hello, I have a 2008 r56, with zenon bulbs I have a burnt out driver bulb. I quick did a u tube search. and got a good video that shows how to do it. my plan was to swap bulbs left to right to make sure I have a bulb issue, and not a squirrel issue. any ways the point of the post is, why is the pass side have 7/8" of room the spring retainer tie downs to the back of the plastic housing ( I can easily turn the bulb and un hook it ) vs the driver side were I have a 1/2" of room and can't turn the bulb or get the bulb out ! is there a way to tighten the screws or what ever holds the in side parts together to gain the clearance I need to get the bulb out ? I care not to spent 300$ on a e-bay used head light bucket if this is fixable ?


thanks for any advice brian

 

don't know if this is any help at all, but just in case

 

thanks, that's the video I saw, and followed to remove the bulb. @ 1:26 in the video he turns it 90 degrees. I can do that on the pass side, but not the driver side. @ 2:00 in the video you see the spring retainer that holds the clips in place. that silver part is less then a 1/2 " from the back of the assb. an will not allow me to rotate the bulb. the plug and wires will not go past that clip. i.e. the bulb won't slide back far enough. some thing in side the head light has moved. and I can't get it out like I do the pass side. the pass side took me 5 mins. start to finish. I care not to spend over an hour on the road to the mini dealer, and pay there fee, but I may have to do that :(

 

You can always just remove the entire headlight assy from the car to gain access. It's a 5 min job.

 

I did start that , the lower out side bolt by the marker lite just spins. the other 3 came out with out issue. so sun i'll remove the driver tire, and inner fender to have acesss to that trouble some bolt. do you think by going though the circle hole in the rear of the head lite bucket that I can either plug the bulb in, or manage to push the guts in so I can get it hooked up ?


thanks

 

the head light bucket did come out, after I cut the head off the outer lower bolt ( closest to the wheel trim ) . the bolt just spun in the metal threaded collar that was wrapped in plastic. thank the lord for dermal tools. I was able to replace the bulb and get it plugged in threw the middle door in the back with the wife's help. I cut out the slide adjustment that the rusted bolt was attached to and well get a new one ordered. the cause of the bulb being so far back seems to do with that little motor that controls the bulb, it seems to be frozen/ seized up.