Has anyone fitted the MX5 NC DRL kit?Ā http://www.mx5parts.co.uk/daytime-running-lights-with-lamps-mk35-p-2572.html
Iām kind of aware my car is black and small and as a consequence, more difficult to see, so Iām thinking of adding DRL to increase viz without having to turn my lights on all the time.
I appreciate they are not cheap but it might be worth waiting for a Ā bank holiday discount w/e.
thoughts Ā / opinions / alternatives?Ā
thanksĀ
I must admit I like the look of those, but the price puts me off. I have seen a few fitted and again not sure they are worth all that money. There are other DRLās out there at a 1/5 of the price.
John
I had an auto-electrician fit a set of aftermarket DRLās - cheap, nasty, and didnāt last, so a complete waste of money.
We were going on a tour of foreign parts and wanted the reassurance of being visible at all times so bought the Mazda module that turns the headlights on with the ignition, cost about Ā£30 plus a standard fitting.
Pros -
1) Obviously H/L on at all times, so no worry if you enter a tunnel or very shaded areas under trees on a bright day.
Cons -
2) Dash on dim and sometimes difficult to read.
Iām told by Mazda that the MX loom is a bit different than the rest. The module should only enable dipped beam but on the MX you can still switch up into main beam/ foglights and the rest, exactly the same as manually putting the headlights on with the switch.
However, Iām perfectly happy I did it, and itās waaaaay cheaper than the official DRLās!
Type in DRL or Daytime running lights in the search facility, thereās lots of suggestions on there.Ā
The MX5 Parts kit at Ā£400 seems RIDICULOUSLY expensive.Ā
Actually Iāve just bought these on Ebay which Iāll be fitting after deciding on a suitable, and legal position.Ā
Ā
Youāll also need this.Ā
Ā
I also bought these as an alternative should the above DRLs not look right on the car.
Ā
NOTE - The DRL wires are rather short and will need extending.Ā
Hmm. This interests me as I havent got the fog lamps and I dont like the black blanking thingies.
Pictures and instructions would be helpful when youāve done it please Denbow 
It might be a while before I can fit them because theyāre replacing a gas main and thereās a huge hole in the middle of my drive and I canāt use the garage.
Fitting the Eagle eye type should be easy if you have fog light blanks. Simply drill a hole in the centre of the blanks, push the wire & drl through and tighten the nut on the back,
Route the wires into the engine compartment (theyāll need lengthening), splice the + & - of each together and connect to one of the wires on the relayā¦of which there are four. The other three connect to the + & - of the battery, the other into either the sidelight or dipped beam wires on the drivers side are theyāre nearest the battery.
Fitting instructions are given in the ebay listing. The only thing I donāt like is both drls in the links above are coloured yellow when not in use.
The problem is I have fog lights already, so there is not so much space to fit additional lights in this areaĀ
after looking at alternatives, iāve sprung for the MX5 parts DRL in the Bank Holiday sale -Ā
expensive, but after unpacking them, they appear to be a real quality item - the DRL string of 6 individual Hella LEDs appear quality and the whole lamp assembly goes together in a reassuringly well thought out manner.
I need a bit of help with the wiring tho - there is one loom, with 3 wires to connect to the car - Ā Ground - a brown wire with a ring connector - live - Black and a grey wire that is connected to the sidelight wire.
MX5 mk3.5 LED DRL Wiring by Gerry Mcgarrity, on Flickr
iāve found a few ground points in the engine bay - but i need help / advice on connecting the black āliveā wire and the grey switched wire to the sidelight wire.
I was thinking of using a piggyback fuse holder to pick up a permanent live from somewhere in the fuse box. Ā which fuse (or alternative) would you suggest?
where will i find the sidelight wire and what colour is it? Iāve got the workshop manual in PDF.
thanks
GerryĀ
MX5 mk3.5 LED DRL by Gerry Mcgarrity, on Flickr
MX5 mk3.5 LED DRL by Gerry Mcgarrity, on Flickr
Where does the other end of the 3 wire loom terminate(not shown in photo)? Also,does the 2 pin waterproof plug connect to the fog light bulb?
The loom is only for the DRL it is Y shaped with 2 waterproof plugs on the other ends that plug into individual DRL control boxes for the L & R drl light string.
The fog lights are wired to the existing fog light wiring. I. Am assuming it is a straight swap of the fog light, I.e unplug connection from rear of existing fog lights, remove existing fog lights, replace with new fig light and plug existing loom into the new fog lamps.
The DRL are completely separate electrically.
the other end of the loom, and the DRL control boxes that it plugs into
MX5 mk3.5 LED DRL Wiring by Gerry Mcgarrity, on Flickr
Gray wire is the sidelight supply.Probably best picked up from the headlight connector.The black wire I would presume to be ignition supply.Pick up from the fuse box.I would guess the way it works is that the drls come on with ignition,and then when sidelights are switched on ,they either dim or go out.
yip, iāve had a good look under the bonnet this eve with a multimeter.
iāve found the sidelight wiring just before it goes into the sidelight bulb holder (2 wires - one red (live) and one black (ground) - so i think splicing the grey into the red wire is the answer for the sidelight feed.
the micro fuses in the engine bay are an odd (shallow) size compared to regular micro fuses that are found in the passenger footwell - and iām nit sure my piggyback fuse holder will work in a fuse in the engine bay (which is a pain) so i might need to find a way to wire unto the fan or Accessory socket fuse in the passenger footwell which is live with the ignition in the ACC position.
DRLās successfully fitted & working removing the front bumpy was a real fiddley job to get in to the nuts & bolts that are behind the wheel arches. would probably be easier with the wheels off.
DRL live feed taken from a piggy back micro fuse holder into the ignition fuse in the bonnet fuse box, grey wire tapped into sidelight live.
DRLās really bright and dim with the lights on.
MX5 Nc LED DRL by Gerry Mcgarrity, on Flickr
MX5 Nc LED DRL by Gerry Mcgarrity, on Flickr
MX5 Nc LED DRL by Gerry Mcgarrity, on Flickr
DRLās powered from switched live (IGN / Ignition)fuse by using a āmicroā piggyback fuse in engine bay fuse bay
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/4Pcs-Add-a-Circuit-Fuse-Tap-Micro-Auto-Standard-Blade-Piggy-Back-Fuse-Holder-10A/272728478477?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649
Mx5 mk3.5 drl fuse box wiring
Mx5 mk3.5 drl fuse box wiring
I see MX5 Parts at doing cheaper (Ā£170) LED fog light replacement DRL now for the Ā Mk3/3.5
https://www.mx5parts.co.uk/daytime-running-light-foglamp-mk3-35-p-4207.html
Thanks for this.
I was considering doing a mod to add a US style DRL control module in the system, which simply puts the two hi-beam filaments in series, for a good spread and at lower power for no dazzle. But I have yet to get around to it, partly because I was unsure if it was legal in UK, and partly because it might have meant altering the headlight wiring, and partly because if it is not broke I should not be fixing it. Also some of the UK wire colours for the lights seem to be slightly different from US implying a subtly different main loom and a potential nightmare.
See fig 52 for US type DRL connection and control in the Mellens lighting system.pdf
http://www.mellens.net/mazda/Mazda-Miata-2006-2007/lighting_system.pdf
Edit. I forgot to add, the top right corner of the main fusebox has a vacant slot labelled ā(DRL)ā
I couldnāt remember why I didnāt use this fuse position when I wired my DRL, so I went out and tested it a moment ago.
For some reason, the DRL fuse position in the engine bay fuse box appears to be permanently live. Soq the DRL donāt switch off automatically when the ignition is off. They appear to be on all the time, even with no key in the car.
By using the IGN fuse, it only switches live when the Ignition is Turned to the ON position, so the DRL are only on when the key is in the ignition. Once you turn the engine off, the ignition circuit seems to take maybe 15s before it powers down, so the DRL stay on until the IGN circuit powers off.
Yes, that is as I would expect.
Normally the live from the DRL fuse goes to a relay contact, and the IGN merely switches the relay coil to preserve the life of the ignition switch contacts. This principle applies to most high current circuits.
I had a look at my main beams and the wires on both sides are the same colours White/Green and Blue, obviously common connected, so the US way is too complicated and not worth the effort.
Iām considering trying to add a contact and wire from the (DRL) fuse, and adding into the space underneath the fuse block a relay controlled by the IGN feed, and then taking that relay switched wire to the DRL control blocks.
With that MX5parts kit, is there a wire connection to allow the DRLs go out when the headlights or sidelights are switched on? Iām not sure of what is legally required here, because Iāve seem various things happening on different cars. Some very simple logic with a couple of diodes can include this sort of function to the relay Iām thinking about adding.