New CX-5 Touring Owner, Question on Mods I'm Doing

[cglupker]

New CX owner here. Previous owner of Subaru Outback but the low supply of Subie Outbacks drove the price through the roof (here in Michigan). A subie with 11,000 miles cost more than a brand new CX-5 Touring.

Simple things thus far before I get to my questions:

I added a trailer hitch already (last night). $100 off Amazon with free shipping. Much cheaper than the $400+ dealership was going to charge. Extremely easy to install on your own, just cumbersome.

WeatherTech overpriced mats for front and cargo.

I'm going to add LED's to cargo area since I do triathlons which means I'm at transition area around 5am. I added so many LED's to the back of my Subie that planes started circling above. It was great.

https://www.ebay.com (commissions earned). They confirmed it fits 2016. I really like the look of LED lights like this. I know some don't.

Questions I have:

I have the roof rack coming, which is OEM chrome. I am not a Chrome person. What's the best method to paint that black? I'm sure I could google it and probable will, just thought some of you have done it already thus have experience.

I swore I saw a hack or another method to put a picture on the screen, I just can't find that. I'm thinking it was from some other Mazda forum. Anybody do this and if so is it a pretty easy thing to do?

Would adding some 'screen' or other material behind the front grill be beneficial to protecting radiator area? Seems like it's pretty exposed.

Best way to protect the back bumper? I do a lot of mountain biking so I'm always in and out of cargo area. The OEM has chrome. Can't really find anything that's like a solid black. I know there is a film you can put over it, but I suck at stuff like that. Even screen protector on my iphone I suck at.

Anybody paint the chrome in the headlights black? This is pretty common mod for Subaru Outback since there's are all Chrome until 2014, which they finally made black.

Any other mods that come to mind?

 

[roboots21]

I'll be opening up the headlights to paint them black in the coming weeks. I've looked into a bit and the CX-5 (probably most Mazdas) still use butyl rubber to seal. My Tundra used permaseal, which is super hard to open the headlights with. The CX-5 lights look like they should come right apart. Actually the only part I'm leaving is the small strip that is an extension of the grill chrome, but the rest is going to be blacked out. Also going to be doing a clear lens swap on the projectors and putting in an HID kit from the RetroFit Source, and maybe some LED accents as well. That's about the only mod I have input on, but it looks fairly straight forward. If you wait a few weeks on that one, I'll have more information for you!

 

[Chris_Top_Her]

I had my rails painted by an auto shop. So far the automotive paint has held up very well, ratchet straps around a flopping paddleboard for 6 hours didn't mess it up. Others have used plastipoop.
I know of some mz3 owners painting the inside chrome black to match the also painted outside chrome. I wanted to remove to orange reflector from mine, but I'm a bit wary of opening mine because if the AFS system.

 

[GP 2004]

About LEDs in the cargo area. It seems that some module powers the light in the trunk (and some other stuff). This module is expensive and very easy to burn out. I replaced the light bulb in the cargo area with an LED. I first pulled the light assembly and unplugged it from the wire harness, and only then pulled the bulb out. I then installed the LED into the light assembly and plugged it back into the wire harness and then snapped the assembly back. If you want to add extra LEDs best to get power from the socket on the right side. Do not try to get power from the trunk light. There is a post in the 'How To' section here about LEDs in the cargo area.

 

[Berner]

I swore I saw a hack or another method to put a picture on the screen, I just can't find that. I'm thinking it was from some other Mazda forum. Anybody do this and if so is it a pretty easy thing to do?

The most common infotainment tweaks for the new system are pretty simple these days. You no longer need to muck around with SSH/Wifi/Ethernet adaptors as was the case before. Now you just plug a USB stick into the car and wait 20 seconds. There's two sets of premade tweak files you might consider: the "common" tweaks (Enable Wifi/Disable Touch Screen Speed Restriction/Reduce Nag Screen Timeout) and the background changer. I've done both, and they're dead simple. (They're also both reversible, if you're worried about that.)

Also, you're going to want to check your infotainment version and upgrade to the latest version if necessary. Don't assume that just because your car is new that it has the latest software (mine didn't). This can be done by the dealer, but it is a simple DIY 30 minute-process that only requires the files and a USB stick.

You can find all the details and files at this link.

 

[cglupker]

The most common infotainment tweaks for the new system are pretty simple these days. You no longer need to muck around with SSH/Wifi/Ethernet adaptors as was the case before. Now you just plug a USB stick into the car and wait 20 seconds. There's two sets of premade tweak files you might consider: the "common" tweaks (Enable Wifi/Disable Touch Screen Speed Restriction/Reduce Nag Screen Timeout) and the background changer. I've done both, and they're dead simple. (They're also both reversible, if you're worried about that.)

Also, you're going to want to check your infotainment version and upgrade to the latest version if necessary. Don't assume that just because your car is new that it has the latest software (mine didn't). This can be done by the dealer, but it is a simple DIY 30 minute-process that only requires the files and a USB stick.

You can find all the details and files at this link.

Could you inform me of what it means to enable wifi? Wifi for what? anything? I couldn't really find a description on that.

 

[JbCalg]

have to check the infotainment history - pretty sure it's related to the pre 2016 system that used tom-tom system instead of Navteq, and was how that system connected for traffic updates

so not really applicable to 2016 system (traffic updates discontinued by Mazda when it switched software)

 

[Berner]

Could you inform me of what it means to enable wifi? Wifi for what? anything? I couldn't really find a description on that.

With the current suite of applications and software on the US 2016 version, there is very little benefit to enabling wifi. It does provide an alternate means of accessing the car's software in case you mess up any other modifications to the system, but that's about it for now. Perhaps, in the future, Mazda will update or add internet-capable programs or features to the software.

 

[Ride92]

For the roof rack, if you want to do it your self you can go one of three routes, the first is plasti-dip, flexible removable coating that can peeled off if you decide you don't like it. Permanent solution would be to use actual spray paint. You have 2 options for that. You can use run of the mill spray paint or even automotive spray paint like duplicolor and paint and clear to your liking. Your other option is to order some 2k spray paints. Eastwood.com is a good source for those. They are the same 2 part paint that a shop would use to spray them with a gun but they come in a can that needs to be activated and mixed (shaken). They have about a 48 life after mixed. I used that sort of product to paint my motorcycle and its held up great after three years even the tank. You could also have a shop spray it for you if you don't want to do the work.

As far as the rear bumper goes, try talking to the parts department and seeing if they have the bumper guard from the mazda5 or the cx-9 in stock, both of those look like they cover a bit more and they may fit just fine. I'm in the same boat as you. The cx-5 rear bumper guard is a joke and covers nothing b

 

[ocinsomniac]

Best way to protect the back bumper? I do a lot of mountain biking so I'm always in and out of cargo area. The OEM has chrome. Can't really find anything that's like a solid black. I know there is a film you can put over it, but I suck at stuff like that. Even screen protector on my iphone I suck at.

Not advertised as a rear bumper protector, but this might give your bumper some protection while loading/unloading cargo -

http://www.mazdaparts.org/mazda-cx5-cargo-liner.html

 

[zoomie888]

Just one quick tip about your screen protector on your cell phone. When you stick it on and find that you got pieces of lint or dirt that makes a tiny bulge, use scotch tape to take it off and then your screen protector will go on smooth like silk. Sometimes we think we have just once chance at being perfect, but in reality the scotch tape trick helps out a ton and gives us as many chances as we want.

If you want to be hardcore about it, do it after taking a shower when there's less dirt. It's moist in there and fewer dirt particles are flying around. They've all settled on some surface. I don't know a single person who would do that, but go for it if it fits your fancy.

As far a bumper guard on your car, you can use a temporary one. People in the Bay Area have been using big ugly rubber mats designed to protect bumpers from horrible parallel parkers bumping into their cars. It's designed to come on and off easily. The idea is that the rubber guard hangs off the bumper with attachments to the inside of the trunk. When not in use, you simply open your trunk and swing the guard back inside the trunk. More trouble than it's worth to me, but for some folks it would be great.

 

[pdlpsher]

The roof rail is not chrome but painted silver. To be honest it looks really really nice with the Soul Red. My advice is to leave it as is for now....it might grow on you.

 

[DBLXX]

I wish they made those fog light LED package for the small fog lights. Those look much bigger than the ones on my GT/tech.

Does anyone make them for the small lights?

 

[DBLXX]

Not sure that fog replacement works with this light.