2012 Headlight Buld Replacement

[zaksdaddy]

2012 Headlight Bulb Replacement

Has anyone with a 2012 Genesis replaced their original headlamp bulbs?

What did you use as the replacement bulb? Was it easy to replace?

I am considering replacing mine with the Silverstar bulbs but have not really spent a lot of time looking at the back of the housing.

Thanks,

 

[Rey]

I replaced my high beams with Silverstar "Ultra". It is very easy to do, once you figure it out.
First you need to access the headlight housing by removing the air box on the passenger's side, and moving, without disconnection, the fuse box on the driver's side. It's easy to do with no "tricks", and is done with a 10mm socket.
There are round outer covers on the housings, which can be disconnected by rotating counter clockwise. The inner covers are also rotated counter clockwise to reveal the bulbs. In both cases the rotation is mabe a quarter turn or less. The inner covers are very tight, but will come off after rotation to the stops.
Good tip, always clean your new bulb with rubbing alcohol, just in case.
Keep in mind that Silverstars have a much shorter bulb life. In my case, I use high beams very infrequently, and when I do, I need all the light I can obtain.

 

[zaksdaddy]

I replaced my high beams with Silverstar "Ultra". It is very easy to do, once you figure it out.
First you need to access the headlight housing by removing the air box on the passenger's side, and moving, without disconnection, the fuse box on the driver's side. It's easy to do with no "tricks", and is done with a 10mm socket.
There are round outer covers on the housings, which can be disconnected by rotating counter clockwise. The inner covers are also rotated counter clockwise to reveal the bulbs. In both cases the rotation is mabe a quarter turn or less. The inner covers are very tight, but will come off after rotation to the stops.
Good tip, always clean your new bulb with rubbing alcohol, just in case.
Keep in mind that Silverstars have a much shorter bulb life. In my case, I use high beams very infrequently, and when I do, I need all the light I can obtain.

I am aware of the life span issue, having used the Silverstar bulbs in my SUVs for years.

When you replaced your high beams, what did that do to your DRLs? I would worry that they would burn out very quickly since my DRLs are always on except for normal night driving.

I know that the entire headlight assembly has changed with the 2012 MY. My DRLs are now in the same compartment as my high beams. I admit that I haven't looked closely to see if the bulb is a dual filament bulb or not.

Thanks for the input,

 

[Rey]

DRL have not been an issue for me as I use my full low beams for DRL.

 

[gadgetboyatl]

I was wondering about this also on my 2012. It appears the DRL is the same bulb as the high beam and is just running on less power or different level while on DRL duty. Does anyone know what the effect would be on changing it out for a color/temperature that matches the low beams?

 

[tazrig]

I'm a little confused. Doesn't the 2012 v8 come with HID headlights? Why would you replace those as they are 3 times as bright as regular halogens?

 

[zaksdaddy]

deleted

 

[Gurkha]

I'm a little confused. Doesn't the 2012 v8 come with HID headlights? Why would you replace those as they are 3 times as bright as regular halogens?

HID's are for the low beam only; original poster has a V6 which depending on the package may or may not have HID's.

 

[tazrig]

I have HID (after market) in my car for both hi and low beam. the instalation is simple. you plug the bulb into a ballast box (about the size of a pack of cigarettes) and the ballast box plugs into where the original bulb wire went. it's all plug and play (no wire cutting, all connections supplied) the bulbs fit in the car like oem. Once you access the bulbs it's a 2 minute install. you can get a set on ebay for reasonable money. Phillips brand is the best but there are lots to choose from. You sort of get what you pay for though... you just order the type of bulb (H7 for hi beam 2012 genesis) and the color temp (4k= white light, 5k= a little blue and 6k or higher = bright blue. HID's are 3 times brighter than halogen, last 10 times longer and use less power then conventional bulbs. you WILL loose your DRL's but i got around this by just always leaving on my low beams. the bulbs lasted 6 years and 70,000 miles. here's a link for anyone who's interested:

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw...kw=&_osacat=36476&_trksid=p3286.c0.m270.l1313

 

[gray devil]

Phillips brand is the best but there are lots to choose from. You sort of get what you pay for though..

AGREED!

I have a 2012 V6 Premium and replaced the low beam stock halogens with a genuine Philips kit from philipshidkits.com. The instal was very easy and straight forward. The stock electrical system powered the lights just fine, but I added a relay afterwards just for the heck of it.

I cannot say enough good stuff about the genuine Philips kit. This is an excellent kit and no cheap kit can come close to the output of the Philips kit. They light up very quickly and the color temperature is incredible (4200K). Both sides have incredible output and the color between the bulbs is perfect and the beam pattern is identical on both sides.

I helped a buddy put in an ebay kit his Genesis and although it was much better than stock it looks like exactly what he paid for it. Its junk in when compared to the Philips kit. Color was different between the two bulbs as was the beam pattern. After seeing my kit he is returning the cheap kit and going for a Philips kit.

It was only $ 212 shipped. Just use the coupon code genesis15 if you order one. Here is the link to the proper kit for the low beams: http://www.philipshidkits.com/genuine-philips-hid-conversion-kit-h11-bulb-single-beam/

I did not need to remove the fuse box or air box for the install, but I only changed the low beams.

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[kman]

I am considering updating my stock lamps to HID as well on my 2012 3.8, but I'm not sure how difficult it is on this car. Was it necessary to remove the bumper or the headlight assembly? Or was it as easy as removing some of the plastic covering the engine bay? Did you need to re-align your projectors after you put the HID bulbs in, did you need to cut out any holes in the cover for the headlights to allow wiring to pass through? Also, how did you secure the ballasts and to what? One final question is about connecting the relay to the battery not to damage the electrical system with high start up currents of the HID. I know our battery is in the trunk, where is the branch off point under the hood? Thanks in advance.

 

[scottdk]

I am considering updating my stock lamps to HID as well on my 2012 3.8, but I'm not sure how difficult it is on this car. Was it necessary to remove the bumper or the headlight assembly? Or was it as easy as removing some of the plastic covering the engine bay? Did you need to re-align your projectors after you put the HID bulbs in, did you need to cut out any holes in the cover for the headlights to allow wiring to pass through? Also, how did you secure the ballasts and to what? One final question is about connecting the relay to the battery not to damage the electrical system with high start up currents of the HID. I know our battery is in the trunk, where is the branch off point under the hood? Thanks in advance.

Try this thread.

http://www.genesisowners.com/hyundai-genesis-forum/showthread.php?t=3762&highlight=install

 

[kman]

Try this thread.

http://www.genesisowners.com/hyundai-genesis-forum/showthread.php?t=3762&highlight=install

Thanks for the link, I did go through it. I was wondering if this person took the same approach to changing the HID's as in the thread you referenced. I would prefer not to cut holes in the covers if it is not absolutely necessary.

 

[scottdk]

Thanks for the link, I did go through it. I was wondering if this person took the same approach to changing the HID's as in the thread you referenced. I would prefer not to cut holes in the covers if it is not absolutely necessary.

There have been a few people on here that say the aftermarket ballast might be small enough to put in the headlight behind the bulb, which would save drilling.

I've installed numorous HID kits on different cars and each car I had to drill a hole. No problems with doing this, the bulbs that come with the HID kit have rubber grommets to make a seal, but I understand your concern.

 

[gray devil]

I am considering updating my stock lamps to HID as well on my 2012 3.8, but I'm not sure how difficult it is on this car. Was it necessary to remove the bumper or the headlight assembly? Or was it as easy as removing some of the plastic covering the engine bay? Did you need to re-align your projectors after you put the HID bulbs in, did you need to cut out any holes in the cover for the headlights to allow wiring to pass through? Also, how did you secure the ballasts and to what? One final question is about connecting the relay to the battery not to damage the electrical system with high start up currents of the HID. I know our battery is in the trunk, where is the branch off point under the hood? Thanks in advance.

It is not necessary to remove the headlight assembly or bumper.

I did not need to realign the projectors after the upgrade.

You need to drill a 1 inch hole in the headlight 'dust cover' unless of course you can fit everything in the headlight housing. A new dust cover costs $ 6 if you ever want to go back to a stock halogen lamp.

I used an existing stud on the car to secure the ballasts. I found them on each side and mounted them.

My HIDs worked fine without a relay, but I added them anyway. The battery is in the rear of the vehicle, but there are fuse blocks on both sides up front where you can get power.

If you are going to add a relay, I recommend a separate relay for each side. Not only do they work independent of each other (if one side fails the other side still works), but I thought it was just a easier not having to run a cable across the engine compartment. Its already tight enough in there as it is.

 

[kman]

Thank for you input. Didn't realize the covers were that cheap. What you said encourages me to go ahead and do the Hid upgrade after the holidays. Thanks!

 

[Silver Gen]

Thank for you input. Didn't realize the covers were that cheap. What you said encourages me to go ahead and do the Hid upgrade after the holidays. Thanks!

Kman, did you ever do the upgrade?

 

[kman]

Kman, did you ever do the upgrade?

Hi, yes I did and overall I am happy with it. Two minor annoyances is a slight wobble over big expansion joints on the road, it settles down very quickly. I have not been able to eliminate it, and I think it is specific to the bulbs I am using, since one does it less then the other. This happens rarely over very big road imperfections. I've seen someone complain on this forum that their OEM HID lights did the same.

Secondly, the seal created by the grommet provided with an HID kit is not as good as the original cover (you have to drill a hole in the cover for the wiring to go out). So I am guessing more dust will get into the headlight compartment over time than would without me ever touching anything.

However, with all that said, the light output and cutoff is awesome. If you search my posts I created some a while ago with photos of how I did the wiring, ballast securement and relay securement.

Good luck!