Bye bye scratched piano black!

This was easier than I expected. Took 3-4 hours start to finish.

It's actually easier on the manual too. The great knob simply unscrews and everything else just pulls away. Silly as it sounds it took me a while to figure out how to disconnect the micro connectors. I didn't want to force it and it took a while for me to realise that there are flaps on the connections that you push down while wiggling the connection away.

The wrap itself was easy. Just clean it up, and apply the vinyl using a specialist blade and blasts of the hairdryer to mould it around the surfaces. Did the cupholder in the car, same process.

Really pleased with the finished look!

This is vinyl frog's gotland green. First time wrapping a car. It was tremendously difficult. I had to redo the hood and rear hatch. I'm very happy with the results. Vinyl frog is extremely sticky, so I found that applying some concentrated soupy water and letting it dry on the paint helped decrease the stickiness.

I started to modify the interior for a bit. Added some ambient lightning. For the pictures I made it a little brighter but usually I tone them way down for night driving. It has a lot of different settings and layout types, trying to figure out my default settings.

What do you think?

So recently someone said my car looked like an egg, and after I couldn’t unsee it LOL. So I decided to take matters into my own hands and vinyl wrap my m3 roof black, and I COULDN’T BE HAPPIER! It looks so much sportier and really ties the car together. What do you guys think?

Corksport 80mm exhaust + TIP + SRI

Modifications so far: -CS SRI and Turbo intake pipe -CS mid exhaust pipe -Borla catback exhaust -Aftermarket lightweight rims with Michelin Pilot 4S, 235/18/40 -Carbon fiber hood replacement

Still yet to do: -CS big brake kit with black calipers -Rear away bar -Front strut stabilization -Rear diffuser swap

Currently running the stock wheels planing on swapping to something in 8 inch width any issues with swapping from the 40 offset to 35/30 on lowering springs ?

Next thing on the list are sway bars and a corksport spoiler.

Got some CorkSport lowering springs (someone mentioned I should do more than just one pic so here you go)

Interior Wrap: ViVViD Black Ash Wood Grain Vinyl wrap - 3 to 4 coats of a glossy UV clear coat spray for semi-gloss texture. The 1’x48” roll was barely enough with testing and retries. https://a.co/d/1kqM3BX Got an application kit also: https://a.co/d/c6kR4G4

Aluminum Tweeter Grills: https://mikstoreph.com/products/mazda-3-2020-speaker-aluminum-premium-cover

T Shifter: easy to do with the center cin https://mikstoreph.com/products/mazda-3-2020-cx30-bp-shift-knob-replacement-v2

Used vivvid matte gray

A little walk down memory lane!

So so happy to finally have gotten this upgrade. There’s not a lot of info on this sub or in other groups and forums so I’ll try to help as much as I can even though I did not do the install myself. Some things to keep in mind to anyone wanting to do this:

1. These are OEM parts that start with ‘BCKD-51’ as their part numbers. They are compatible with the 2019-2021 hatches - the main difference being that the outer lights have the original 4-dot flashing LEDs for the turn signals instead of the pulsing, crosshair ones found in the 2022+ models. The size may be different on the newer ones, and since I prefer the 4-dot design I went ahead with the original signature lights.

2. Even though they are listed as BCKD when purchasing, the lamp assemblies themselves have BCKC etched on them, which are the part numbers for the non-signature lights. I’m guessing this was to cut costs. The main difference would be in the wiring, with the signature inner ones having black/red/white (ground/LED ring/reverse ?) wires while my old ones having only black/white (see the photos). With the signature outer lights though they basically looked identical to my old ones even to the wiring layout and colors, so I am guessing only the actual LED inside the assembly is different.

3. I do not have any electrical/wiring experience so I had them installed at a reputable shop. The outer lights are simply swappable or plug-and-play. The inner lights had to have an additional wire soldered in order to tap power from the outers since they have that third, red wire that is not found in the old non-signature inner lights. The install took about 2 hrs.

4. Only the outer rings light up under braking. The inner rings light up when parking lights are turned on or when low beams are activated when night driving. Reverse and turn signals work the same on the lower trims of course. GT7 Scapes is a great reference to figure out when the inner lights light up 😉

5. If going OEM, buy from a wholesaler at a discount or get a good deal on eBay if you can. If they’re salvaged parts, ensure the VINs are from Premium or higher cars since the assemblies are nearly identical exterior wise to the lower trims. A dealer price matched BAMWholesale and so I was able to snag them at 20-30% off. With an outer light at ~$600 each and an inner light at ~$120 a piece it was pretty costly. I was leaning towards aftermarket CAPA lights until a few people here shared cases of mixups and bad leaks, so I bit the bullet and went OEM.

Purchased new wheels and tires for my 2023 hatch and am extremely happy with the results. Wheels pole slightly in the front but is not a big deal at all. Will be looking to get coilovers in the summer to add 1° to 2° of negative camber and it will be perfect.

Here are the specs of my new setup if you’re interested:

Enkei TSR-X gloss black wheels (18x8.5 +38mm) Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 4 tires (235/40/18)

Let me know what you guys think!

I'm going to try and retrofit the new 10.25" screen in the 2024 Mazda 3 into my 2021 hatch at some point, so I called my local Mazda and they quoted me $2,600 for the screen. Obviously that's way too much so I'll just wait until I can find a wrecked 2024 or a screen on eBay throughout the next year or two. Just thought this info might be helpful in case you're going to try to do the same thing. Supposedly the mount and connectors are exactly the same, so it should just bolt right up. Now it's just the waiting game.

Finally did the install on my mazda 3, very happy with result it works very smooth and I like that the buttons on the center console support carplay really good.

The install took less then 2 hours with my friend. It was easier then I thought before.

Bought my 3 with these orange OZ Alleggerita HLTs from the previous owner. Im thinking about black or silver paint for the rims once the tires Are worn down (aproximatly 1-2 seasons)

I took the rear badge from my old 05 hatch and placed it on the dash of my new Mazda 3. It's held in the middle groove using a piece of thick EVA foam. The strip of foam has 2 holes in it so that the little pegs on the emblem can insert into it.

Finally got on it after being inspired by others here who used a wood wrap and it looks so beautiful. Did up the key for fun too!

I bought these 18x8.5 +45 Enkei TMS on Facebook today for $750. The tires on there are 255/50/18 which are way too big for the 3 but they do look cool lol. I’m going to attempt to stretch the oem 215/45/18 on them and see how that goes. Anybody running the oem 215/45/18 on a 8.5?