It all depends on the car you buy. If you buy a new 2009 / 2010 i sport, I believe they come with fogs now. Just double check what you're getting first.

Aside from that, if you know what you're doing and or have someone help you who knows what they're doing, it's really no trouble at all Good luck with the purchase.

But seeing from your profile on the left, you said you wanted a 2010. Since there is less than 0 parts out for aftermarket for the 2010, bite the bullet and give Mazda the 325 they're asking for fogs. It's better than messing with a brand new car which doesn't have anything out to replace / fix it : D Good luck.

 

If the genuine Mazda fog lights are only $325+installation I'd say go for it. I bought a set of $100 ebay fogs for my 08 and they work OK but one leaks a bit and the reflective surface has started to tarnish a bit. I'm pretty sure the OE parts are better quality. Plus you get the nifty switch on the turn signal stalk with the headlight switch.

As far as installation goes, I installed mine myself. Nothing exotic, just straightforward mechanical work and mostly plug and play electrical wiring. But getting under the dash to fish the signal wire through the firewall did a number on my back, bowels and hemorrhoids. If you've never been tossed by a Water Bufflao @ 220 km/h and slid down the road on your ass then maybe this part won't apply to you but in retrospect I should have paid the extra couple hundred dollars and saved myself a week and half of blinding pain, limited mobility and impaired bodily functions.

 

would a 2007 i Sport happen to already have the harness there (hidden behind the blank panels) so that i could just get a set of factory fogs (u-pull-it scrap yard probably) and just install them?
and what is involved with swapping out the stalk that i saw mentioned in this thread?
Thx in advance for any help.

 

Like he said, anything is do-able yourself, and quite easily at that. But you can run into trouble. Especially if you're getting the 2010, there isn't that much info about it yet. Such as what wires to tap, what does what and not to mention the lack of aftermarket, it'd probably be extremely difficult to find anything on Ebay. So good luck, but like I said, I'd trust the dealer with this one.

You can always upgrade 'em later.

 

Note that if the 2010 ends up the same way as previous models then it's prewired for foglights. On the older models without fogs all you have to do is remove the plastic blank in the bumper, install the fog light assembly in it's place, put lamps in it, plug it into the harness in the bumper, and replace the existing turn signal stalk with the one that has the fog light switch. It's a very easily doable modification by yourself, and all you really need is a screwdriver. The longest part of the install would be removing the plastic shield under the bumper. Certainly not something I would pay $1,000 for.

That said we don't know much about the 2010 yet. It might be prewired like the previous gen and it might not. If it is I can't imagine the install to be any harder than it is now. If not then it really isn't all that hard to run a relay harness yourself and install a switch.

 

Personally, I think the fogs are pretty useless on the 3. I remember when I had my stock headlights in, and the fogs never really helped with seeing the road any better.

I would say, save your $325 and get an aftermarket set of HID's from the group buy section of the forum. You will see better than your stock headlights and fog lights combined, the headlights look a lot better, and they only cost $110-125 and you get a great warranty.

Unless you just hate the look of the black panels and the fogs would make you more happy about the car's appearance.

 

Thank you guys for your input. Yeah, I'm getting the 2010 in black. I think I'll go without the fog lights. It was just the look of the black panels in place of the fog lights that kind of bugged me. Maybe I should just speak with a dealer about how much everything would cost, installation included.

 

[quote author=qteemestisa link=topic=147102.msg3163748#msg3163748 date=1244234341]
Thank you guys for your input. Yeah, I'm getting the 2010 in black. I think I'll go without the fog lights. It was just the look of the black panels in place of the fog lights that kind of bugged me. Maybe I should just speak with a dealer about how much everything would cost, installation included.
[/quote]

I think you should research them if your wanting fog lights enough you will probably find a pair on ebay or somewhere. theres bound to be some somewhere. but i think 1000 dollars is OUTRAGEOUS for fog lights i got mine for $120 and about to install them

 

I agree with chris17house, the fogs that come on the Mazda3 are pretty useless. I think mine are really nothing more than decorations.

 

The main purpose of fog lights is not to help you see better. It's so others can see you better through the fog.

 

See you better? Really? I think not, unless you are talking about a rear end fog light, as Volvo has used. Fog lights throw a very low beam to get as much vision distance "under" low lying haze (fog).

 

OOo and is there a certain type of light i should stay away from .. legality reasons?

 

ok, found the thread about swapping out the stalk and it sounds easy enough, but without me first taking the blank panels off (can't really do it atm due to injuries), what is the chance that the harness and factory plug is already there on my 3i so i can just get factory fogs at the u-pull-it and just install them?