Heeellooooo

I just completed some mods and wanted to show the world.

Tldr:

- Wrapped interior trim in Midnight Purple (R34) (also test-wrapped one in Soul Red thinking I could market them…)
- Emblems and license plate frame in Machine Grey
- Spoiler in Machine Grey


Quick background: I am on my 18th car (41 yo), recently coming from a beloved 18 Q5 (prestige). It had over 100k mi and it had cost me $6k+ in 2023 and was not even fully fixed, so, byyyeee to that. Seeing that any other Q5 would have cost me more $ than I was willing to spend (wasn't considering one with a lesser package), I excitedly chose the trusty CX5 which has been in my sights for the past 4 years. I've always enjoyed the way the CX5 looked (along with some other corporate siblings) and have been very impressed watching their pricing and journey upmarket throughout the years. The addition of the turbo sealed the deal for me, this must be the best-valued car out there (I research and follow the car market closely and have for the better part of my conscious life).
I paid $32k in June (AutoNation dealership in Vegas), 16k miles, all options minus parking sensors, Birdseye camera, and fog lights (maybe more, dunno). I made a comprehensive list of my pros/cons/indifferences of this CX5 versus my prior Q5. I'll post that if enough people are interested.

What I want to share with the community:

- The interior was all black with some splattering of silver components, so I wanted to spice it up. When I had the Q5, it had some old-school, cheap mahogany trim that had to go, so I wrapped it in some white pearl that I had left over from a past project. It was wildly successful in updating the look, so, I bought a roll of 'Midnight Purple' from the R34 (got motivated after watching ‘B is for Build’) and wrapped some pieces. Then more, and more. I was amazed to see how well Mazda engineered the trim pieces for installation simplicity (other than having to take off the door cards, but that was simple too).





- I prefer the clean look, so I usually pop off all emblems pretty much the day I buy cars. But, I made the mistake of popping off the emblems only to find the dreaded locator holes. The last time I made that mistake was removing the RX7 emblem (and the other time with the emblems on the Integra). So, I ended up taking the route of spraying them with a body-matched can including the license plate holder (which was pink from AutoNation). Pretty good product, I’ll share if anyone wants to know.

- Lastly, the rear end looked a little incomplete coming from the Q5, so I added a body-color-matched spoiler to extend the top (it is a fairly low-quality product, but, I am super short and can't see the top of it, so it's fine). It worked out well, other than me being too impatient to ask for help, thinking I was clever figuring out how to do it solo. But it's hard to tell since you can't see both sides of the car at the same time.






My goal is to make the car look stock+ while incorporating my own flair. Coming from a German, I'd like to beef it up a little bit, which it is not far from. I love the way it looks and want to keep building on its strengths.

- Next step: I would like a solution for the wheel offset. I put spacers on a couple of cars and never loved how it affected steering (understeer, which this car already has). I think putting them on the rear could help with handling (sorry to all the bros that defend OEM engineering), which i believe it needs but I’m not looking just for a rear solution. Down the road, maybe I will replace the wheels with some lighter-weight ones with a higher offset.
- Wrap the hockey sticks in gloss black or black chrome
- Maybe black lugs nuts (just saw this looking for something else)
- Tint the sunroof - freaking magnifying glass.

I have a lot of pictures showing how I did all the mods, so ask if you want to see how I did anything.

Lemme know what you think! (If anyone in Vegas is interested in me helping you mod yours, let me know).

AJ

94 Probe GT, 94 Accord LX, 94 Integra GS-R, 97 Accord LX, 94 RX7, 05 A4, 08 Z4 coupe, 13 Golf TDi (new), 08 Cayman S, 08 VW R32, 15 GTi (new), 01 S2000, 05 Element, 13 Sti, 13 Lexus RX, 02 S2000, 18 Q5, 22 CX5

 

Welcome to the forum.
Great personal modding!
Nice to see a new member that likes to make their Mazda very personal and one of a kind.
Well tasteful full mods.

I like !

 

Thanks Callisto!

I forgot to mention I also bought the Amazon SD card for Navi. I was surprised it gave me speed limit and street sign recognition (been in my HUD) along with the Navi, which I wont use.

Bad news about that damn spoiler, I noticed it came loose off the car after I spent about 20 min at highway speeds. I took the 'long way home' to protect it since i didn't want to rip it off, and it's now under pressure in my hot garage which will hopefully set it... Any input?

 

I never trust the 2 sided tape that comes with any aftermarket body parts. I always remove what they came with and apply 3M. I also do not trust that the tape from those same suppliers with the tape showing it to be 3m is not counterfeit 3m tape which is widely used from many products manufactured like say CHINA and other similar countries... Also the glass must be prepared before attaching and taped body part. The best is to first clean with alcohol and then wipe with Vinegar and then again with the alcohol. When applying I will then wet the surface again with the alcohol so the tape slip around allowing to center or position the body part exactly where you want it. the alcohol dries quickly, and the tape adhere tight as it was design to.
I see that you use vinyl, you may already know about the use of slip if not try it as it will aide tremulously in applying vinyl to any surface much easier. I once did a complete top on a MONI Cooper in one piece using 3m carbon fiber vinyl. Without slip to apply it the project would have turned into a nightmare.

 

Eighteen automobiles and 41? That is quite a few and then some. My 2023 CX-5 is my ninth automobile, and I have you beat by a score of years. In any case, those are nice mods and likely add to the vehicle. I will stick with OEM adds for the most part. Enjoy the vehicle.

 

Love the machine grey and the mods, good luck with it

 

As Cali says, clean the area well and use an alcohol pad before applying the stick-on item(s).
Cheap alcohol eyeglass cleaners work pretty good.
When attaching stick-on items to vehicles I personally use a clear silicone marine sealant/adhesive not double-sided tape.
It is not supposed to damage paint and I've never had an issue with paint damage in the very few instances I've removed the item.
It doesn't dry out and the item sticks very well, never had anything come off or loosen (vehicle, motorcycle or boat).

 

Great input, thanks guys!

I will absolutely follow the cleaning/lubing process as well as purchase a better adhesive for the spoiler. I won't have time this week, so hopefully I will have an update next weekend. I will admit that I went against my better judgment not prepping the surface well and using the tape that came with the spoiler. I spent 2 minutes searching for best practices then just took it as a challenge to figure it out myself (this ego...).

erscolo, the Rx7 and the 2 S2000s were second cars and the Element was for a gf to drive. The first Accord was stolen and totaled, and the GS-R was totaled by a friend. Just a little justification for the inflated number.

 

If you are really serious to do this work on the side you should look into taking this training program:

3M Installer Trainings for Automotive Wrap Films | 3M US

The class is fantastic, and you walk away with a certification from 3m as well learning all kinds of application techniques. I took it when they were in San Jose CA about 2005.