Look what happens when government intervenes in how bright headlights are.
My headlight blew on my car, and when I replaced the bulb it still didn't work. Tired out the igniter for the bulb had gone too.
Read this informative post on how overprotective the government became when these brighter headlights were introduced.
"There is a lot of data on whether Xenons blind oncoming drivers at night (they don't, generally). But in the 1990s the Department of Transportation NHTSA was very worried about that, and put a lot of rules in place. The washers to keep them clean, so guck on the lens doesn't scatter the light and make grandpa coming the other way crash. And the requirement that the whole unit be non-serviceable, lest the lens get to scratched and pitted as the miles rack up. Make people buy a whole new lens every time any part of the thing breaks. And of course the self-leveling. Which was there to compensate for neglecting to have your headlights aimed, and having a heavy load tilt the car up and blind somebody.
By 2000 the NHTSA relented on these tough rules, realizing that worry over blinding drivers was overblown. But the early Minis were designed in the mid to late 90s, and so they started out with 1990s style sealed-all-in-one Xenons. But later they made it so you could replace the igniter and keep the rest of the light. I don't think washers and leverers were mandatory any more either, but they kept those around for some reason. Bling, I guess."
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