Kensun HID Xenon Conversion Kit

I used the Kensun kit on my 2010. I bought a set of H11 plug adapters on Ebay since the Kensun kit didn't come with a plug that would fit into the existing harness. I cut off the ends of the Kensun wires and spliced the plugs in. I thought that the 6000k was too blue for me. I went for the 5000k option that puts out more light.

 

I installed a kit from Xexon Supply, 4300k and slim ballasts. It was literally plug and play with step-by-step video instructions. If it wasn't easy, I wouldn't have done it. I'm very happy with the results.

 

I did a bit of initial research and went with Xexon Supply because of the "plug and play". No splicing or figuring out what wires to connect.

 

Search for Xenon Supply on here or just HID and you will find lots of info.
This is most current thread (xenonsupply.com - H.I.D. kit. My personal review. | PriusChat). Most of the people installing Xenon Supply kits (including me) have found them easy and of good quality. There is an ongoing issue with an H11 male plug to plug into the OEM female wiring harness. It is generally missing from the kit. I bought another set on ebay for very little - others have complained to Xenon Supply and had plugs or parts of plugs sent. Others have simply stuck the pins (supplied with kit) into the plug and taped them up (I did that until my plugs arrived). There is a good installation video from Xenon Supply specifically for the Prius and lots of member tips.

Some members have been very ambitious and used a kit from The Retrofit Source. This kit required the "baking" and dismantling of the headlight lens assembly for installation of new projectors. Gives a better beam pattern but lots more work (and higher risk) IMHO..

The Prius uses a 4-lamp system. I have never heard of someone installing a bi-xenon HID set in a Prius (where bi-xenon means a high and low beam bulb in one housing with an H4/H13 or similar plug). There would be wiring issues (the bulb has 3 wires, 2 for power and one to control the shutter to block the beam for low beam operation). Not sure if there would be power and heat issues in the housing.

I suspect there would be light distribution issues as the Prius projector lenses are not designed for HID, let alone bi-Xenon. Some members have complained that the OEM projector cutoff on the left is is a little high and is causing glare to other drivers. No one has ever flashed at me while driving in the city so I am assuming it is not major however if you look at post #108 on the thread above the picture clearly shows the cutoff rising to the left. It probably would not bother next lane cars but cars 2 lanes over might see glare. Hence the move by some to The Retrofit Source kit.

And if by bi-Xenon, you meant Xenon high and low beams (4 bulbs), most people do not install Xenon high beams because of the warm up time associated with Xenon bulbs. And since High beams are on and off a lot, the life of Xenon high beams would not be stellar.

 

Steve, I think you are confusing the projector lens and shield with the plastic headlight cover. If you do a true projector retrofit then there is no problem with the cutoff because the cutoff is determined by the shield inside the projector. It has nothing to do with the plastic headlight housing/cover.

Some people are using just the Morimoto HID kit from The RetroFitSource because it is a high quality kit with a great warranty and customer service second to none. A few people are doing full projector retrofits but they are uncommon due to the difficulty of install as you noted but not because of any cutoff issues.

The beam pattern (cutoff) out of the OE projectors is poor but glare shouldn't be an issue because they are fairly dim compared to high end projectors found in cars like Lexus and Acura.

 

F8L,
Sorry, I was trying to say that if you wanted perfect beam forming, you would need the shield/reflector/projector lens combo of the Morimoto but in order to get that you also need to bake open your headlight assembly.

Can you get the projector lens and shield out of the assembly/cover without baking it? The threads I have seen (here is one from Sean D.) stated that you had to "open" the headlight assembly and went on to describe how to bake it open. Maybe I am miss-understanding the process of replacing the reflector, shield and projector lens (not the plastic housing lens).

Somewhere I saw a thread which went on at great length on the cutoff and how much better the Morimoto cut-off was (and should be for the price and effort ). That seemed to be the major reason that poster was going to the Morimoto.

I should have left it at the Xenon Supply kit is good enough for 99% of us!

I will also see that the link referred to by Sean D. says that this is a bi-Xenon kit for the Prius, so I guess some people are installing bi-Xenon.

 

Steve,

Unfortunately you cannot swap out the projector without baking the headlight to pull the clear cover off. The projector is mounted from the front. You do not have to mess with the projector lens or shield. You just swap the whole unit out, install the projector adapter plate and install the new Morimoto projector. The cutoff is beautiful but the real reward is the huge increase in light output. The beam is much wider and brighter than the OE projectors.

For most people, a simple HID kit is good. For those who love great headlights there is the retrofit.

 

Hi F8L,

Which HIDs do you have?

 

I went cheap and used a DDM Tuning 35w ballast ($35 for the kit with bulbs) and later upgraded to a Morimoto 5000K H11 bulbs ($40). The DDM bulbs are garbage. The Morimotos are about as good as you get for a non-OEM bulb (Philips or Osram).

 

wheres the picutress

 

Which pictures?

 

of your new bulbs. you had plenty of time to switch out.

 

Aye, I did. I didn't take any decent pictures though. It's not very impressive. They look white now instead of bluish and they seem to cast light further down the road. I,ll try to get pictures tomorrow.

 

Thanks for sharing. I am on the fence between Morimoto and Xenon Supply.

 

In my kit from xenonsupply, I had everything I needed so it was literally a plug and play install. I'm not very handy so it would have been a mess for me to figure out if it was missing anything. The most difficult part was inserting the new bulbs into the housing without touch anything - sort of like the old "Operation" game! But once in, they lock in place and you just plug the wires together and test to be sure they work.

 

I'm with F8L & would look into this:

H11: Morimoto Elite HID System - HID Systems from The Retrofit Source Inc

You get what u pay for.......or u can alway go full out & do a retro

 

Do you need a retro if you have a Gen 3? I thought retro was for cars without factory projectors?

 

A retro is for anyone who has poor headlights. The GenIII has halogen projectors. Even with an HID kit they in no way compare to a good projector built for HIDs.