2005 Mazda 6 S LED Daylight Running Lights
My beautiful Desert Sage Sport Wagon seems to fade into the background for other drivers - I have had two minor accidents where the other guys simply did not see my car, and I have lost count of the number of drivers that have pulled out in front of me from a driveway or side street... Rather than leave the parking or head lights on all the time, I elected to install some high intensity LED DRLs that I could leave on continually for some extra visibility to other drivers. The S model has no currently available option for a light in the lower "fog light" panels. The base model lights won't fit, and the S fog lights were incorporated into the headlights, I found a set at eBay Motors that looked as if they would work.
This is a pretty simple mod, the trickiest part is getting the lights level and cutting the holes.
Parts needed (total cost about US$100):
1 - P/N E4/RS7 pair GTR 5 x 1 w High Power LED DRLs. $63.95 (Search eBay Motors for "DRL LED LIGHTS **NEW EURO STYLE HIGH POWER XENON WHITE")
1 - Littlefuse Add-A-Circuit or equivalent $10.00
8 ft - 1/4 inch split loom
5/16 in heat shrink tubing or spiral wrap
Red wire splices
Nylon tie wraps (preferably black)
Silicone sealer - clear or black
Clear headlight film - optional stone protection
Tools needed:
Bench vise or a very brave helper
Short carpenter's level
Die grinder or Dremel tool
1/8 in router bit - Zip Bit BSC5 or equivalent
Half round coarse (Bastard cut) file, 10 inch works well
File card (stiff brush for cleaning plastic buildup from file)
Exacto knife with NEW blade
Masking tape 3/4 inch or wider
Wire crimp tool
Black Sharpie or equivalent felt pen
220 wet or dry sandpaper - small piece
These first four pics are scans of the box that the
DRLs ship in. The only instructions are the vague info posted on the box itself.
Dimensions are 185 mm x 26 mm ( 7.28 in x 1.02 in)
excluding the bracket.
You have three wires, a red 12 volt positive and a black negative (ground), as
well as an additional yellow wire that may be connected to the parking lights
circuit. In MOST locales your DRLs should turn OFF when you switch on your
regular lights. This yellow wire does this, I'm not sure how. I elected to leave
the yellow wire disconnected.
Contents of the box. The wires are simple motorcycle
bullet connectors. The brackets should be left installed, thought you won't use
them to support the lights.
REMOVE THE GRILL AND FRONT BUMPER COVER: Front bumper cover removal - Mazda 6 Forums : Mazda 6 / Mazda Atenza Forum .... I already had these parts off to install HIDs in the low beams. It isn't difficult, but be careful of your paint.
Remove the OEM airbox if installed. If you have a Cold Air Intake, you can probably leave it in place.
DISCONNECT THE NEGATIVE CABLE FROM THE BATTERY.
I chose to use the 15 amp Engine fuse as a power source - it is hot when the key
is turned to the Ignition position. (This fuse box is located directly outboard
from the battery.) This circuit also has a 10 second time delay when the key is
turned off, allowing your DRLs to stay lit while you exit the car, so you can
walk around and admire them..... The Add-A-Circuit installs in place of
the factory fuse. It is actually a very clean and easy way to tap power off the
OEM fuse box and it won't void any warranty. The one downside I saw was that it
is very hard to insert and remove the fuses, especially since they are both
installed RIGHT next to each other. Mini pliers help. Label the new circuit so
another person can identify it. I used a 5 amp fuse in the new circuit.
Littlefuse Instructions. IMPORTANT: leave the original fuse out and test to be
sure that the new circuit has power. If it doesn't, then turn the Add-A-Circuit
180 degrees and reinsert. This makes the new circuit independent of the Engine
fuse. If you installed it the opposite way, the DRL circuit would go dead if the
Engine fuse blew.
Add split loom to the wires and route them along the front radiator support, terminating near the fog light openings. Leave plenty of slack and secure everything with wire ties.
The left harness is shown here, coiled up forward of the air filter. The power
and ground wires run under the factory air box (or Cold Air Intake) to the fuse
panel shown above, securing to the two frame mounted harness supports. I had to
extend the red wire using crimp splices since it wasn't quite long enough. (In
this pic you can also see the Apexcone power supply and the relay for the HIDs.)
Here is the right harness, forward of the windshield washer bottle.
The right horn as shown here will most likely
interfere with the new DRL light - loosen the 6 mm bracket nut with a 10 mm
wrench, and rotate the horn so that the opening is parallel with the ground.
The OEM "fog light" plates don't really
have any good references for marking a horizontal hole. Check to make SURE the
car is level - here is a good spot on the radiator support. Use a jack if needed
to level the car laterally.
Then lay the level along the front of the fog light plate. On MY car the
"diamonds" are horizontal, but I can't tell you that yours are! Please check
this!
Here's what the back of the plate looks like. I don't know why there are over a
dozen of little plastic tits - cut them off flush now using mini diagonal
cutters or a similar tool. Clean the plastic so you can mark it.
I used a ruler to lay along the "diamonds" - this will be the new horizontal
plane of the DRLs. If you want to add a little Oriental flavor to your car, you
can tilt the outside end up a few degrees. It's important to get BOTH openings
as close as possible to each other or the lights will look odd.
Drill through the points of the diamonds in two places - this will transfer the
points to the back of the plate.
Lay a strip of masking tape along the two holes...
.... then a second one above that. I measured in 1.0 inch from the inner side
and made a mark. In retrospect I should have positioned the hole a little
closer, perhaps 3/4 inch. Look at the pics at the bottom of the page and decide
where you want the opening in the plate!
Put a couple of pieces of tape on one of the DRLs and mark the center line as
shown.
Lay the light on the plate, carefully aligning the marks. If you bugger this up
it will show on the car!
Another view.
This close-up shows how NICELY the DRL lens follows the curve of the OEM fog
light plate. Amazing!
Draw the outline of the DRL onto the tape.
Place the plate in the vise (or into your brave helper's hands) and cut out the
opening from the back side. The router bit cuts very fast - take a few practice
cuts in the center of the hole before starting around the perimeter. I found
that I was more accurate if I rested my hand on the vise and swiveled my
fingers, rather than trying to support the entire weight of the grinder.
Close-up of the bag that the bits came in.
Using the Bastard file, smooth the rough edges and trim outward slowly, opening up the hole toward the guide lines, carefully checking the DRL often to see if the fit is good. You want the light lens to fit into the opening snugly, but without gaps or without springing the plastic apart. You don't want the opening so large that the light goes all the way through! TAKE YOUR TIME!
Here is the opening cut to the proper size..
This shows how ugly the front of the opening is - use your Exacto knife to trim
away the burrs and thinned parts of the diamonds.
Use fine sandpaper to smooth the surfaces. This is the final result.
Here's what it should look like when the light is in place. It is a SNUG fit
without excessive gaps.
Close-up showing the trimmed diamonds. Notice that they actually protect the
lens a little....
Do the other light, making sure the opening matches the one you just finished.
Install heat shrink or spiral wrap tubing on the wires coming out of the DRLs, and secure the wires to the mounting brackets with wire ties. This will act as "strain relief" and keep the wires happy where the go through into the lamp housing. See the below pic.
Install the headlight protector film now if you choose to do so.
Clean up the light and the plate, insert the light and lay a nice bead of
silicone sealer around the back perimeter. Do the other one and let the lights
sit overnight before attempting to install them into the bumper cover. Make sure
the bracket screws are tight and the brackets are positioned as shown.
Go ahead and install the bumper cover and grill while you are waiting for the silicone to cure. Reconnect the battery cable and install the air box if you removed it.
The next day you can connect the wires and insert the lights in through the front of the bumper openings, then snap the plates into the clips, making sure the right one clears the horn. My car had one busted clip on the right plate - I added some silicone to keep it tight.
Secure the wire harnesses to the DRL brackets using a couple of more wire ties - THIS is why we left those brackets in place.
I think it looks pretty nice. The LEDs are very bright and they are visible from
the sides of the car. They appear to be a little angled, but they are in fact
parallel with the ground.
This pic compares the DRLs with my new Apexcone 6000 degree K HID low beams. The
HIDs are a little more blue.....
Night shot, with low beam 6000K HIDs
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New Apr 28, 2010 |