(Part 2) Best products from r/mazda3

Heated seats...sounds like you got the Mazda 3s Grand Touring. Assuming you have the factory HID's and LED tail lights, so no need to upgrade those. Unless you can find the clear projector lens to swap into your headlights.

Summer tires, if you live in the right climate. Extremely durable, better performing, and with better ride quality Koni FSD dampers as the OEM ones fail/leak prematurely. OEM big brake kit. Lots of advantages to this versus an aftermarket braking solution.

Do you have the manual transmission? OEM leather and piano black shift knob from European markets. OEM heated side view mirrors if not equipped, which I've found to clear away fog and rain pretty quickly. The Corksport Mazda3/Mazdaspeed3 steering wheel looks really, really good and almost OEM (black inserts/black stitching). Aftermarket HVAC knobs.

Speaking of rain, Valeo 900 Series/Ultimate wipers for a cleaner & more premium OEM look. Did the +1 driver/-1 passenger mod and lowered the passenger/right side windshield wiper to a more tucked position, and it won't flap at very high speeds or windy conditions.

LED interior/exterior lights - For the trunk, get this in the 5K color. For your license plate and front map lights, get these in the 5K color. Haven't found any rear dome festoon/DE3175 LED bulbs that I'm happy with yet (VLEDS, Retrofit Source, ijdmtoy, superbrightleds, Corksport, etc). Not bright enough, not white enough (usually a blue tint), bleeds different colors, etc. I may try an interior set from GTA Retrofits. For your glove box, either this in 5,000K or a Sylvania/Philips/Osram 194 LED bulb in 6,000K. Went with the latter since they were left over from experimentation and are actually closer to a 5,000-5,500K, even though they're listed as 6,000K.

Fiamm low tone horn to compliment the wimpy high tone.

There's more but that's all I have time for =)

I use this dashcam and I like it a lot - picture quality is pretty good even at night - and it's definitely the better of the two I've owned in the past few years. That said I don't actually know a whole lot about dashcams so someone else might be better recommending one.

Whatever dashcam you get, I'd recommend getting one of these and plugging it into a USB port instead of the standard car charger because the car charger continues to power it when the car is off, while the USB ports turn off with the car. Otherwise you'd have to unplug it every time you turn the car off or leave it running 24/7.

They are good! I like them better than the stock. They feel smoother with a little more bite. My brakes overall seem kind of spongy compared to when I got the car. I think it's time to swap in new brake fluid. I'm planning on putting this in when I get time:

https://www.amazon.com/Bosch-ESI6-32N-Brake-Direct-Replacement/dp/B07338GQM8

I def could have waited longer on my front pads. They had a lot of meat left but I figured I'd just go ceramic on all 4. I have no doubt I could have gone well past 100k on them, thanks to my long highway commute I guess.

My rears were low but interestingly 3 of the 4 rear pads had a few mm left. One pad (inner on the driver side) was down to almost nothing. I don't know why this one pad wore so much more. The caliper seemed free to slide but I made sure to grease it up well, will keep an eye on that pad.

First official post here. Wanted to share my 2017 Mazda3 Sport GS Automatic in Soul Red Metallic. Named her after Julianne Moore. I bought my 3 last June from Jeff Holley at Mazda of Toronto - like so many others, can't recommend this man enough.

I cleaned her up in time for Spring (Ontario, the snow is finally all melting after the recent brutal ice storm), picked up my summer rims and tires yesterday from Allen at Simply Tire in Toronto, and took a bunch of exterior and interior photos for you lovely folks:

See Photos Here

In case anybody is interested in some of the things I've since added to my 3, I'm including links!

Wheels: RTX Envy Black Machined Bronze 17x7.5 40mm offset

Tires: Hankook Ventus S1 Noble H452 215/50/17

Scuff Plates: Mazda OEM Scuff Plates

Hatch Sill Guard: Mazda OEM Rear Bumper Guard

Mats: Mazda OEM All-Weather Floor Mats

Hatchback Mat: Mazda OEM Cargo Tray

Dash Cam: Aukey DR02-CA 1080p Dash Cam (routed through the headliner, down through the driver's side weather stripping and hardwired into the fusebox)

Start/Stop Button Red Ring: Found on eBay for $3 CAD!

Alloy Gas/Brake/Dead Pedals: Also found on eBay for around $30 CAD, no drilling required

Phone Mount: iOttie Easy One Touch 3 mounted to the side of the storage space under the A/C controls. (Incredibly sturdy, clever mount/unmount mechanism, and hardly moves when on the road.)

Trunk Crate: CleverMade 46 Litre CleverCrate (Found at a much lower price and in red at Costco)

Hope you like!

Yeah, it is fairly nice to have, it gives you all of the same information that the tool that the dealer has for your car. Here is the one I have

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N18TOFB/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

and you will need to go to FORSCAN.org to obtain the free software for it. Super easy and the software essentially walks you through itself. You should not need an extended license for what you are doing.

I pretty much entirely agree with /u/ItPeon_7919 -- though I thought I'd toss in another recommendation as well. Not that there's anything wrong with StopTech. I'm personally a big fan of EBC and use them for both street and track cars.


Front rotor pricing example:


https://www.summitracing.com/parts/ebc-rk7740?rrec=true


($148 pair)
Rear:


https://www.summitracing.com/parts/ebc-rk7739?rrec=true


($105 pair)


For their pads, Ultimax is their OE replacement and probably fine for a normally driven daily 2.0L. Greenstuff if you want a bit of an upgrade over OEM and are a bit more of a spirited driver. Redstuff is their "nice" street compound, lowest amount of dust, and what I personally put on my daily, but I think you'd be fine with Green. Yellowstuff is more street/track hybrid.


Greenstuff pricing example:

https://www.amazon.com/EBC-Brakes-DP22171-Greenstuff-Sport/dp/B00YAZBJPG/ref=sr_1_fkmrnull_3?keywords=2016+mazda+3+ebc+greenstuff&qid=1556314860&replacementKeywords=ebc+greenstuff&s=gateway&sr=8-3-fkmrnull&vehicle=2016-80-2435------------&vehicleName=2016+Mazda+3


($73 full set)


Hope that helps!

The Official Mazda upgrade requires New Hardware as well as New Flash from the Dealer. You can buy the part off Amazon for $162.

https://www.amazon.com/Mazda-CarPlay-Retrofit-0000-8F-Z34-TK78-66-9U0C/dp/B07KRPSRKH

Another alternative is to Flash your Current Radio with Mazda AIO Tweaks which will give you the ability of Android Auto as well as a lot of other good stuff like Video Player etc. (Use at your own risk and Only supports certain firmware)

https://mazdatweaks.com/

My headlights were MUCH worse (long story). I used this (since its out of stock just get a similar kit on amazon):

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Gator-3-1-in-Headlight-Restoration-Kit/4747427

and this (plan to reapply this every year or so, heard about it on scotty kilmer youtube channel):

https://www.amazon.com/Meguiars-G17804-Clear-Headlight-Coating/dp/B01M4RVVX6

It was really easy and worked amazingly. IMO dont even waste your time or money buying sandpaper and doing it by hand, this is basically the same cost or so and much easier

EDIT: This on amazon should work well

https://www.amazon.com/Headlights-Taillights-Restoration-High-Precision-Waterproof/dp/B07KP8J7Q2/ref=sr_1_9?keywords=headlight+sandpaper&qid=1573631053&sr=8-9

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_k4NtNLAwY

The Motive power bleeder works pretty good. They are all the same except the cap that fills your reservoir. I think this is the one for the 3rd gen Mazda3. https://www.amazon.com/Motive-Products-0118-Mustang-Bleeder/dp/B00942X5EI/ref=sr_1_8_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1537885049&sr=8-8-spons&keywords=motive+power+bleeder+0118&psc=1&smid=A19NVE4G6SOT2C

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My boss bought a Schwaben power bleeder and I have to say, some of its features are nicer.

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I'm looking to replace the fog light bulbs but I really have no idea what I'm doing. I want them to match the headlights which or the xenon bulbs. I have these in mind, but I wasn't sure if they would match or not. Hoping someone here with some more experience with this could give me some insight on if these are a good match or if maybe there are better bulbs out there. Thanks!

Yeah, I see. That does sound to be an issue where the force of the snow is stronger than the pieces holding it together.

The plastic buttons will only work if they actually fit in the holes though. My old splash shield was actually held on by metal screws. Which did the job until they just corroded and rusted to the point where they would fall off.

The zip ties always worked for me but I also didn't have to drive through deep snow with the car. If anything, it was mostly just slush.

They do have stainless steel zip ties. Maybe they would be strong enough to hold it in place?

https://www.amazon.com/SunplusTrade-Stainless-Exhaust-Multi-Purpose-Locking/dp/B072WC1MXT/ref=pd_sbs_263_t_0/136-5397765-0847362?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B072WC1MXT&pd_rd_r=fdc24f29-0782-4b9c-8b96-6f9031e56660&pd_rd_w=a5n13&pd_rd_wg=Za0YO&pf_rd_p=5cfcfe89-300f-47d2-b1ad-a4e27203a02a&pf_rd_r=3VYS6GE0YT7HE0E9XAT4&psc=1&refRID=3VYS6GE0YT7HE0E9XAT4

I have this it's reliable, cheap, and it works good. It's bit bulky so if you have the correct transmission, you might hit your foot while shifting.

However torque pro app still have log issues and UI is absolute garbage.I wish someone would come up with a better app.

You must take a part front bumper. But Ieave undercover bolts. You have to take other bolts tho from tire and top part. It opens like books. And you can just put it back. No car lifting. Its on youtube and amazon is pretty good. I just replaced with this.
FIAMM 72112 Freeway Blaster Low Note Horn https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000DINKPQ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_3iI6Cb1BXRJPR

I have a 2017, which also has a slow USB port. I currently use a "Fast-Charge USB Adapter" and it works pretty well. It blocks off the data transfer system, which didn't do anything with my LG phone, and seems to charge at a faster 2.4v. Unfortunately Amazon doesn't sell this model anymore, but there are other companies selling similar adapters. Plugable might be a good one.

All 4 genuine Mazda All-Weather mats on amazon US are 80 bucks and look quite nice

Mazda All Weather Mats

Hi, so I got this one: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FA8XRIO/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

looks like many people recommended, thats why I went for it

This one coupled with the torque pro app ($5) is a popular yet affordable choice: https://smile.amazon.com/BAFX-Products-Bluetooth-Diagnostic-Scanner/dp/B005NLQAHS/

Bluetooth OBD2 scanners are really cheap now. My fiancé (big car guy who does all of our mechanic stuff) just bought this one. He said usually transmission fluid is brown when it’s old and he’s never heard of it being gray, unless metal is in it. It would be worth the $22 for the scanner to find out what’s going on ¯\_(ツ)_/¯