I swapped the old (Original) Xenon bulbs in the R53 this morning. They seemed brighter so far. Real test is tomorrow morning. When installing I notice the housing that held the bulb wobbled. On the old BMW's there always seemed to be adjustment pieces that went brittle and snapped. On this however, it's not the matter of an adjustment screw but rather something else inside- not sure what exactly as I cannot find pics.

Anyone have some pics or details on what part I need to fix this or do I need a new housing?

 

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...dlights-431003

On the old ones hey have the self levelers also. https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ng-xenons.html

They talk about that ball and socket joint popping out.

 

Thinking a ball and socket issue. When I swapped the bulb, the housing for the bulb wobbled up and down. The adjustments do nothing. It's clear that something is broken or disconnected inside. Wondering if the housing can be opened and the damaged piece replaced like many BMW lenses or if I need to source a new/used assembly.

 

Just curious...
Are your Xenon headlights pre-facelift or facelift projectors?
I just replaced my pre-facelift Xenon headlights with a pair of facelift Xenon projectors. They are in pretty good/excellent condition used/salvage yard finds.
I purchased a third one (projector) that was in cosmetically, pretty bad shape for the mere purpose of disassembly.
So far I see no issues with the ball and socket levelers. But I was curious as to what model you had in an effort to do a little more dissection if I can offer any fix in regard to or related your problem while I'm delving into it's inner workings.

 

His is 04/2004 so would be PFL, aka reflector Xenon’s.
, FL started sometime in first week of July 2004. Mine is 3rd week July 2004 FL

 

The issue with my current one is on the drivers side the housing for the bulb wobbles up and down like something is broken or disconnected. The result is that the light seems to like to aim upward and there is no way to adjust.

I've secured some used replacements so hopefully, I will have this issue resolved. However, it would be nice to know if this is fixable so I can have a good set on the shelf along with all my other "extra" parts.

 

Yep - leave it to me to neglect reading the title