Well I finally gave in and ordered some stuff for my car. Item number one (and two?) are heated side mirrors that will come on with the defrost. I plan on doing it the same way that billm on mazda3forums (those of you who have been reading the "side mirror broken" thread should know what I'm talking about) and just replace the glass and run the wires myself vs. a full replacement. Really I've been wanting to do this for nearly two years but just kept putting off the order. Also I ordered some superflux 4 chip LEDs from oznium.com to mount as courtesy lights under the dash/seat/side mirrors, plus two in the cargo area since the cargo light sucks. All but the cargo lights are going to be wired to come on when: 1) I unlock the car, 2) I open a door, 3) I turn off the ignition. The cargo ones will just come on with the cargo light when the hatch is open.

 

that sounds nice. ive always wanted heated mirrors, too. let us know how it works out for you.

 

Well I have a pretty good walkthrough from billm so it should work just fine...... I do need to go buy a new soldering iron though as mine's broken. I would love to just buy the full replacements except I don't want to have to store the old mirrors, and I can't really justify spending twice as much to get new ones over just the glass replacement. Plus it's fun to do this kind of stuff with your car.

 

I also want to put heated exterior mirrors on. I just didn't know how difficult the process was. Also post plenty of pics of the lights. can't wait to see what they look like.

 

If you get the full replacement mirrors (~$205 for both sides) It's a super easy ~5 minute job for each side. You pop off the triangular panel where the tweeter is, unplug the harness, remove three 8mm bolts and then the mirror is off. Reinstall in reverse order with the new ones and you're done.

If you replace just the glass it's a little more involved. You have to remove the mirror from the car and disassemble the base. Then you have to run new wires from the glass, through the articulated joint, and fabricate pins into the mirror side of the harness plug. You don't have to alter any of the stock wiring as it's all there up to where the harness ends at the mirror. If you don't mind playing with wires and doing a little soldering then this way is both more fun and much cheaper (~$80)

I'll definitely take pics of the LEDs and the install. Currently I installed three blue LEDs that come on with the headlights. One on each side of the dash and one in the back of the center console. The intensity matches the light above the ashtray and they're very sublte (though I need to make the driver's side one more subtle)

 

Well!!! Hallelujah!! It's about time. I would ask you to finally change your sig to go along with it, but I can't, cause mine isso out of date now too.

Yeah, I DEFINATELY wanna see how your LEDs turn out.

 

Ditto on the LEDs. Look forward to seeing and hearing how it turns out!

 

Thanks for the info. I will prob go with the just the mirror and have a friend help me. Where did you get the mirrors from?

 

Well I can't change my sig. until I've actually done the mod. :P

I ordered from Jason at www.onlinemazdaparts.com. He's super helpful and has done a lot of research for both the heated mirror mod and the flip keys. Plus he has fantastic service. While I was ordering stuff I also ordered a JDM coin holder that replaces one of the blanks by the dimmer dial, and a replacement clip for my driver's side visor as it broke and the visor won't stow properly.

 

Mostof the Canadian models come standard with heated side mirrors...