scotttisha
Registered Member
*note* I'm discussing my Mercedes in the first couple of paragraphs, to explain the conversion in the Genesis*
My current daily driver (commuter) is a 2005 Mercedes C230 sports sedan...
I bought it new in 2005 and I will be hitting the 200,000 mile mark in it next week. My commute to work is 114 miles per day round trip.
This car has been the most reliable car I have ever owned, and I have owned quite a few over the past 24 years.
It's a 6spd manual with the 1.8L 4cyl Supercharged engine. My best mpg avg over an entire tank of 16 gallons was 32.1 mpg and that tank yielded me 521 miles. I usually average around 26mpg per tank, because I drive a little more aggressively than your average fella.
Anyways, because I leave each morning by 5:30am and the first 17 miles of my trip are a little off the beaten path, I decided to do a HID conversion to the high beams. The C230 has the "Bi-Xenon" headlights from the factory and along with the halogen high beams, they were already pretty darn bright when the high beams were switched on. The HID conversion just made it even that much brighter. I eventual converted my fog lights to the HID kit as well, so that all the lights matched. I also converted my Wife's 05 Runner last year and then took the kit out and installed it in her 2010 Honda Odyssey we just bought last week. Talk about a huge difference over stock!
On to the Genesis...I finally picked mine up last Saturday. I decided on an 09 Titanium/Black V8 with Tech. Mainly because of how much I saved over buying the 2010. MSRP was just over $42k and with my $1500.00 Competitive Bonus Hyundai is offering to those that own certain cars, I ended up paying $2500.00 under invoice. Invoice was $29k. So, great deal in my opinion.
I've already rebadged the rear and have the badge for the front, but I'm waiting to install the front until after the clear bra is installed next week.
I'm probably going to remove the "GENESIS 4.6" off the back too, just not sure yet.
Because of the how much the XENON HID conversion improved my Mercedes, I decided to convert the high beams and fogs on the Genesis. The high beams were the real pain in the ass, atleast compared to my Mercedes and wife's two cars. I had to remove a lot of stuff just to get to the lights. On the driver's side, I had to unbolt and remove the Power supply/fuse panel that sits behind the lights. I also had to remove the entire airbox that sits behind the passenger side lights.
One thing I noticed, and took pictures of, was the magnetic flap inside the airbox that opens to allow more air under full throttle. It's mechanically actuated via a magnet that hold it closed until the vacuum inside the airbox is great enough to pull it open. I decided to take it out, removing that restriction. Power Gains? Honestly, I doubt it, but I also have not driven the car hard enough to tell or dyno'd it to really tell. Theoretically, it seems like it would help a little with restriction though, so we'll see.
I am having a problem with the conversion kit for the fogs. The passenger side will not ignite, but for a split second. I'm assuming it's an issue a "resistor kit" will fix, so I have one ordered and on the way. I did get them both to work for a short time and they look awesome, when compared to the stock halogen bulbs. Luckily, the lenses for the fogs doesn't create a "blinbing" effect for on coming traffic. (I had my neighbor take the car out and we did a little testing, while both fogs were working) The high beams however, are a lot brighter, once the Xenon bulbs warm up...What a dramatic improvement over stock.....
Keep in mind, these pictures do it no justice. They are all taken from my phone.
Stock halogen high beam:
Xenon Conversion in the high beam:
Stock color lowbeams (these will be changed out to 6000k D1S bulbs, so they all match, on Monday) with the dirver's side fog in Xenon and the passenger side fog stock halogen:
This is the airbox before and after, plus a picture of the engine bay with the airbox out of the car:
So, once the 6000k D1S bulbs get here, I'll get the factory HID low beams swapped out, so that all the bulbs will be 6000k. I also ordered LEDs for the city lights and rear license plate lights.
If the resistor kit works to correct the issues with the fogs, then I will let you know.
All the kits I have ordered for all my cars, over the past few years, has been from omnixautosports. http://www.omnixautosports.com/
I ordered the resistor kit from another HID company and will post them up, once I see if they work. They were about half the price of everyone else.
BTW, I posted a video on YouTube of my Mercedes, a while back, and it's in the Gallery section of Omnixautosports website.
I kept the Mercedes and will be driving it about half the week to keep from putting too many miles on the Genesis....But trust me, it's hard not to drive the Genesis every day!
My current daily driver (commuter) is a 2005 Mercedes C230 sports sedan...
I bought it new in 2005 and I will be hitting the 200,000 mile mark in it next week. My commute to work is 114 miles per day round trip.
This car has been the most reliable car I have ever owned, and I have owned quite a few over the past 24 years.
It's a 6spd manual with the 1.8L 4cyl Supercharged engine. My best mpg avg over an entire tank of 16 gallons was 32.1 mpg and that tank yielded me 521 miles. I usually average around 26mpg per tank, because I drive a little more aggressively than your average fella.
Anyways, because I leave each morning by 5:30am and the first 17 miles of my trip are a little off the beaten path, I decided to do a HID conversion to the high beams. The C230 has the "Bi-Xenon" headlights from the factory and along with the halogen high beams, they were already pretty darn bright when the high beams were switched on. The HID conversion just made it even that much brighter. I eventual converted my fog lights to the HID kit as well, so that all the lights matched. I also converted my Wife's 05 Runner last year and then took the kit out and installed it in her 2010 Honda Odyssey we just bought last week. Talk about a huge difference over stock!
On to the Genesis...I finally picked mine up last Saturday. I decided on an 09 Titanium/Black V8 with Tech. Mainly because of how much I saved over buying the 2010. MSRP was just over $42k and with my $1500.00 Competitive Bonus Hyundai is offering to those that own certain cars, I ended up paying $2500.00 under invoice. Invoice was $29k. So, great deal in my opinion.
I've already rebadged the rear and have the badge for the front, but I'm waiting to install the front until after the clear bra is installed next week.
I'm probably going to remove the "GENESIS 4.6" off the back too, just not sure yet.
Because of the how much the XENON HID conversion improved my Mercedes, I decided to convert the high beams and fogs on the Genesis. The high beams were the real pain in the ass, atleast compared to my Mercedes and wife's two cars. I had to remove a lot of stuff just to get to the lights. On the driver's side, I had to unbolt and remove the Power supply/fuse panel that sits behind the lights. I also had to remove the entire airbox that sits behind the passenger side lights.
One thing I noticed, and took pictures of, was the magnetic flap inside the airbox that opens to allow more air under full throttle. It's mechanically actuated via a magnet that hold it closed until the vacuum inside the airbox is great enough to pull it open. I decided to take it out, removing that restriction. Power Gains? Honestly, I doubt it, but I also have not driven the car hard enough to tell or dyno'd it to really tell. Theoretically, it seems like it would help a little with restriction though, so we'll see.
I am having a problem with the conversion kit for the fogs. The passenger side will not ignite, but for a split second. I'm assuming it's an issue a "resistor kit" will fix, so I have one ordered and on the way. I did get them both to work for a short time and they look awesome, when compared to the stock halogen bulbs. Luckily, the lenses for the fogs doesn't create a "blinbing" effect for on coming traffic. (I had my neighbor take the car out and we did a little testing, while both fogs were working) The high beams however, are a lot brighter, once the Xenon bulbs warm up...What a dramatic improvement over stock.....
Keep in mind, these pictures do it no justice. They are all taken from my phone.
Stock halogen high beam:

Xenon Conversion in the high beam:

Stock color lowbeams (these will be changed out to 6000k D1S bulbs, so they all match, on Monday) with the dirver's side fog in Xenon and the passenger side fog stock halogen:

This is the airbox before and after, plus a picture of the engine bay with the airbox out of the car:



So, once the 6000k D1S bulbs get here, I'll get the factory HID low beams swapped out, so that all the bulbs will be 6000k. I also ordered LEDs for the city lights and rear license plate lights.
If the resistor kit works to correct the issues with the fogs, then I will let you know.
All the kits I have ordered for all my cars, over the past few years, has been from omnixautosports. http://www.omnixautosports.com/
I ordered the resistor kit from another HID company and will post them up, once I see if they work. They were about half the price of everyone else.
BTW, I posted a video on YouTube of my Mercedes, a while back, and it's in the Gallery section of Omnixautosports website.
I kept the Mercedes and will be driving it about half the week to keep from putting too many miles on the Genesis....But trust me, it's hard not to drive the Genesis every day!