I just had my R3 side skirts installed however the back left side there is about an 1 MM gap it seems like the rivet isn't going in all the way, the other sides are fine. I had it done by a body shop and they said there not going to spend anymore time with it and its the best they could do. What do you guys think? Any tricks I could close the gap?

 

Wow... then they aren't much of a body shop...

 

That's BS, we installed these (full S2 swap) on my buddies 2005 and they fit absolutely perfect, much better than my authentic Mazdaspeed sides actually.

We have zero body shop experience BTW and the literally snap on.

 

I just revisited them today and told them, there's no way in hell there should be a gap since its factory side skirts, they said there going to work on it later this week. So lets see how it turns out. I think they just need to replace the rivet and all should be fine.

 

They literally just slide and pop on, if we can do it and others here then there is a not reason a "professional" should not be able to do it.

 

Agree. Should fit pretty easily. I've popped one off before, maybe they missed a clip?

 

I think they messed up drilling the holes, they said they spent alot of time measuring and drilling the holes.

 

perhaps they are cold and didn't mold all the way in? can you push it in to lock?

 

There are only a couple of holes to drill, they literally slide and snap on.

 

I have no idea how they messed up so badly then. :/

 

Update: They wanted more money to fix it cause the "materials" needed was alittle costly. So I ended up bitching them out and got partial money that I paid for installation back. Now I need to find a REAL bodyshop that can fix this.

 

Since some people say that it is really easy to install, maybe you can fix it yourself?

 

Looks to me like that plastic clip is not 100% lined up with the hole where it is suppose to fit. I know because I installed mine myself on my 2010 Mazda 3 GT, and you need to stick to the template all the way otherwise the clips won't fit right in.

Remove the back part from the rear wheel arch and pry the Side sill out . Open the hole with a small round file as required for the plastic clip to go in. Don't forget to paint around the hole.

By the way, I just traded in my M3 for a mint 2011 RX8 GT from the Dealer. 3000 kms. looking forward to install the Side Skirts on this one now too.