Recently, I pulled the trigger and upgraded from my kit lens 18-55mm IS II to 24-105mm L lens. Here is some initial comparison in semi-controlled environment. In all of these pics, the kit lens under exposed the pics compared to 24-105mm. Already a good start..
A more thorough comparison can be found here at the digital picture.
[Iso chart comparison @digital picture]
[distortion chart comparison @digital picture]