Side markers are small lights on each sides of the fenders. They are standard equipment on Japanese and European model but are left out on the U.S. models because most cars in the U.S. do not have them.
I wanted side markers on my car because I liked how they made a car look European. A lot of car owners around San Francisco Bay area are putting side makers on their cars. Some of these side markers are stolen from Saab while other are purchased from import shops at high cost.
I was able to find a company that carried original Miata side markers. I ordered them and was satisfied with the quality of Mazda parts. I also saw the same side marker in a San Francisco auto parts shop. They wanted $80 U.S. dollars for a pair while I paid only $40 For a pair.
The installation required two holes to be made in the fender. I looked at a Japanese car magazine to estimate the location of the side markers. A paper was used to trace out the size of the hole required and then the hole was cut in the fender. I took extra care making sure that I didn't cut the hole larger than necessary. If I made a mistake on this task, then the side marker would not be able to cover the hole and the fender would be ruined.
After I test fitted the markers, I ran power wires from the signal in the front. There were two ways which I could have hooked up the side markers.
The positive and negative on the marker can be wired to the signal directly and the side marker would flecker at the same time as the front signal.
I chose to wire the positive to the positive of the signal and the negative to the positive of the side lights. when the lights are turned on, the side markers are on too. when the signal is turn on while the lights are on, the signal lighting sequence alternates between the front signal an the side marker. It looked pretty interesting!
Here is a picture of the finished side marker installation.
I also put custom decals on my car. A turbo decal was placed on the trunk lid and a turbocharged decal was placed on the front fender.
