Now that you have decided the future of your MX3, be it a show stopper, a powerhouse or both, the next step is to buy the right MX-3 to fulfil your goals.

Imports
My advice on the whole is to stay away from imports for a number of reasons

-They tend to have weirdly coloured interiors compared to the UK spec.
e.g. The black MX3 UK has black interior, but the import often has a shitty brown colour (including dash etc.)

- They usually have either no rear spoiler or a really crappy looking one.

- But its all down to you at the end of the day, but theres something about them I dont like.

Colour
They come in black, white, silver, dark grey, bright red, dark red and green.

Obviously the choice is down to personal taste, but there are a few things worth pointing out.

- If you want to fit a bodykit on the cheap and get it sprayed in to match, it will stand out a mile if you choose the more metallic grey, silver or green colours. (matching metalic colours is an arse)

- If you have a full respray in mind, then remember, unless you are going to gut the engine bay and prep it for respray (trust me, you will probably not do this) then your engine buy will stay the same as your original colour choice. (do you really want a green engine bay???)

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1. B6 1.6 - Buy a late model 1.6 MX3 RS

If you plan to forever keep your MX3 as a 1.6 then you're best bet is to simply go for the newest you can afford. So look out for a 97/98. Most examples you see will be Automatic, but there are a few nippier Manuals around if you're prepared to wait for one to come up. Also, keep an eye out for full leather interiors, it's a rarity, but I have seen a couple in the 1.6.

2. K8 1.8 - Buy a late model 1.8 V6 MX3 GS

If your end goal is to keep running the 1.8 engine, then you might as well go for the newest you can afford. So look for a 97/98 plate. There are still plenty of low mileage examples out there that have done under 40K.

The 1.8 is a fun car to drive, which means that there is a chance that previous owners have enjoyed it! So have a good look around for signs of abuse. That said, it's a pretty sturdy car so don't be put off, but as with buying any car, keep your eyes open.

There was a White special edition produced in 1993 that came with full leather interior, although I have also seen a few newer models featuring a full leather interior.

If you are set on getting the most out of your 1.8 and dont want to go down the cheapest route of the KLZE swap bear in mind that you can remove the CAT on pre 1992 cars only. (I think)

3. KL 2.5 swap - Buy a pre 94 1.8 V6 MX3 GS

The best thing about this swap is how easy it is to do. That said you need to buy an MX-3 that uses OBD-I (on board diagnostics version 1). If you want the swap to be easy, and let's face it, that is the whole point of this swap.

I can see that a lot of you are probably thinking, what is OBD? How and why do I make sure I get the right version? ---->

OBD Explained
On Board Diagnostics is used by mechanics to check for faults with your car by plugging in a special diagnostics reader that will show a series of 'fault codes' that can then be looked up to determine any problems.

Before 1995 most cars used OBD-I, and most manufacturers used their own special diagnostics reader. This meant that a garage would have to buy and learn how to use more than one reader. so in 1995 they brought out OBD- II, which was fitted to nearly all cars in the UK. OBD-II is universal which means you only need one diagnostics reader for all cars. It also has much more advanced diagnostic capabilities than OBD-I, but for the purpose of this swap it should be avoided unless you are a very competent Auto electrician with a lot of spare time on your hands-and I do mean a lot!

----> This is because on the MX-3 to accommodate for the OBD-II system they completely changed the cars wiring loom (all its electrical wires).

This causes a problem for us, because to complete the KL engine swap you have to  1. Swap the engine over and   2. Swap the ECU over to match the engine.

It is the ECU that causes the problem as there are only 2 ECUs that you should really use and they both are only compatible with the OBD- I  wiring loom.

So make sure you buy an OBD-I MX3 if you plan to do this swap. All MX-3s before 1995 are OBD-I and some early 1995s (made in 1994, released in 1995).

We recommend getting a 1994 because in 94 Mazda gave the interior of the MX3 a facelift. The main differences are new front and rear seats and the front door inserts and rear side inserts, which were a cheap looking material in the older MX3s were replaced with a much better leather look material.

Many people prefer  the front seats of the older MX3 as they are comfier, with a sportier shape, but finding an older style MX-3 with no rips in the back seats is near impossible. They were half leather you see and always rip along the seams between the leather and cloth.

Look out for full leather interiors they are quite rare but you do find them and I have seen them in light grey or black

Another point to bear in mind is that you can remove the CAT on pre 1992 cars only. (I think thats right)

4. BPT Series swap- Buy a 1.6 Inline MX-3

If you want to put in the Inline 4 Bp-T engine then you need to start out with the Inline4. MX3, it's that simple.OBD? + wiring loom? ECU? needs more research.

I need help writing this bit, anyone got any advice?

5. KLZE-Turbo - Buy a pre 94 1.8 V6 MX3 GS

(See the KL swap for more info.)

Other than that its bit of an unknown quantity in the UK, but if anyone out there knows anything worth putting here let us know.

Thats it for this section:
You should have now bought the correct MX-3 for your needs.