After reading all that, I am glad I take mine to Valvaline. :)

Correct Wrench (per Mazda)
 

I elongated the hole (with tin snips) in the splash shield that made changing the oil much less of a pain. It is now easier and makes less of a mess than with my Miata's or Protege's. If you use a cap wrench you do not need much room for access.

I found the tool I bought made for the oil filter housing worthless the first time I used it and went to a band wrench. I have been pulling the allen plug, letting it drain and then replacing it before removing housing. It's a lot less messy that way but probably is an extra step and would be easier to do the way rsx suggested.
I've run synthetic since new and don't at all believe there is any reason not to. How can any type of oil that meets the API specs given by the mfg not be correct? I would want to see this in writing.

Mazda is fine with full synthetic in all of it's engines except the Rotary in the RX8

In the Rotary they want the oil (injected into the combustion chambers) to completely burn and go out the exhaust. Full Synthetic has such a high flash point it tends to not quite burn.

I run full synthetic in my MS3, MS Protege, Protege, and Miata's with excellent results.

ONLY FOR 2.0 NOT 2.3
It was cleaverly pointed by x2lacrosse that 2.0 engine uses the disposable filter kind, while 2.3 uses cartridge kind. :knob:

you dont need special tools you need:
-Embudo" ( i dont know the word for it on english) its the conical piece of plastics you now big end one side small end the other i think is funnel.

-Oil collector

-Screw driver

-Wrench

-Shop towel

0.- let the car cool down... a gush of hot oil in the face its a no-no

1.- Unscrew the draining bolt and use funnel to catch the initial burst of oil, when the oil presure decreases let it drip into the oil pan.

2.- Place a shop towel over the plastic (splash guard) under the filter to collect any dripping

3.- try to unscrew the filter by hand if unsuccessful puncture a hole on the side and collect the oil with the funnel, when empty, ram the screw driver all the way across the filter its important that the screw diver goes all the way thru so you get 2 anchor points... the longer the screw driver the easy gets to unscrew due the leverage, remember lefty loosie righty tighty

4.- throw away the filter

5.- install the new one, remember to smear the new filter "lip" for easy installation... hand tighten

6.- put back the draining screw

7.- Fill with new oil

next time you need to change the oil filter you wont need to use the screw driver, just make sure is clean with a deagraser so you can get a hold of it and use you hands to unscrew it after all you hand tightened last time... wear gloves for those extra wussy points... you nancy pancy

A screwdriver ? Huh ... never thought of that , but would it not get kind of expensive replacing all of those plastic housings ?

First, do you have the i or the s version? This does make a diff. b/c the i uses a traditional spinoff filter whereas the s uses a cartridge style.

Second, if you do have the s, are you actually implying to puncture a hole in that plastic filter housing???!!!??!! That is pretty insane b/c you would not only have to buy a new filter for every oil change, but you'd now need a new filter housing for every change. By the time you're done paying for that, you could've just paid the dealer to change it 4 you.

oh... cartridge you say... yeah... my bad.... I do have 2.0 and use the sealed "spin off" kind also some other cars have a sensor down there, across the filter, don't poke the sensor.... Mazda 3 2.0... 2006 does not

this is the filter i use
http://www.mmmiata.com/2006%20filter.jpg

also check this out, i "discover it" while looking for a picture of the filter...

Miata Magnetic Drain Plug -
This powerful permanent magnet constantly attracts all the steel particles in your engine's oil and traps them for removal at your next oil change.

http://www.mmmiata.com/images/thumbs/MM175_thumb.jpg
http://www.mmmiata.com/catalogsite/factory_parts01.php

dont these particles get stuck in the filter??

Metal bits may or may not stay in the filter, but magnetic drain plugs are the way to go. I have one not only on the oil pan, but also for the tranny housing as well.

Even though I've gotten some good suggestions and a link to the right filter wrench, the filter setup on the 3s really pisses me off so I did some searching and found this:

http://www.mazdastuff.com/product.cfm?ProductID=2869

AND

http://www.mazda6tech.com/index.php?...id=47&Itemid=1

I have no reason to see/believe why this conversion would cause any issues, so I'm going to do it.