PH Fleet: Mazda RX-8
Dale's Mazda is adopting German citizenship ... once the papers are in order
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.
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.
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.
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....
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
Previous reports:
Dale makes a new RX-8 mate
PH fleet intro: Mazda RX-8
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!
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...
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!
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!!!!!!!!
A baking tray gets hot spots and can warp the plastic - don't ask how I found that out.
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