[Kjalvarizzle]

What going on everyone! just got rid of my 09 Mazda 3 GS got myself a 17' Mazda 3 GT black! its been a month and im really loving it! faster and sexier lol!
Anyways, I did a bit of digging with an issue i recently found. Seemed to have found a mix of answers. Im located in toronto Canada, I noticed in last models 2014-2016, the Halo LED around the headlamp is the DRL and turns on during the day as such and night time the headlamp turns on with it. With mine, 2017, regardless of if I place it on OFF or AUTO, the headlights turn on regardless, which makes turning off or in auto useless. I called my dealer and the guy there "Is not aware of this issue", as they say. Earliest appointment with them is next week. I messed around with the AutoLight on setting in the care and moved it from Medium to Low. Im assuming this is the light sensor setting, but does nothing. Just seeing if there is a quick fix for this, has anyone else with 2017 mazda 3 gt with this issue?

Thanks!:smile2:

 

[Road Trip]

Good luck on getting your "issue" resolved to your satisfaction. As Canadian spec Mazdas are in many ways different than U.S. (and many other countries), I will not speculate whether your car has an issue or this is how all Canadian Mazda 3's work -- or even are now required to work due to new Canadian laws.

However, maybe I am missing something. Are you concerned about what others coming toward your car are seeing/thinking about its beauty (or your lack of it having beauty) because its headlights are always on?

If I see your car approaching me, I am going to be thinking, damn, that black Mazda 3 GT is gorgeous! (whether your headlights are on or not).

 

[Kjalvarizzle]

Good luck on getting your "issue" resolved to your satisfaction. As Canadian spec Mazdas are in many ways different than U.S. (and many other countries), I will not speculate whether your car has an issue or this is how all Canadian Mazda 3's work -- or even are now required to work due to new Canadian laws.

However, maybe I am missing something. Are you concerned about what others coming toward your car are seeing/thinking about its beauty (or your lack of it having beauty) because its headlights are always on?

If I see your car approaching me, I am going to be thinking, damn, that black Mazda 3 GT is gorgeous! (whether your headlights are on or not).

I dont think its a law issue, because the mazda 6 2017, along with audi and hyundai ect, other cars that have LED lights as their DRL are working that way. And yes it may not be an issue, maybe just how mazda programmed it out the factory.
But the reason I asked, is because i thought it was supposed to work that way, like in older models, where the LED in the headlights is just the one turned on during the day and projector headlight lamp automatically come on when not enough light hits the sensor. If this was the case then the Auto light feature, or turning headlight off is useless. Also will kill the headlights life hours, when it could be saved during the day. Just seeing if anyone with the 2017 mazda 3 gt has this same thing

 

[GerryB]

Welcome aboard. You're not the only one to bring this up, and it seems to me that Mazda chose to the Canadian drl law in this way. Why? No idea.

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[shawnmcw]

Do you have the full LED setup for the headlights, in mine there is something called "adaptive lighting" that i have enabled. When i get home tonight i'll check to see if my full headlight comes on as daytime running or just the halo part and will let you know. I'm in Canada too btw

 

[Kjalvarizzle]

Welcome aboard. You're not the only one to bring this up, and it seems to me that Mazda chose to the Canadian drl law in this way. Why? No idea.

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Yep I called a couple dealers to see what they say. Apparently the LED halo is not bright enough to be DRL, as such with this year they just activated it with the headlight lamp to avoid law issues. They said i can bring it in and have them change it, but it will cost extra because its no longer "Factory default"
what a load of crap! it was honestly one of the reason i got this model, because having just the LED halo on looks so badass. But I guess it is what it is

 

[shawnmcw]

I remembered that i have pic taken during the day so only the daytime running lights would be on and can verify that only the halos are lit, not the headlight
I've attached a pic to help

Maybe the adaptive headlight function i have enabled is what is making the difference though, might be something to check on yours.

 

[Kjalvarizzle]

Do you have the full LED setup for the headlights, in mine there is something called "adaptive lighting" that i have enabled. When i get home tonight i'll check to see if my full headlight comes on as daytime running or just the halo part and will let you know. I'm in Canada too btw

Oh no i did not add that package, its just the regular trim for the GT not the premium. I called around a couple dealers to see what they say. Apparently the LED is no bright enough to pass as DRL, so with this year mazda just activated the regular headlights so avoid law issues. Kinda sucks because part of reason i got this trim was because it looks badass with just the LED lights turned on during the day

 

[shawnmcw]

hmmm, odd that they'd have it enabled for the premium and not the regular GT, you'd think the halos are the same brightness either way :001_huh 1:

 

[Chimphappyhour]

That looks pretty sharp. I would uprgade my Touring 2.5 to these but I suspect it is more work than I'd want to do.

 

[Kjalvarizzle]

I remembered that i have pic taken during the day so only the daytime running lights would be on and can verify that only the halos are lit, not the headlight
I've attached a pic to help

Maybe the adaptive headlight function i have enabled is what is making the difference though, might be something to check on yours.

wow! see thats what im talking about right there! with mine the headlamp turns on along with it. I'm going to bring in my car to the dealer tom and ultimately find out if they can change this at no charge. Because I'd want it to work that way

 

[shawnmcw]

probably would be, i got it this way in the first place, GT with tech and premium package. It has all the bells, whistles and i think i even heard a few gongs in it too for that mater. :lol 1:

The LED set up is GREAT at night, my old car had an aftermarket HID setup and these are even better than that. This time i ordered it the way i wanted, no mods needed, even the wheels came from them.

 

[shawnmcw]

wow! see thats what im talking about right there! with mine the headlamp turns on along with it. I'm going to bring in my car to the dealer tom and ultimately find out if they can change this at no charge. Because I'd want it to work that way

You can check that function and enable it yourself through the mazda connect though. If i remember correctly it's under the lighting header. I'm not sure if that's specific to the tech or premium package though

 

[GerryB]

Yep I called a couple dealers to see what they say. Apparently the LED halo is not bright enough to be DRL, as such with this year they just activated it with the headlight lamp to avoid law issues. They said i can bring it in and have them change it, but it will cost extra because its no longer "Factory default"
what a load of crap! it was honestly one of the reason i got this model, because having just the LED halo on looks so badass. But I guess it is what it is

I'm surprised they offer to change it at all. I would think they'd be scared to death of liability if someone got in a wreck with modified drls.

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[shawnmcw]

Just a quick update, my headlights come on as DRL as well. With LED though the bulb burnout factor isn't as high given how long LED last. i hope :001_unsure:

 

[Studum]

wow! see thats what im talking about right there! with mine the headlamp turns on along with it. I'm going to bring in my car to the dealer tom and ultimately find out if they can change this at no charge. Because I'd want it to work that way

You're in Canada, DRL's are required by law here.

You're headlights are not on at full brightness in DRL mode, they are reduced brightness.

The other lighting in the housing is "accent lighting" and just works in tandem with the DRLs, which are actually your headlights. They're there for appearance only and serve no purpose other than adding style to the headlight assembly.

Previous models had HID headlights, not LED. As such having the HID's on all the time would reduce their lifespan. This is not so much a concern with LEDs. This explains the NEED for higher power / brighter LED strips in the previous models.

If you compare the brightness level of the accent lighting in the new model to the DRL strips in the previous model you will see that the new models accent lighting is much dimmer. My guess is that the accent lighting alone on the new model does not meet required specifications to be considered acceptable DRL's on their own. As such the headlight is on at reduced brightness to be the DRLs.

There is nothing wrong with your car, it is what it is. Regardless of why it was a conscious decision made by the Mazda design team.

If you haven't already gone you might as well cancel your appointment at the dealer as you will be wasting your time.

Go enjoy your new car, she's a beauty.

 

[Studum]

I remembered that i have pic taken during the day so only the daytime running lights would be on and can verify that only the halos are lit, not the headlight
I've attached a pic to help

Maybe the adaptive headlight function i have enabled is what is making the difference though, might be something to check on yours.

Adaptive lighting only turns the inboard headlight into the corner at night (when the headlights are turned full on).

Your pic only looks the way it does because you weren't driving - you're only showing the "parking" lights with the car stopped. As soon as the car is in motion the headlight DRL's turn on. Drive the car up to a glass storefront with the lights "off" and you will see that when you're driving your headlights will in fact be on at a reduced power. Pull up to a wall with the lights "off" then turn your lights "on" to see the step up in brightness from DRL mode to "on" mode.

You can check that function and enable it yourself through the mazda connect though. If i remember correctly it's under the lighting header. I'm not sure if that's specific to the tech or premium package though

It's only available in countries where DRL are not required by law. In Canada we do not have that option at all.

I'm surprised they offer to change it at all. I would think they'd be scared to death of liability if someone got in a wreck with modified drls.

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If they really did offer, they person on the phone was in the wrong and if any owner went in to have this done they would NOT do it under any circumstances for the reasons you mentioned. You can't get your car plated for road use here without DRL unless it was built before the law was put in place on Dec 1, 1989. Even imported vehicles, if not already equipped, need to have DRL installed before getting licensed here.

Previous generations of Mazda 3 the dealer could adjust the auto headlight ambient light sensor turn on sensitivity, but that was it.

 

[shawnmcw]

Yup, i noticed that this morning as well. You're correct about the DRL having the headlights on at a lower intensity. I do have the adaptive lighting option in my car though and it is turned on, i'm in Canada as well