Wednesday 2nd May 2012

PH Fleet: Mazda RX-8

Dale's Mazda is adopting German citizenship ... once the papers are in order

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It's been a month of plans, but not much action. In fact the car's only done a handful of laps on on some closed trackdays lately. And in the distance, looming on the horizon like a paper-laden thunderstorm is the extended TuV and German registration process. When the RX-8 passes this test, it's time for my British numberplates to come off, and my German plates to go on. And my insurance worries on the Nurburgring will hopefully come to an end.

An expensive piece of paper, yesterday

The German TuV test covers all the usual MOT stuff like emissions and general road-worthiness, as well as looking at other things like modifications and standards of fitting. And if the TuV guy ain't happy, I'm not getting my plates. And no plates means no driving the 'ring during public hours. The Rex must pass...

So here's what I've been up to. First off, I now have my Certificate of Conformity via a very helpful Mazda UK admin bloke. Costing 75 quid to me (or nothing to the first registered keeper), this expensive piece of paper is vital to show that my car and its Wankel motor were built to European standards and not Japanese, Egyptian or Martian ones.

Incidentally, getting your CoC is an adventure in itself. Try Googling for it first, like I did, and you will find a dozen companies charging anywhere from €150 to €1,000 for the exact same piece of paper. And all they "do" is phone the same manufacturer helplines I did. Oh, and process your credit card for a ridiculous amount. So just ignore them, and pick up the phone to the manufacturer.

Where are your papers! Er, right here...

Typically, only after coughing over this fee directly to Mazda (the same piece of paper is free at Honda, I noticed) did I see the magic 'e-number' for my car is actually reproduced on the new style V5, which finally arrived a whopping five months after actually purchasing the car.

I took the V5 to the testing centre here and, of course, they said they don't need the CoC if the V5 has the magic number on it. Damn and blast. Still, it looks good in my document folder...

So with my UK paperwork in order (V5, bill of sale, proof of ownership and magic European Type Approval number) it was time to get the other stuff sorted. My new (second-hand) Volks Racing alloys don't come with papers, and neither does the de-cat (ha ha, as if it would). So they're coming off for test day. My H&R springs do have papers though, so they can stay on as long as I take the papers with me and then they'll be entered into the new German logbook as a valid modification. On the same note I had an awesome plan to buy this gorgeous Invidia cat-back system as it's got ABE and can be put into the logbook at the same time as the springs. But common sense (and the bank account) stopped me.

Want: fancy exhaust. Need: new headlights.

An RX-8 foglight is centrally mounted, and I have two reversing lights. So no modifications are needed at the back of the car. But in the same way that I've been putting it off throughout this article, I've been deliberately putting something else to the back of my mind in real life too: I'm talking about the RX-8's right-hand-drive dipped HID Xenon headlights.

Costing less than £200 a set on UK eBay, the same scheinwerfers (literal translation is 'shine-throwers') cost no less than €850 in German left-hand-drive spec. That's the price of the aforementioned rainbow-tipped exhaust, damnit. But without them the Rex can't pass TuV, and I just can't bring myself to do it. It's cracking on for a month's wages here in the impoverished Eifel.

'Rex' in prep for the German TuV approval

No, instead I have hatched a plan. After doing my research and finding a thread about splitting headlights (this involves melting the sealant that joins glass to headlight at a precise temperature) I've discovered that shape of the beam is controlled by a sheet of metal with a pattern cut out. It is now my intention to split the headlights, without melting or cracking them, and flip this metal template exactly 180-degrees. Then I will put the lights back together and pass the TuV. Easy, right? By my estimation I can have three attempts at doing this delicate task before I lose money compared to just buying some 'scheinwerfers'.

Then it will be back to driving, and many more laps of the Nurburgring will ensue. See, I told you it was all plans and no action....

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FACT SHEET
Car: Mazda RX-8
Run by: Dale Lomas
Bought: December 2011
Mileage: Fewer than 300 since last report :(
Purchase price: £2,800
Last month at a glance: Ordering pieces of paper to pass the German MOT

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Previous reports:
Dale makes a new RX-8 mate
PH fleet intro: Mazda RX-8

[lukeschwartz]

Hi Dave,
have also a pommy rx8 here in deu
my local Tüv only wanted bout 70euro to find the CoC.
That with the headlights was a real pain.
took some 8 months to find some ones under 700€
saw that vid too on opening the lights in the oven..:-)
lots of luck, im staying tuned.
luke

[robertobissini]

Ref the headlight problem , try getting a copy of the sixth sense a British forces Germany newspaper where people put small adds in selling used left hand drive headlights, seen as jhq is just over an hour north at Mönchengladbach you may be in luck.

[redgriff500]

Having just split the rear lights on my RX7 I'd advise a heat (hot air) gun rather than the oven - or if you do use an oven put them on a towel.

A baking tray gets hot spots and can warp the plastic - don't ask how I found that out.

[gforceg]

Do they not sell RX8s in Germany? Or are you not staying long?


Confused of Englandshire.

[j001]

Err I've obviously missed why the german plates etc. can someone please explain

[sherman]

Would it not be easier to buy a new set of left hand drive headlights from German Ebay or a local breakers?

[mr2j]

that video was excellent, sort of like the time my gf tried playing forza.

[moribund]

j001 said:

Err I've obviously missed why the german plates etc. can someone please explain

British insurers won't cover driving on the 'ring on tourist days, but German ones do.

Dale, I'm in two minds about your posts. I love the fact that you show the RX-8 as the great car it is but on the flip side you're devaluing my lovely PZ by making people think good RX-8s are only worth 3k!

[PhillipM]

So, after 3 goes, you'll be out of pocket twice then?

[johnpeat]

On the headlights front - how hard are they to swap-out?

If it's not a massive job (and few cars are) couldn't you somehow convince a German Rex owner to lend you a pair of headlights for the test!?

I realise it's dodgy but so is removing the exhaust and everything else you'll put back on the day after so...

[mannyg]

Since I just went through this EXACT process with an M3, I can hopefully offer some insight.

With a V5C and the TUV check, a CoC is not necessary (which you have obviously discovered )

I would also strongly advise buying some 2nd hand Scheinwerfers off eBay. I thought about modifying mine (bi-xenons), but it really isn't worth it. One way to look at it - the cost is only temporary. When you are sell the car, either the LHD or RHD headlights can be sold. So long as bought 2nd hand ones, this will be for almost the same money you paid!

If you modify them...well then you have to do the whole process again.

Also, good luck!

[Twilight1]

The sealing material used in the headlights will start to soften in about 70-90c so no need to melt the complete headlights in temperatures above that. Pay attention to sealing the headlights after you've done the conversion since they might build up moisture inside them if not sealed with proper sealants.

Edited by Twilight1 on Wednesday 2nd May 06:50

[lukeschwartz]

Mazda rx8s are ALOT cheaper in England, 3000€ vs 7500€ is estimate fpr an example like daves. (I think I read 75k miles of the odo.)

So you can imagine that my wallets water tight like a fishes****hole cause i bought one in Blighty.

I looked for some 8 Months for headlights here. V V V expensive. And hard to find. Rang about 8 wreckers (Thats Autoverwerter in German) and had no luck. Bought a set of ebay but the right one was stuffed. Then had to wait to find another right one. Think rx8club.de was the bet in the end. All in all paid 750€ for the lights.

When you look at the crappy photos i took thismorning with my smartphone, it looks like the contour for the 'pattern shield' _/------- that makes the light distribution pattern is plastic, moulded as an integral unit into the innards of the light. It appears to have a metal tab on it.

So might be hard to turn it round, BUT, goooood luck!!!!!!!!

[wst]

If you think scheinwerfer is bad... Windschutzscheibewaschanla​ge = windscreen washer jet.

[y2blade]

Great update Dale, following with interest
Mega car for the money, I'm a big fan of these.
Shame my bro has written his off recently, thankfully he was unharmed.

He's looking for another one as we speak

[Leptons]

redgriff500 said:

Having just split the rear lights on my RX7 I'd advise a heat (hot air) gun rather than the oven - or if you do use an oven put them on a towel.

A baking tray gets hot spots and can warp the plastic - don't ask how I found that out.

Listen to this man! Also found this out the hard way.

[Jenkski]

Love the CoC.

[pagani1]

Best of luck with your wankel. My last of 3 wankels is shown below. It was turbo-ed by Elford Engineering in Bournemouth when new and Mazda agreed a full manufacturers warranty.It still resides in Cornwall

[marcosgt]

What? No posts saying it needs a big block V8?

M.

[Thud_Mcguffin]

I put an Elise on German plates a year ago, what a pain. I had help from a guy near Frankfurt who got it through the TUV using the original headlights (he repositioned them somehow?). Having said that it was his garage that got it through the TUV test