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2012 Mazda 3 HID swap????

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Old September-25th-2012 | 11:51 PM
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2012 Mazda 3 HID swap????

Hey everyone,
I just made an account for this site because I bought a brand new 2012 Mazda 3 s Grand with everything on it, I'm just wondering because I'm new to Mazda vehicles, since it comes stock with HID lights, and I want for example to change it to 80000k or 10000k ect. Do you still need the whole kit/relay? Or can you just use th different bulb??
Thanks to anyone who help me out!
Mav
Old September-28th-2012 | 03:11 PM
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To answer your question, no you wouldn't need a whole kit. You would just need to obtain D2S lamps in whatever kelvin rating you're looking for.

Now that said why in the world would you want to? Are you going for the "high end car color"? Higher kelvin HID lamps actually produce less usable light than do lower kelvin rated lamps (optimum is around 4100k). In addition the higher the kelvin rating above the stock 4100k the closer to the blue/purple end of the spectrum you get, and blue light causes eye fatigue faster.

If you're going for that high end car blue flicker then replacing the lamps isn't what you should be looking at. Those cars still have 4100k white lamps and the blue flicker is an effect of the optics of the lamp. On the 1st gen you could swap the stock frosted lens with a clear lens and achieve the blue across the cutoff and the flicker. There were also a few other little mods you could do to reduce glare, etc., however the clear lens was the key to the entire process. I'm not 100% sure if there's a direct swap lens for the 2nd gen, though I'd recommend contacting Matt at www.theretrofitsource.com and asking. He's the one who sourced the clear lens replacement for all us 1st gen owners.
Old September-29th-2012 | 01:19 PM
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if you dont know how to do wiring i wouldnt attempt d2s bulbs. i would stick with an h11 kit. the hook up works with the stock plug and i would recommend a 35w 5000k kit. 8000 10000 doesnt do anything but change the color of the bulb and makes ur visibility horrible and making driving difficult
Old September-29th-2012 | 10:30 PM
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Originally Posted by hyjnx
if you dont know how to do wiring i wouldnt attempt d2s bulbs. i would stick with an h11 kit. the hook up works with the stock plug and i would recommend a 35w 5000k kit. 8000 10000 doesnt do anything but change the color of the bulb and makes ur visibility horrible and making driving difficult
He has OEM HID lamps on his GT trim so it already uses a D2S lamp........ The kits are only for installing HIDs on halogen equipped cars.
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