Originally Posted by papasmurf

Holy crap man, dunno where you are in NJ, but I have a good indy for you for future work.

As for the headlight bulbs, you can grab a set of Phillips D2S bulbs (85122), which are now OEM in most vehicles with HIDs right off of ebay. Older trucks came factory with Osrams, and judging by your description of a purple bulb, it's what you have (Phillips bulbs go dim with age, while Osrams color shift and dim). A pair should run you under 100 bucks (I got a set of 75).

To change the bulb:

You will need an 8mm socket, extension, and a Torx set. I would also highly recommend a towel to lay on the bumper while removing and replacing the headlight to minimize the risk of damage when removing the headlight (better safe than sorry).

- Take out the 4 bolts holding the headlight in (I believe they are 8mm, two on top and two on the bottom, and are a little hard to reach)

- Once you have the headlight unbolted, slide it towards the center of the car so that the lower trim piece unlatches from the fender. The headlight should now be mostly free.

- Unplug the auto-leveling motor plug, and remove the high beam, turn signal bulb and the ground that is plugged in near the ballast (thin black wire) from the headlight. You should now be left with a thick black wire running into the headlight.

- There are 3 Torx screws that hold the dust cover on the headlight where the thick wire runs in. Unbolt them and make sure not to lose the seal.

- Once the cover is unbolted, you will see a red plug. Twist it and it will come off (this is the headlight plug if you have not figured it out yet). At this point, lift the headlight off of the car, and put it down on a clean work surface.

- To remove the headlight, turn the plastic retaining ring counter-clockwise. It should come free after about 1/8th of a turn. Remove the bulb.

- Place the new bulb in, making sure that the alignment tabs line up, and with the metal wire on the bottom. DO NOT TOUCH THE GLASS ON THE BULB. At this point I would also highly suggest you change the turn signal bulb, because if it goes bad, you will be doing this again.

- Re-install the retaining ring and reverse the process. Make sure everything is plugged in and the you clip the headlight back into the fender. Getting it to clip back in is a little tricky, but a gentle jiggle and a tiny bit of coercing will get it back in. before you bolt everything back down.

This whole process took me about 10 minutes a side with me taking my time (aligning the headlights with the bodywork). Someone who is less experienced and doesn't know where to press on the plugs, it'll probably take 20-25 for the first side and less for the second.

That tech probably did the headlight in less than 10. The longest part of the process IMO is getting the headlight off and back on the fender tab. To be honest, I think BMW charges $165 per bulb, and I'm guessing they hit you with 2 hours labor because they checked to see if it was the bulb or ballast, which they test by throwing a new bulb on it and seeing (still, not a 2 hour job).

This was a learning experience for you. I got my learning experience when I first bought my car and got charged over $400 to replace the upper radiator hose (required a "total cooling system drain and cooling system flush", which was a load of crap). Welcome to the club, and don't go to a dealer unless it's under warranty again. If you are in Northern NJ, I have a great indy who is a BMW tech, and has the full computer setup to do all modern BMWs. PM me if you need the number.