ND - Auto window open/close with roof activity

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1

Fitted the mx5things window gizmo today. Should take about 45 minutes taking it slowly.

Hints and Tips

Door card comes off relatively easily. Note that you have to get your fingers / trim tool in-between the card and the rubber surround. The rubber DOES NOT come off with the door card.

See pic below . . . .

Small yellow circles - these door card clips stayed in the door, make sure you remove any clips and refasten to the door card before refitting

Big yellow circle - the door opening cables get in the way when reseating the door card. Put the door card on the top, insert fingers to hold the cable away from the door and reseat the door card.

Initiation - Option (a) - Windows close after roof activity

Doors closed / Ignition on (engine on or off, your choice)

Unlatch roof, leave it partially closed. Touch drivers window switch and close window by an inch.

Open roof fully and latch. Windows will close fully automatically.

Initiation - Option (b) - Windows open after roof activity

Doors closed / Ignition on (engine on or off, your choice)

Unlatch roof, leave it partially closed. Touch drivers window switch and open window by an inch.

Open roof fully and latch. Windows will open fully automatically.

THIS WILL BE REMEMBERED UNTIL YOU REPROGRAM IT

NOW THE BEST BIT

Drive with the roof down and park at your destination. Switch off ignition. Unlatch roof. Close and lock. Windows will close automatically. HOW MANY TIMES have you pulled up, closed the roof and had to turn the ignition back on to close the windows? RESULT!

VIDEO FOR YOUR ENTERTAINMENT

4 Likes
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I’ve had my MX-5 for only 2 weeks & this has already annoyed me!! Where did you get the kit from?

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…this is a real pain in the ar1se…cannot believe that Mazda didn’t sort this from day one…every other car I have owned allows you to at least put the windows up from the key fob while you are outside…I still keep forgetting and have to turn the ignition back on.
When we first had the car i thought it was a fault that this did not happen “automatically” after you had put the roof up!..

4

That’s such a good piece of kit and simple to install
Where did you purchase it from and how much ?

5

As the OP mentions MX5 Things, I guess that it’s on their web site.

There seems to be a UK distributor here, selling the module at ÂŁ99.95 + ÂŁ5.95 shipping.

1 Like
6

They have a European supplier now so go to the main site and find the link.

Also check out the install instructions, it took me less than 30 minutes in all, it’s not difficult.

I love this mod, I’ve done lots of small tweaks on my ND but this one saves so much hassle, it’s one of the top 5 of the mods on my ND!

European car wiring is different to US wiring so the remote open/close of the windows using the remote has changed and that bit is no longer plug and play as you now have to use a couple of scotch locks for that bit. Worth it though.

7

Thanks for the info on where to purchase , just been online and ordered also purchased the extra wiring for the window up and down on the fob
Cheers

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Ordered also with the key fob option, i’ve had the door cards off multiple times before for various jobs so this will be easy to install. I did try to install the original product, but the soldering requirement was far too intricate for the average joe.

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9

Don’t know if the wiring on all ND’s is the same, but I have a 30AE ST model.
The simple procedure I was advised to adopt by Mad-Malc when pulling up to park and switching the ignition off after a top-down drive as follows:

Apply parking brake (purely for safety reasons)
Switch off ignition
Do NOT open either door
Unlatch the roof - the windows drop part way
From the driver or passenger position raise and lock the roof shut
Operate the window switches to close the windows (one at a time as advised in manual to avoid any circuit overload)
Then you can open the doors to get out

Doing it this way, the ignition does not have to be switched on again to close the windows.
But remember, as soon as either door is opened with the ignition off before closing the hood and operating the electric window switches, the electronics will prevent the window switches working, without that annoying requirement to turn the ignition on again.
This all works without any special kit added to the window wiring. And, of course, providing one is agile enough to close the soft top from the driver’s or passenger’s seat.
However, if one prefers to open and close the windows remotely from the key fob, the additional kit in the OP is the way to go.

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2018 Sport Nav works the same

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Yeah, they all work like that to my knowledge. But that has nothing to do with the point of the kit, the point of the kit is if you lower the roof the windows will automatically return to full height and the same on raising the roof (as well as the key fob option), the behaviour can be reversed to have the windows lower instead of raise.

1 Like
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Ah, AMA, misread your tip, have deleted my post accordingly!

Jeff

13

…ta for the tip…did not know that was an option, (to leave the doors closed and the windows still work after turning the engine off…).
I will give it a go next time we are out and about!
many thanks…

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…yep works a treat, probably in the manual that I never read, but as long as you do not open the doors you can then power up the windows after you turn the power off!..it’s only taken me 14 months to find that out…but saved the need to purchase this gadget, although it would be useful to be able to wind the windows up/down of the key fob…
…so many thanks to AMA…

15

There’s loads of ways to give you a time slot to close the windows after opening the door. Lots of ways to make the raise motion one touch too. You just need to be willing to play around. I started with a MX5things solder in kit and adapted it to auto close after roof raising or lowering, I swapped this in the end for an arduino nano and coded it my self to do a few more bits and bobs too. £3.55 and works a dream.
I used a 555 timer and sub miniature relay to give a 30 second buffer for window closure after a door has been opened post ignition being turned off. I’d have used arduino for that too in retrospect but I did that mod before realising they where so cheap, you would still need a relay as well due to current demand.

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My order from ML&S turned up today and they have sent me the LHD key fob option rather than the RHD that I ordered. :triumph:

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seems to be a Mazda thing, my Mazda 5 has the same functionality when the ignition is switched off ( although unlike the MX5 the key fob can also open and close!) please note that I think this operation is only valid for 30 seconds.

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Don’t worry about it, check the blog and it shows how to connect to the correct wires with a crimp terminal.

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ML&S are correcting it, however I have bigger problems as I have tried fitting the main controller tonight and it works fine for the first 30 seconds / minute then loses complete control of the passenger window (it locks in whatever position it fails) which i think is what some other buyers had problems with as well as other erratic behaviour so i’m going to have to e-mail Sergey and perhaps send the whole lot back to ML&S tomorrow instead.

20

So after two different controller modules and fitting and re-fitting the units more times than I care to count it turns out there is some firmware issue so Sergey is sending me the latest unit directly. For the time being I don’t recommend anyone purchase any from ML&S as they need to update the firmware in the units, the key fob option is also likely to be the wrong one.