I wanted to install some parking sensors on my Mazda 3 and decided to get some aftermarket ones fitted. I wasn’t too keen on drilling holes(wanted to preserve the look of the bumper) so decided to go for the electromagnetic ones from parking dynamics.
They seems to work great, It starts to beeps when there is an object about 3 feet from the bumper and progressive beeps, getting quicker and then a constant beep then there is about 1 foot .
One of the draw backs is that you can’t tell direction of the obstacle and sometimes rain drops tend to give it a false reading (very rare though)
Anyway I took some pics while I was doing it so anyone wanting to remove the bumper or install their own might find it useful. My car is a salon type so hatchback models might be slightly different.
The Parking dynamics product
Step 1
Pop these reverts
Step 2
Pull the plastic bit upward. This is quite hard to get at, so you might want to insert (from the outside)a panel popper tool underneath the plastic to help pop them (second pic shows you where the clips are). Be careful to tape the tool if its metal to stop any scratches .
Step 3
Now you need to remove the rear lights to get at the bolts, Remove the side panels as shown
Remove the two bolts that hold the light and unclip the light connectors.
Step 4
Pull the light straight out there is a clip that will require a bit of pulling. Try to pull it straight out, the are some plastic guides that can be quite delicate. Repeat on other side.
Step 5
Undo the screw and remove the plastic popper.
Step 6
Time to get on the floor remove these popper. They can be hard to remove with the amount of dust and grime.
Remove this popper, this holds the wheel arch liner to the bumper. (no need to remove the mud flaps.
Step 7
Remove the last screw, it can be tricky, you can use a screwdriver.
Step 8
Now time to call in mate to give you a hand and also some sort of rug or mat that can be used to set the bumper on to prevent any scratches.
Pull the bumper to undo the clips. Take your time, as these clips can easy break.
Step 9
Once the clips are removed from both sides, pull the bumper straight out . Support it from both side as it will fall down.
Unclips the number plate lights
Step 10
Clean the inside of the bumper and attached the metal strip a shown. I used both strips to give better range. If you are using the hole types ones, time to drill
You can feed the wire through two locations, via the rubber grommet shown. If you have long enough cable you can use the rubber grommet where the number plate lights come out but remember you need to connect sensors to the reversing light which is on the other side.
Step 11
To connect the power to the parking sensor unit, I used reversing light as the source. I traced the wire from the light to the main loom that comes in from the passenger compartment. I tapped into it as shown +ev and - ev .
Step 12
That’s it...time to fit it all back, follow the steps in reverse
When fitting the lights back make sure the pegs are in alignment and keep pressing in till you hear a “click”
