MS6 HID headlights

Because I'm determined to spend every possible cent on this car, and to "take one for the team" and give other people options, I went ahead and spent the money to have a company that specializes in headlight retrofitting, especially custom brackets, build brackets for the MS6 to upgrade the projectors. The company is called Custom Brackets and Design. Here is a link to the page for the MS6 brackets I had designed:

2002-2007 Mazda6 Micro D2S / Mini HB Retrofit C-Bracket – Custom Brackets & Designs (custom-brackets-designs.myshopify.com)

The Speed 6 does come stock with HID low beams. But the stock projectors are not particularly good. (Many early HID projectors on many different cars are not great.) To my understanding, the current best 2.5" D2S projector on the market is the Morimoto "Micro D2S". (While the "Mini D2S" is 3". Not particularly good naming convention but there it is.) Anyway, for the Mazda 6, the best fit is for a 2.5" projector so "Micro D2S" it is.

Aside from the pain of removing the headlights from the car and opening the damn things up, the upgrade of the projector is really straightforward. Unscrew the stock projector, the stock bracket, screw in the new bracket and the new projector. It did have those annoying "tamper proof" Torx screws which just means you need the right tool.

If you also want to upgrade the high beams, probably the best option is to get the Headlight Revolution S-V.4 H1 LED bulbs. (Not the similarly named Supernova LED product.) Again, at least to my understanding, the Headlight Revolution bulbs are supposed to be about the best on the market.

But, because I insist on wasting money when I don't need to, I decided to ask CB&D to look into making brackets for a Morimoto hi-beam LED projector, the "Mini HB LED". (Where in this case "Mini" means 2.8". Whatever...) He did in fact make them, yet I'm not even entirely certain I would recommend buying them. I'm uncertain if they are worth the money over just getting the Headlight Revolution LED bulbs. Also, the stock hi beam reflector also houses the parking light. So, to use the hi beam projector, you would need to eliminate or relocate the parking light. And one last caveat is that if you use the Mini HB LED, the projector will sit further forward, coming much closer to the lens. But it looks like it would actually work decently.

Current pricing is $70 for just the low beam brackets, or $140 for both high and low beam brackets. In quick summary, I think the Micro D2S projector upgrade for the low beams are great. The high beam projector maybe not so much and probably would just recommend LED hi beam bulbs for an upgrade.

Oh, and, I found on eBay brand new lenses for about $40 a set. So you would basically have brand new headlights if you upgrade the projectors, bulbs and lenses.

As far as turn signal bulbs, I've tried two brands of LED front turn signal bulbs and neither worked. I didn't expect any problems since I had no trouble upgrading the rear turn signal bulbs even without using resisters. So I'm not sure what it would take to upgrade the front turn signal bulbs.

For pictures of the brackets and projectors, see next post.

 

(See post above for write-up.)

Stock low beam projector:


New stainless steel bracket screwed to factory support frame:


New low beam projector placed in headlight assembly:


Picture of low beam with the lens in place. Bad picture.


Stock high beam reflector within stock support frame:


New stainless steel hi beam bracket shown in position with the stock support frame:


Hi beam LED projector, stainless bracket, stock support frame:


Hi beam LED projector placed in position in the headlight assembly:


High beam inside headlight assembly with lens:

 

Excellent write up!
My old man eyes need help as much as your vision upgrades. My 6 is still on a probation period if it doesn't piss me off by next winter.
A great present for long term ownership.

 

Here is the listing for the product:

https://custom-brackets-designs.mys...6-mazda6-micro-d2s-mini-hb-retrofit-c-bracket

You can buy just the low beam brackets, or the low and high beam brackets. As I said, I’m not even certain that I would recommend the high beams even if it was my idea to begin with. But its there as an option.

 

Outstanding work, thank you for sharing all of this. I too am a fan of retro fitting and modifying things to work.

Good solid information.

Thank you.

 

It's been several months since you posted this thread. Are you happy with Micro D2S? Did you ever find a turn signal bulb that would work? I needed to reseal my headlights and figured I needed to upgrade while I'm in there.

 

The Micro D2S are great. I never tried again to find a turn signal bulb. BUT.... I noticed that at least on mine, if you turn the bulb socket too far, turn it all the way like you would think you should, even conventional bulbs don't work! I have to turn it not quite all the way. Maybe if I tried again with the LED bulbs, they would work fine. But I just never have tried again. I guess I should.

 

Alright cool. I believe in another thread you mentioned getting Morimoto fog lights. Did you do that and if so like the result?

 

The bowl of my stock projector is all worn out. The "metal" paint coating was completely gone when I removed my headlines. Unfortunately, when I went to do my retrofit, I bought the wrong projectors (3" E46 projectors instead of the 2.5").

Just to play devils advocate whats the advantage of this bracket and the miro D2S vs the Retro-Quick Mazda 6 setup that TRS sells? Retro-Quik: Mazda 6 (02-08) Retrofit Kit | TRS PR011 (theretrofitsource.com)

 

I bought the quik for trs and their bracket is not for a speed 6. I ended up sending my whole order back. It could have been modified but it was supposed to be drop in so just know that. I'm just getting the micro d2s projector since its actually drop in and the led 2.0 for the high beam which will take a little modifying. Still waiting on my refund.

 

Good to know. I was under the assumption that the MS6 and Regular 6 headlight was the same minus the electric motor in the speed and obviously HID vs Halogen.

 

Hey I've been running the Morimoto XB fogs on my Speed3 for about 7 years now. They are fantastic and have held up really well. They throw a ton of light and blow the OEM fogs out of the water. Also perform a lot better than any LED bulb I tried in the OEM housing.

 

@Speedie6 how did you secure the projector to the plate? I had hoped it would come with the screws/bolts needed but looks like I'm going to need to make an extra parts run.

 

@Speedie6 Did you end up sticking with the high beam bracket? If not I would buy them off you. Was going to mount the mini HB led on the bowl without the bracket but not sure yet.

 

I did not use them. Send me a PM and I will ship them to you.

 

Hey,
Just a heads up, I'm pretty sure you will need to actually make a for sale post in the appropriate forum.

Take a look at the For Sale section and follow the rules there.

 

I'm just giving them to him.

 

Are these the correct projectors that you used?

https://www.morimotohid.com/bi-xenon-micro-d2s-5-0-projectors_3?quantity=1

 

yep.

 

Hey, sorry that I'm going slightly off-topic here. But did the headlight lenses you bought from ebay have any effect on the low beam projection pattern? In my case, it turned out that the new lenses actually distorted the pattern slightly (that means you don't get a very sharp beam cutoff). I don't completely remember where I got my new set from because the works were carried out by a shop, but I suspect they might have been from aliexpress. If you'd like me to send images, please let me know, or I can start a separate thread about it too. Thanks!