[ZoominPoet]

After ordering a pair of Hoen H11 xenonmatch v2 fog lights about two weeks ago, Saturday was the first decently warm day to try and install them myself.

I consulted the manual, which gives you a brief description of how to do so. Right below the fog lights, is a black plastic covering to protect from wetness and road dirt.

First, I worked on the driver's side. I unscrewed the three screws near the fog light, with ease, with a basic phillips screwdriver. Took about a minute tops.

Second, I was suprised you have direct access to the fog light bulbs after the place covering. Viewing the picture in the manual, I reached my hand up, felt for the clip and unhooked the power source/cord from the bulb.

Third, you must turn the blub to unlock it from the harness. The difficulty of this will depend how tightly it was assembled. Some people stated it is too tight to do without lifting the vehicle. However, I was able to apply ample force to turn the bulb and release it from the harnessing in about 5 minutes.

Forth, I removed my new bulb from packaging (careful to not touch the bulb part) and connected the power sourch first, then put the bulb in the harness. Turning the new bulb to tighten it does take some elbow grease and pushing. Just be careful not to bust the bulb. After tightening, I replaced the plastic piece and there ya go! Success!

Just follow the same step for the passagner side and the whole process takes about 15 minutes. It all depends how tight the bulbs are in the harnessed when car was built.

Any questions?

 

[lmp180psu]

Sounds real simple, even for a non-mechanical boob like myself

I will seriously think about switching out the fog lights to help match the xenon headlights better. Thanks for the endorsement about the ease of installation.

Get some pics if possible

 

[Absinthe]

Nice walkthrough..... :nsmile:

 

[Aleksander_t]

ok, now how does someone install them if they didn't get the stock ones

 

[ZoominPoet]

Install the whole fog light unit you mean?? I've done it one older cars, so I don't know how to do it the "right" way.

Before, I would just mount the aftermarket fog lights on the bottom of the bumper, run the wires through the engine bay, drill a whole for the switch and attach to battery. Its never looked really all that great though. My last two cars came with fog lights already.

BTW, thanks for the compliment on the walkthrough! Really, it's THAT easy.

 

[fire76]

Aftermarkets shouldn't be too bad. It's a tight space though, so mounting the lights may be tricky. The hardest part (more time consuming) is the wiring. There's two ways to do it. The half ass way, and the right way. Any doofus can use zip ties and way too much electrical tape. Take the time and hide the wires and use good connectors. Properly mount the relay. Mount the switch in a good place. Bottom line...It's not that hard at all, just don't rush through it.

 

[teklis]

pics plz!!

 

[AshtaMazda3]

pics! pics! pics!

 

[funkyfreshmonke]

one questoin, did you turn the bulb counter-clockwise to unscrew or clockwise?

 

[TreeFrog]

Yes, I got my Hoen fog replacements yesturday and tried to install them today. The problem I had was getting the bulb out of the fixture. I could only turn it about 15 degrees counter-clockwise before it stopped (appeared to hit the the fixture). I didn't try removing the wire first, however (was just following the manual step-by-step, which it says to do that after removing the bulb). I'm sure it has to turn farther, as it would not even slightly move out at all.

I will probably try again later this week, but my hands hurt. Might have to get my mini-vices out there (with a light grip) to help get a little leverage.

 

[rpc180]

Take out the wire harness first - I think it hits a retaining screw or something. Someone else had an issue with the fogs, but ocne they got the harness off, it was cake.

When I installed mine I took the harness off first, came out wihtout a problem.

 

[malebastard]

How are they?

Do they provide better vision?

I'm always skeptical with aftermarket bulbs, i feel you get better road vision with the stock headlamps.

Just my opinion.

 

[brownfsu]

I replaced my stock fog lights with the Hoen H11 and love them. There isn't much difference as far as vision goes. They are still halogens. But the look is friggin' awesome! They match my Xenons from a head on look pretty well.

Replacing them was a snap as long as you take the wiring harness off first. There is a screw at the top of each housing that doesn't allow you to turn the lamp the required distance if you leave the wiring harness on.

 

[rpc180]

Photos of my replaced lights were in this thread:
http://mazda3forums.com/viewtopic.php?t=1792&start=0

 

[TreeFrog]

I totally feel like a dummy now. After removing the wire harness, the bulb turned and came out no problem. Guess Mazda needs to correct the owner's manual on that one. All and all took me about four minutes to do the job.

The look great, but I've only seen them in the garage thus far. Have to check them out on the road over the weekend.