a direct H7 fitment, so we need to disconnect the wiring spade connectors from the plastic holder. There are 2 tabs for each connector that hold onto the curled up ears of the connector (hope that makes sense). It was too small to get a picture of but I can sketch it if anybody asks. If you just break the plastic holder it won't prevent you reusing H7 bulbs in future so not the end of the world but I wanted to keep all the original parts.

Now, we don't want bare wires so either wrap the connectors in electrical tape or heat shrink them like I did.
NOTE: there are little tabs on the connectors that lock them onto the bulb and you need to be able to press these to unplug the wire so don't use too much tape!

Then connect the wires to the bulb connector and test the lights. LEDs are polar so if they don't work, swap the connectors round on the bulb wire and they should fire up.

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I didn't need to adjust the headlight alignment or anything else. Below is the dipped and main beam light patterns.

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And that's that. Feel free to ask any questions.
 
Great write up
just a couple of questions as I am thinking of buying these bulbs.

Why did you need to manufacture the bracket?
It looks like the H7 bulb should twist and clip in after you have put the black spacer that comes with the kit (as you show in your third picture) and use the factory installed spring clip. Or did you design this bulb retention method for future easier removal and installs.
 
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