The CX-5 LED Lighting Thread
- Thread starter SayNoToPistons
- Start date
runtohell121
Member
- :
- 2014 Mazda CX-5 Touring AWD Soul Red
Think I broke the tabs for the cargo light holder... completely loose now 
Pushed/pry the wrong section and pushed the tabs a bit too hard to lift it open
Pushed/pry the wrong section and pushed the tabs a bit too hard to lift it openFinally took care of the lack of a glove box light. Minor annoyance. Especially since I've had 80's and 90's crap boxes that had them. Go figure.
Used a pin switch to trigger the light.
Close up of the light mounted before wiring.
Crazy part is that it looks like the car is prepped for there to be a light. (other than a lack of a harness. I tapped into the illumination wire at the radio so it will only function with the lights on)
Originally I was going to put the pin switch in the blank knock out on the left of the glove box. Unfortunately, there is a brace behind it that didn't give enough clearance for the pin switch.
Where the LED is mounted, there was already a hole in the plastic that looked like it was designed for a light.
The only thing I might do is try to put some reflective material up by the light. It currently is firing towards the rear of the car and it might help direct more of the light into the glovebox. Either way, it is a huge improvement.
Used a pin switch to trigger the light.
Close up of the light mounted before wiring.
Crazy part is that it looks like the car is prepped for there to be a light. (other than a lack of a harness. I tapped into the illumination wire at the radio so it will only function with the lights on)
Originally I was going to put the pin switch in the blank knock out on the left of the glove box. Unfortunately, there is a brace behind it that didn't give enough clearance for the pin switch.
Where the LED is mounted, there was already a hole in the plastic that looked like it was designed for a light.
The only thing I might do is try to put some reflective material up by the light. It currently is firing towards the rear of the car and it might help direct more of the light into the glovebox. Either way, it is a huge improvement.
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SayNoToPistons
Wheels, not rims...
- :
- CX-5 GT AWD w/ Tech, RX-8 GT 6spd w/ 'goodies'
That is great! Much needed. Do you mind making a "DIY" thread to specify the process? I think it will help many of us out that plan on doing the same modification.
Didn't really think about it while I was doing the install. Should have probably taken more pictures of the process.
SayNoToPistons
Wheels, not rims...
- :
- CX-5 GT AWD w/ Tech, RX-8 GT 6spd w/ 'goodies'
Everything is relatively simple, just wondering which wires you tapped for power.
Ground is from the pin switch. It is mounted into the metal brace behind the glove box. Hole was already in the metal, just had to drill out the piece of plastic there. Power was sourced from the illumination wire at the main power connector behind the radio. Pin 15, yellow/green wire. This wire will only test with acc/ignition on and with the lights on.
Has anyone installed one of this and does it work?
I could not find instruction DIY in the how to forum.
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/2012-...974231083.html
I could not find instruction DIY in the how to forum.
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/2012-...974231083.html
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I don't think you'll need to do that. I've used various LEDs to help illuminate panels and spaces in a variety of cars and trucks. If the LED you are using has a plastic lens covering it, take some sandpaper and rough up the clear surface so is becomes frosted. The frosted layer will help refract/reflect the LED's light output in a wider area, which should help illuminate the glove box a little bit better without the need of adding some reflective material.
I'll be using this sanding method when I go to install the LED for my wife's glove box. I still haven't decided if I'll be using the same type of LED light/holder you got, or using the plastic base/holder from an alarm and a clear LED. The latter will be much easier to use since the hole needed to mount the led holder will be smaller, and the space required behind the glove box will be a lot less.
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I'm very impressed with the LED headlights in my 2016 GT with the Tech Package. They have very good reach the color seems whiter than most OEM HID's.
Having gone to the expense of engineering state of the art LED headlights, I was a bit surprised that Mazda still uses standard filament bulbs for the front and rear turn signals. The fronts use a 7444 bulb while rears are 7443's, according to the manual. I wonder if anyone with a Tech Package 2016 GT has tested to see if LED equivalents to these bulbs can be substituted without the need to find a place to install a loading resister (to prevent hyper-flashing).
Thanks.
Having gone to the expense of engineering state of the art LED headlights, I was a bit surprised that Mazda still uses standard filament bulbs for the front and rear turn signals. The fronts use a 7444 bulb while rears are 7443's, according to the manual. I wonder if anyone with a Tech Package 2016 GT has tested to see if LED equivalents to these bulbs can be substituted without the need to find a place to install a loading resister (to prevent hyper-flashing).
Thanks.
I too would be interested to know if anyone has tested any LED bulbs for the turn signals and the backup lights on the 2016 GT+tech.
I've installed these http://goo.gl/CdtrXG for the interior lights and license plate and they look really good !
runtohell121
Member
- :
- 2014 Mazda CX-5 Touring AWD Soul Red
Would it be weird having the center dome/map to be LED.. whereas the rest of the car is stock halogen? Since I have 2 Morimoto XB LED... idk where to put them, right now one of them is in the trunk and the other is sitting on my table lol
I installed this interior LED set last night am very impressed. The light is very bright and I like the color much better. A well spent $14.
Pipemajor
Hoot Mon!
- :
- Minnesota
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- 2017 CX-5 GT AWD
Yes, I have the 2015 GT w/Tech package and converted ALL filament bulbs w/LED. I got amber VLED Triton bulbs for the front and rear turn signals and a red VLED Triton for the rear tail/brake lights. The Tritons come with a socket and a resistor to plug in which cures any hyperflash. Pretty cool to watch reflectorized road signs behind and ahead of me light up from my turn signals. The tail light is also quite a bit brighter with the Triton than with the stock 7443 tungsten bulb. I also went with VLED LEDs (red) for the rear trunk and side marker bulbs. I chose the 6K white VLEDs for the license plate and backup lights.
To match the 4300K HID headlights I chose a 5K H11 LED for the fog lights. They match the HIDs very well. I wanted something distinctive for the DRLs so went with a 6K P13 LED bulb. Also 6K LEDs for all the interior festoon bulbs.
Total cost for my LED 'conversion' was probably around $600 - a bit overkill but I do have one dazzling CX-5 at night now. The rears are really a nice, deep ruby red now.
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Pipemajor
Hoot Mon!
- :
- Minnesota
- :
- 2017 CX-5 GT AWD
I consider to buy VLED Tritons for tail/brake lights too. Which Base adapter did you order, 7443 Standard or 7443CK? VLEDS have a video that show how to find out type of adapter, but if you already have figured it out....
No clue. Don't think it was an option 10 months ago when I ordered the Tritons. It works as is. My front amber parking/turn signals operate @ full brightness for parking then full on/off for the flasher. I prefer that mode over the dimmed mode for the parking/side marker lights.
REDOTTERRICH
Member
- :
- 2016 Mazda CX-5, Titanium Flash, Touring w/Tech
But the question was if a resistor was even needed for the '16 with Tech, as the main heads and trails are already LED.
No sense in buying anything with resistor pre-wired if it is not needed.
