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I bought a 2016 MDX SH-AWD Tech/Watch a month ago and refused to pay the stealership tax on installation and markup on accessories so I installed the following myself in the garage. Below is what I rate the difficulty level to install from 1 to 5 stars. The only accessory I have not purchased/installed yet are roof rails will be doing that shortly.
1/5-Cargo Net - 08L96-TZ5-200 1/5-Body Side Molding -08P05-TZ5-210 1/5-Mud Flaps - 08P00-TZ5-200 1/5-Remote Start - 38015-TZ5-A30 1/5-Metal Rear Bumper Guard - 08P01-TZ5-200 1/5-Rear Bumper Trim - 08P46-TZ5-200B 1/5-Hard Wired Valentine V1 Radar to Mirror 2/5-Installed Clear Lamin-X to Headlights 2/5-Fog Lights - 08V31-TZ5-200A 2/5-Front Bumper Trim - 08P46-TZ5-200A 3/5-Sport Running Boards - 08L33-TZ5-200A
Wanted to provide some additional feedback on a couple of the installs. As the instructions weren't perfect. I will probably be writing a DIY for hard wire radar and possibly the remote start later, took quite a few pictures while installing.
Fog Lights and Front Bumper Trim:For the fog lights and front bumper trim you have to remove the front bumper. The instructions from Acura does not say to remove the clips on the top of the grill under the bulkhead and intake, you need to do that or the bumper won't come off. The bumper is big and bulky, I had to get my wife to hold it for me while pulling it off and reinstalling. Removing/Installing the bumper isn't difficult it just requires some patience. Remember measure twice, drill once. Everything else is a piece of cake for that install.
Sport Running BoardsI just did the sport running board last night and it was a lot more challenging that I anticipated it would be. One of the reasons was because of the poor instructions. Specifically on the rear of each of your existing side skirts you have to pull off, there is a black clip parallel to the ground that is mentioned in step 6. Perform step 6 before performing step 5. That will help and prevent you from breaking the white clips underneath spot.
This was also challenging if you were trying to not break any clips or the clip mounts on your existing side skirts. The white clips holding the existing side skirts on were so tight there was no I could pull the whole side skirt forward to get it to slide off the clips without using a pry bar and slipping the clip mounts on the existing side skirt off the white clips, one by one. I only had to do this on the lower clips, then I could slide the existing side skirt off however I did mangle a few of the clip mounts on my existing side skirt.
Lastly when installing the sport boards after getting them up against the body of the car, I recommend starting clipping them in from the rear and working your way up front. Make sure you are looking underneath the car to very the white clips are lined up with the holes they are going into, also very the clip holes are lined up with the metal frames for the next step, if they are not, you will have to reposition which is easier said than done.
Question:I ended up breaking two white clips during the process. If I were doing this again I would have a bag of 10 of those white clips handy. Any chance someone has a part number for the white clips?
For the remote start, how much did the dealer charge you to program the keys?
They didn't charge me anything. I went back to the dealer I bought the car from a couple weeks after the fact and said our sales rep mentioned they would program our extra keys for us for free. They did no questions asked.
The range on the remote start is extremely far out as long as a wall is not impeding the signal I might add, looks like the updated part for 2016 fixed the issue previous posters reported about a short range with the remote start.
You rated the running board install harder than the fog light install given that you have to take the front bumper cover off and replace the stalk? I would think the running board would be easier regardless of the clip difficulties that you ran into.
You rated the running board install harder than the fog light install given that you have to take the front bumper cover off and replace the stalk? I would think the running board would be easier regardless of the clip difficulties that you ran into.
There is nothing really technical or difficult about taking off the front bumper or interior panels assuming you have a plastic trim removal set.
If you did the regular running boards that appears to be very easy to do as you don't have to remove the existing trim or install.
But for the sport running boards there is finesse required in remove the stock running boards and there is more finesse required in installing the new parts to get them lined up correctly. The issue with the sport running boards is that if you don't get them lined up correctly once the clips are in their respective holes you can't go man handle them with a pry bar like you may have done with the stock trim to pull out and reattempt mounting the side skirts. Hope that clarifies.
Side note I just ordered the last accessory this week for our MDX, roof rails, will be tossing those on next week and updating this thread afterward.
My second car 2014 Nissan Altima has the heated steering wheel, I just can't see me driving without it in an Acura costing $25000 more.
There was some really really odd technology absent in the 2007-2012 mdx. Like heated steering wheels were around since the 1990's I beleive and yet mdx had none. The rl had smart key in 2005 and yet they never bothered to put it in the mdx until 2014! Imho it should have been there 2007. There was just so many curious technology ommisions given the price of the mdx.
I bought almost all of my accessories on Ebay, many of the sellers their represent acura dealerships. I went to bernardi for installation instructions, would have liked to buy from them but they were almost always more expensive than what I could get elsewhere.
Originally Posted by Rob-NY
tommypenguin,
Can you post where you purchased these accessories from? Maybe prices too if you know them?
Picking up my MDX today
-Body Side Molding -08P05-TZ5-210
-Mud Flaps - 08P00-TZ5-200
-Metal Rear Bumper Guard - 08P01-TZ5-200
-Rear Bumper Trim - 08P46-TZ5-200B
-Front Bumper Trim - 08P46-TZ5-200A
-Sport Running Boards - 08L33-TZ5-200A
Next up ordered the heated steering wheel, should be here this week and I'll throw it in probably over the weekend. Might write up a DIY if anyone wants it..
Fog Lights and Front Bumper Trim:For the fog lights and front bumper trim you have to remove the front bumper. The instructions from Acura does not say to remove the clips on the top of the grill under the bulkhead and intake, you need to do that or the bumper won't come off. The bumper is big and bulky, I had to get my wife to hold it for me while pulling it off and reinstalling. Removing/Installing the bumper isn't difficult it just requires some patience. Remember measure twice, drill once. Everything else is a piece of cake for that install.
2014 tech quite similar to 2016
1) are these the clips in the current step 2?
2) when is the passenger inner liner put back in? It appears to be never mentioned again in the instructions once it is partially removed.
from Amazon for $17 (really a semi-gloss which I like better) - it is a one step paint, no primer or adhesion promoter needed. I saved over $200 and it actually looks better than the overpriced plastic piece from Acura.
12-11-2015, 10:17 AM
