I have a 4.5 year old 530i and changed my first bulb at the weekend.

This was the low beam bulb and while attempting to twist it out I heard
a slight cracking noise. At this point I realised I was turning the
bulb holder the wrong way and with a bit more force managed to twist
the bulb (and bulb holder) out.  I could not see any sign of damage to
either the bulb holder or any other part of the headlight unit,
however, when fitting the new bulb, I noticed that the whole headlight
cluster seemed to be rocking about its centre.  Checking from the front
of the car, the lense was solid, but I could see the two "ring"
sidelights moving when I pushed or pulled the housing that the bulbs
screwed into.  I tried this on the other headlight and it was solid
with only very slight movement.  So, now that I had found the suspected
cause of the cracking noise, I asked my local dealer to have a look.
They confirmed my suspicion that it was broken and quoted £300+ for a
complete new headlight!

How is it possible for me to break a £300 headlamp unit while changing
a bulb?  Do BMW not make parts to last any more.  This is just one more
problem I have had with this car that will put me off buying BMW's in
the future (this is my third and most troublesome).

The dealer did suggest that an independant garage might be able to fix
the headlight but they couldn't and could only offer to replace the
whole unit.

I've looked at the headlamp and can't see any obvious way of removing
it.  I want to see for myself the damage that has been done and compare
it to the good headlamp so that (maybe) I could repair it myself.

Can anyone offer some simple instructions on how to remove the
headlamp, or at least the internal headlamp mechanism, not necessary
the external lens.?

Thanks.