So after walking out on a deal on a Mazda 3i Touring at Legacy Mazda here in Orem, UT over a stupid $400 DOC Fee - we headed over to Utah Auto Sales to look at a used Mazda 3 s Grand Touring 5-dr which I had driven the week before.

Luckily... I ended up w/ the 5-dr =) It's a 2006 w/ 8000Miles on it and other than the fact that someone obviously smoked in it before, it's a grrreat car and I'm LOVING it except for one thing... It has the 6-cd changer system w/ the moonroof and that system does not play MP3's... unfortunately my CD burner is broken and all I have are MP3 cd's that I used in my Jeep... so what is the easiest way for me to get MP3s playing in my car? I have an MP3 player and I tried using the FM transmitter but the signal gets all screwed up at random so that is pretty much worthless. Is there some sort of wire I can route and have come through the ash tray or center console? Or maybe something I can plug in to the cig. lighter?

I also was not given a keyless entry remote until just today and it was from another Mazda because they didn't come w/ this one at the auction - sooo.... I have to go pay to have it programmed at the service center, but unfortunately I will never be able to get off work in time so does anyone know how I could program the lock/unlock and panic buttons on my remote?

Thanks!

 

Welcome to the forum BzJepp

The dealers tell most of the customers that the CD player can play mp3's but its untrue and you have to have a kit.

First of all does your cd changer come with the tape option? If it does you can always buy the tape insert that goes into the tape deck slot. If not, I know there are kits out there that can be used to take a 1/8" plug (the one a CD-player has on it) or a USB or even an iPod connection. I have seen the steps and procedure onthe forum before so I will look around for that post and post the link when I find it.

Sorry I am not much help, but the other post will tell you everything you know. Go to google and try to find some searches or better yet, go to cardomain.com they might have it there.

 

one of our sponsers is "Mp3 your car" check them out in the sponser section of th enavigation bar.

2nd you cannot program the remote yourself as no 2 remotes or cars are th esame. (well there is a random programing assigned to each car and you probably have a 1 in 10,000 chance to program the right one. If it were as easy as telling the remote that this button unlocks and this one locks, then you could open all Mazda3s on the planet with your remote. You'd need the dealer to plug in to your ECU and find out what remote your car is programed to take then program the remote, something that cannot be done at home.

 

Welcome, and congrats on your purchase. What color is your new GT?

For your first question re: Mp3 players. There is a Mp3 6CD changer available from mazda for your car. It will run you the better part of $500, and you could probably resell your current 6CD online for another $200ish, so let's call it $300 out of pocket. As to your current player...... what kind do you have, and what outputs does it have? Check this post I made on another forum that pretty well describes your options for line inputs. If you're happy with your current player then one of these methods would be by far cheaper than a new HU.

For your second question about your remote. You can program it yourself, and you can have up to three remotes. You need a remote for a Mz3 first of course, but here is the self programming guide. It can be a little tricky to get the timing right, so it might take you a few times to do it. Unless this doesn't work I wouldn't have the dealer do it. Unless of course they say they'll do it for free. I don't have the part number right in front of me, and I'm too tired to go searching right now, but you can check with Jason (aka bagman1) here for any part numbers. If you wanted to drop more money into it you could also get a flip key.

 

Whoa! Thanks for the replies!

I'll have to go out and try that remote programming tomorrow...

I would love to have a flip-key... you mean the ones like used w/ the Mazda6? How much are they? Do you just get them from the dealer??

As for the MP3 dealio... I'd rather not pay 500 bucks to get a factory headunit - if I were to spend that much I would go after-market definitely... I think I'm going to look into that Audiolink USB MP3 adapter... where do you make it poke through though? I didn't really understand how it's supposed to connect to the back of your headunit and also be able to be plugged in to from the outside...

Anyways! Thanks for all the info guys! I appreciate it!

 

The flip keys are the same kind as used for the Mz5, Mz6, RX8, etc. Here's a few threads to get you started on it (they're long). I'll try to sift through those when I'm not doing anything at work later and find the applicable part numbers for you, and prices. There should be several that work for the Mz3, and will range from ~$100-$190 or so. Like I said, not really cheap. You can order the parts from any dealer (two pieces, key portion, and remote portion), but I'm sure you can get them cheaper from either bagman1, or from ebay ([warning]: any remotes bought from ebay may or may not work with your car.[/warning])

http://www.mazda3forums.com/index.php?topic=42923.0
http://www.mazda3forums.com/index.php?topic=41179.0;all

Here's a pic of the audiolink stuff

As you can see there's the little box that's the "brain". One of those cables goes from the brain to the stereo SAT port on the back, and the other goes to your ipod. here's a walkthrough of an install where they went to the glove compt., but you could run it other places as well.

Another method that I need to add to my list I gave you the link to is the denison icelink (DICE). $~150, controls ipod from the the HU/wheel controls, and charges it. Do you have an ipod, or do you just need an audio input?

 

Woo! That remote programming guide is the most random set of steps ever but it worked on my 2nd try! I'm still amazed by it haha... oh man, but anyways! I do not have an iPod (not a fan of them, or Apple in general)... I have a Creative Zen Xtra (40Gb) and so I just need the USB or the mini-jack to plug it in with - I would probly try to run it through the little ash-try compartment so I can still see handle the player while I'm using it... does the AudioLink allow you to see the songs or whatever on the dash and control everything from the HU/wheel controls as well?

 

Yeah, the randomness is why some don't get it the first time. Glad it worked out for you.

The reason I ask about whether or not you have an ipod is most of the integration stuff is specific for ipods. If you're just using a normal (non-ipod) Mp3 player then you're kinda screwed on the integration. the up side is that you can spend a lot less and just buy a line input. For that I'd suggest either the PIE or the auxmod basic. If you're running RCA outputs (don't think you are) then the PIE's for you. If you're running out of a headphone jack then get the auxmod basic. It's cheaper than the PIE, and will save you a cable adaptor. I use one and it works perfectly. Last I heard sylfex had a bunch of the AxMB in stock.

To answer your question about the audiolink. It lets you control an ipod from the steering wheel (or if you have the USB with a flash drive then you can use the controls). If you're just running in through the 3.5mm jack then it's just a line input. The only time it will display on the LCD is if you have the OEM Mp3 player (single disc or 6 disc) as the stock HU isn't compatible with text display.

 

Aw nuts... all the fancy stuff is just for the ipod eh?

So my MP3 player has the mini jack as well as the mini USB connection - I imagine I could use either to connect it to the Audiolink... or is the USB soley for transfering files do you think??

I sure wish their was an easier way to do this... but I'd rather not have to use my flippin' FM transmitter cuz boy does that thing bug!...

I guess I'll decide what to do when I get my paycheck at the end of the week... you would recommend the auxmod basic for my situation though? That way I would set the volume on my MP3 player... choose the song on the mp3 player then I can still turn up and down the overall volume from the wheel right?

 

For the USB..... I don't really know how the creative Mp3 players work. If it will access the player as a mass storage device via the USB then I think you could use it that way and be able to use the audiolink to skip through stuff. There's a person on the mazda3forums that got the USB audiolink, plugged in a USB secure digital reader, and just uses that. So he can carry around multiple gigs of music on little SD cards, and switch them out as he pleases. He also mounted everything and cut a little hole through the groove across the center of the HU (where it says multi-fucntion....) so he can just stick the SD card there. Anyway he's able to use the controls that way, skip songs, etc. Like I said, I don't know how the Mp3 player reacts to it's USB plug being plugged in, so it might work.... and it might not, no garauntees. Also depending on how the Mp3 player partitions the music it might make the audiolink unhappy. Did that make sense?

If you use either the PIE or the AuxMod then all it is is an audio output. You'll be skipping songs with the Mp3 player (just like you're wearing headphones), and you can adjust the volume via the HU. Once you get it play with volume level on the Mp3 player to find where you get the best output:distortion. I recommened for you the AuxMod because then you're not going from 3.5mm to RCA and back to 3.5mm (just 3.5mm to 3.5mm). Every connection is a potential loss of signal. In any case the AuxMod is heaven and earth above FM transmitters. I used to use one too. Now the only sound crappiness comes from them being Mp3s.