ANY INFO ON THE MX-3 EQUIPE
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Hi, the week before christmas I rescued a sorry looking MX3 from a certain scrap yard death.
I had never seen one in the mazda 323 black with green metallic flake paint before with half leather and white velvet interior.
I have done some research and it turns out to be an MX-3 EQUIPE it was a limited edition like the ultra rare MX-3 SE which I had the pleasure of test driving once
This one is on the same lines of of the SE as only 100 were produced for the European market and it was when new the most expensive MX-3 ever sold at just under £18k (£200 more than the SE)
The car has 116k on the clock, it has been stood outside for nearly a year and I bought it blind and had it delivered to me for £140, I spent 2 days on the engine over christmas and fitted all new belts + cambelt and new waterpump as it was leaking, the starter was seized but I have got it fired up quite quick and the car just purrs even better than mine with 40k less on the clock, the brakes are the next project before MOT ing but otherwise its looking like I have bought a winner.
Does anyone else have ANY information about this rare version
Thanks in advance
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Interesting…............. Post some pics up!! Where are you located???
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Only have the one pic from the original ad
Will have more soon
The photo looks like british racing green but when you see it in the day it looks black, its an odd colour
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it look good mate
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All i know is that my mx3 was mistakenly insured as one of these for 11 months i found out when they rang me to renew, at this point they told me it was a group higher for insurance!!!
What is the difference???
Looks like a standard mx3
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its pretty much the same as a standard, just has the SE leather seats + door cards but it seems to be the same in every way. The equipe was also the most expensive mx-3 ever sold at just under £18k
The only thing I know is the engine sounds different it has a sweeter note to it compared to the other one and others I have had so will do more investigating on that front. According to parkers guide the SE + Equipe had 5 more horsepower than a standard V6 so it may have the japanese K8-ZE engine instead of the standard K8-DE
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Special Offers:
The official 1993 the 'special edition' was only in white, with different wheels and interior.
They made post 1993 Special Editions in Black with leather stitched gearknob and leather look black 3/4 panels in the back. They also say that they are special editions on the sticker near the drivers door latch.
In the UK there was also the 'Equipe' and the 'Gold Label' Editions.
You can spot a gold label as the badge on the back and the center caps on the wheels are gold. ( only ever seen one of these )
The nicest from factory Special Edition I've seen was a black 94 special edition with black full leather seats, leather gearknob, leather look (spongy vynal) 3/4 panels in the rear with all black door cards.
93 SE, post 93 Special Editions, Equipe and Gold Label have a higher insurance group with some insurers, but not with others?
All the special editions are rated with a higher BHP, but I spoke to a friend at mazda about this who thought it would just have been the true power rating compared to the 130 bhp general rating of the MX-3, as they were never really marketed as one of mazdas proper sporty cars it didn't matter and lower insurance etc would have been better for the car sales.
As far as he could find out there was no known power differences.
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I went for a drive in an SE from car sales about 10 months ago that was up for £2495 it was the white but had tan suede and black leather throughout but that drove and felt just like a standard MX
The Equipe I have has a very different engine note and sounds much tighter than the standard car I have.
I did have a 91 model as well as my R plate last year and my father found a couple of differences that mazda had done like thermostat casings were different but the one thing was very noticeable was the engine note but this equipe does not sound like either but I will keep digging
Thanks for the info
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Possibly just well looked after with the differnce in tone also one of the previous owners could have done a number of things to improve the handling.
Yeh keep digging mate, very interesting.
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are those OEM mazda wheels??
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@c1974d3f5b=Mooneggs:
are those OEM mazda wheels??
Yes they are.
I have also found something else that was only available on the "EQUIPE" all the locks have lights fitted in them connected to the ignition key light all the door locks have a light inside them so the key holes glow in the dark.
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My car has those lights in the keyholes too :P
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key whole lights??? is that what the two wires by the door lock on the inside the door shell are for
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@27a19c6f81=jon_young:
key whole lights??? is that what the two wires by the door lock on the inside the door shell are for
I've heard of this as a factory option… don't think it was available in North America...
I also found this picture of the brochure for the Equipe Edition!
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Nice brochure, will try and source one, thats exactly the one I have on the front now that I have started cleaning it. I expect there arent many of these brochures around as they only sold them here for 12 weeks !!!
Have just found another in a car sales - link at bottom !!!
Just had the valeters quote for cleaning the white velvet seats up + the furnisher to do the torn front seat, the engine has had a major service just brakes to do all round where its been sat outside and found that crap piece of metal they use to hold the number plate lights up has rusted away like the first one I had so will be making a couple of black plastic covers to fit in the slots then use a pair of white led windscreen washer jets to light the plate up, its easy to do and looks good when its done
Key hole lights, yes mine seem to come on when you pull the door handle then the slot lights up.
I havent had the door cards off yet so havent seen whats in there yet but never seen one that does that before this one.
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Just to update, I have now found a sales brochure for the equipe. :)
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@d1f845bfa6=djmarcopolo:
Just to update, I have now found a sales brochure for the equipe. :)
ok…so the pics of this brochure?? :D
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Sorry, tried everything to keep the flash reflection off, this is the best of a lot
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just front and back?
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Thats it, usually these are about 6 pages but I suppose it wouldnt make economic sense to make them for a car on a 3 month run
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Hi guys, I'm a newbie here, I've just bought the MX-3 Equipe that djmarcopolo posted a link to! I love it!
I've got a couple of questions that hopefully someone can help me out with:
There's a few things that i need to sort out, firstly, the passenger side front fog light, i need a new lens as the current one is cracked, anyone know where i can get one from?
Also, where can i get a key to unlock/remove the wheel centres? its like a locking wheel stud shaped key, but not actually on the wheel stud. (if that makes sense)
djmarcopolo a question for you - in your post where you put the link to the SMC website, the bit about the valeters quote, the engine having a major service, brakes need doing etc… is that for your car, or the one in the link (my car :D)?
