Miggi's VM4

[miggi747]

Creating a build thread here for my humble VM4.

Got this last March. I was on the lookout for a Mazda Atenza 2.5 Skyactiv when I chanced upon the listing for the vehicle you see here. I was told this spec was sort of a unicorn as not a lot of JDM Levorgs had a full leather interior from the factory. That and the slightly lower sticker price compared to the Mazda sealed the deal.

Obviously, not a big fan of some stuff like the full-size wheel caps and the silver mirror caps. But I hope to deal with them in due time. Anyway, here she is on her first road trip.

 

[miggi747]

One of the first things I had to replace was the useless Japanese head unit. It had Bluetooth but not for audio. Good thing the aperture is a standard 2DIN hole, so I put in a Kenwood DMX7522S in it with wireless Apple and Android connection.

Too bad I couldn't use the buttons from the old HU, but I want to replace the HVAC controls with circular ones anyway.

For anyone interested, I bought two harnesses - one from Subaru to ISO and another from ISO to Kenwood.

 

[miggi747]

Replaced the foam insert with an actual spare tire from a GG-model Atenza (so I still ended up with a bit of Mazda). Wasn't going to put my life in the hands of the questionable can of fix-a-flat which the car came with. I was also able to secure the foam insert for the jack/tools from a wrecked BP Legacy. The result isn't too shabby if I do say so myself.

 

[miggi747]

I've never liked the JDM Levorg's Panasonic audio panel and unique HVAC controls, so I replaced them with the ones from an XV/Crosstrek. I must say the triple knobs look better, which begs the question why JDM Levorgs never came with them in the first place. Thanking @lerroy for confirming that the rotary HVAC controls have similar plugs.

 

[lerroy]

So much better hey nice work