i am replacing my dash dimmer dial and was wondering if anyone could school me on the best way to remove the old one?

thanks in advance!
DS

 

What year Mazda 3?

 

damn.. i keep forgetting that..
it's a 2009 3 i sedan.

DS

 

The dial left of the steering wheel? It's probably more steps than you'd like, but the easiest way would be to pop loose the lower dash panel and push on the two tabs holding the dimmer into the dash.

Remove the door threshold trim (pull up)
remove the outer kick panel (pop out round fastener then pull panel towards the rear)
pop the hood release loose (pry with a screwdriver)
remove screw revealed from behind hood release
grab entire panel and pull down and back.