Interior Lighting

raden said:
I just picked up my CX5 yesterday, and ordered these last night from Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/ (commissions earned)

Really psyched about this car!

Does anyone foresee any issue with replacing the stock HID bulbs with the ones above?
Click to expand...

as long as they are the same socket, should be fine, just out of curiosity, why are you changing the bulbs?
the stock ones are very white, by someone elses post about the supposed kelvin temp of them i'd thought they'd be halogen looking but they aren't
 
CraM, (1) why did you go with 35w H11 HIDs rather than 55w HIDs since the stock halogen bulb is 55w? (2) where did you mount the ballast for the HID (if at all!) and do you need to secure the decoders for the DRLs or are they good without being secured?

Thanks!
 
rS1 said:
CraM, (1) why did you go with 35w H11 HIDs rather than 55w HIDs since the stock halogen bulb is 55w? (2) where did you mount the ballast for the HID (if at all!) and do you need to secure the decoders for the DRLs or are they good without being secured?
Click to expand...

(1)
in my testing i found the 35w HIDs were much brighter than the stock 55w halogens.
you can't really directly compare wattage in different lighting systems.
same way 20w CFDs in your house are brighter than 60w incandescent


(2)
the ballasts are so small (smaller than a deck of cards) i zip tied them up under the rubber stripping on the edge under the hood.
right up next to the strut towers.
the DRL decoders are small but i just zip tied them back behind the light housing.

the cx5 has so much room under the hood (tiny little motor!) that you won't have problems tucking that stuff out of the way.

i just like the fact that the HIDs make everything "shine" - hard to describe unless you've had them.
something i got used to on my BMW and no going back.

much better lighting system than stock for not very much money.

if/when they blow up i'll let you all know (braindead
 
well here's some of the pics i took, didn't come out to great but you can see how bright the interior is with those hp4 festoons

interior
SL733863.jpg
SL733864.jpg
SL733861.jpg
SL733860.jpg


here's the drls, stock bulb on the right (drivers side)
with flash
SL733868.jpg


without flash
SL733869.jpg


daytime, lights reversed, stock bulb on left (pax side) and led on right (drivers side)

SL733859.jpg
 
rS1 said:
CraM, (1) why did you go with 35w H11 HIDs rather than 55w HIDs since the stock halogen bulb is 55w? (2) where did you mount the ballast for the HID (if at all!) and do you need to secure the decoders for the DRLs or are they good without being secured?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

CraM said:
(1)
in my testing i found the 35w HIDs were much brighter than the stock 55w halogens.
you can't really directly compare wattage in different lighting systems.
same way 20w CFDs in your house are brighter than 60w incandescent
Click to expand...

this is because those ##w values are based on power usage, not light output, so they are only vaguely indicative of brightness in the same type of lights not between differing lighting systems (incandescent-fluorescent-led-discharge) so you can compare halogen to halogen, or led-led, or fluorescent to fluorescent but not halogen-hid or led-fluorescent, etc
 
speaking of light output - those interiors are impressive!!
can you post a link to the specific festoons you used? (would like to use that in the cargo light)
i used the red ones (can't take a pic of it at all) and so far so good

we did use a lumen meter to measure light output from the halogens vs the HID.
i'm reluctant to post the findings as i am no lighting pro and could have been using the device improperly.
also, i'm not sure what the legal limit to headlight lumen output is!
i can say that the HIDs had MUCH higher output with less power draw.
 
Last edited:
stromdriver said:
as long as they are the same socket, should be fine, just out of curiosity, why are you changing the bulbs?
the stock ones are very white, by someone elses post about the supposed kelvin temp of them i'd thought they'd be halogen looking but they aren't
Click to expand...

My understanding is that the Tech Package HID's are D4S. Which is what I have.

Honestly the reason I am changing them is because I had 35w HID's in my Axela and I am used to the brighter white light. I will compare side by side to see the difference. Right now though the HID's on the stock tech package look about 3300k-3500k.
 
badapple, you replaced your front map lights with the entertainment thing right? or was it the rear?


well i've come to the conclusion that while those hp4 festoons are awesome and put out tons of light, it is kind of a detriment while driving, i'm contemplating putting a couple low brightness leds with a switch in the overhead console for just simple lighting at night to see things quick rather than turning on one of the quasars i've installed
 
stromdriver said:
badapple, you replaced your front map lights with the entertainment thing right? or was it the rear?


well i've come to the conclusion that while those hp4 festoons are awesome and put out tons of light, it is kind of a detriment while driving, i'm contemplating putting a couple low brightness leds with a switch in the overhead console for just simple lighting at night to see things quick rather than turning on one of the quasars i've installed
Click to expand...

Replaced the rear passenger lights
 
raden said:
My understanding is that the Tech Package HID's are D4S. Which is what I have.

Honestly the reason I am changing them is because I had 35w HID's in my Axela and I am used to the brighter white light. I will compare side by side to see the difference. Right now though the HID's on the stock tech package look about 3300k-3500k.
Click to expand...
I believe most if not all stock HID's are 4000k which is where you get the most light output. The higher the Kelvin temperature (which looks nice)the less light/useable light output there is.
 
kimchei6 said:
Those look great... Hey I was wondering if anyone who has the xenon hid package feel like the lights are a bit too yellowish?.. Im thinking if it's worth it to change the bulbs... How hard would it be? Since the xenon headlights have the auto leveling and a motor that turns the housing, I think I might be way over my head... Not just a simple PnP...
Click to expand...

I have the GT AWD w/ Tech Pkg and I changed mine. It was fairly simple, here's my thread on it.

http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/show...-Xenon-Bulb-Swap-(pics)&p=5956666#post5956666
 
Hi stromdriver...newbie here...Need ur help before I place order for drl/ fog lights

stromdriver said:
here's my bulbs, just unpacked them, soon as wife gets home this afternoon with the car they're going in, then get some pics once its dark

SL733858.jpg
Click to expand...

Just picked up my cx5 touring awd Bose package...need to update my drl/ fog lights can u please double check to see if I'm ordering the right bulbs...DRL 68-SMD 9005 HB3 9145 Led bulbs and Fog Lights 24-SMD H11 led bulbs from www.auto goody.com thanks stromdriver....
 
my jdm drl replacements are infinitely better than the bad autogoody ones i got from amazon, they might be a very slight touch less bright than the incandescent ones but its very noticeable

thumbs up to kimchei for the find
 
those bulbs pictured wont really work for the license plates, the bulb/mount is perpendicular to the plate area, you'd need a side firing bulb for those to work, i ran into the same problem with my first order from superbrightleds.com
 
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